Cinnaminson Hockey Rink Will Soon Be Playable Again

Volunteers stepped up last month to spruce up the Memorial Park hockey rink—now it's the township's turn.

Township committee awarded a $3,800 contract Monday night to repair the cracked, craggy playing surface, which has kept the rink out of commission as of late. 

The contract was awarded to Southampton Township-based Nickolaus Construction. Though the project cost was too low to require bidding, Nickolaus was the lowest contractor to submit a quote to the township.

Committeeman Don Brauckmann said he expects work to begin, and be completed, "relatively soon."

The repairs to the rink surface will make it playable again, but won't be a cure-all for all its woes. Those fixes—which are primarily aesthetic in nature—will be more expensive and will depend partly on the amount of activity the rink sees once it's reopened, said Brauckmann. 

The committeeman said he's interested in making the rink "multi-use," potentially holding fitness classes there, along with hockey. 

When those types of programs might be launched "all depends on how long (the repairs) take," he said.

Brian Lowy—who was instrumental in organizing volunteers to help tidy up the rink during Park Cleanup Day in March, along with his son Tyler—was pleased when he heard the township had approved Nickolaus' contract.

Lowy said he's in the process of organizing more volunteers to go out and do some more refurbishing of the rink, including scraping peeling paint off to prepare it for a new professional paint job and taking care of some minor carpentry work.

All told, Lowy said he needs to raise roughly $2,000 to get the additional work done. He is still developing a strategy to raise the money.