Hit the Gas on that Zamboni: East Brunswick Gears Up for New Hockey Rink

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - At Monday night's meeting, the East Brunswick Township Council approved expenses for the construction of the proposed two-sheet ice hockey rink/facility at 110 Tices Lane and Renee Road.  It is likely that the long-anticipated project will come in under budget.

The full proposal for the rink was dropped about this time last year.

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For the past two years, East Brunswick - along with South River and Spotswood - already supported the hockey team CBR and an award-winning coach . Now we've got two "sheets" of ice for players to skate on.

In a statement shared with TAPinto East Brunswick, Mayor Brad Cohen said, "After several years of planning, I am happy to report that bids were received this week for the two arms of the Ice Rink project. As you recall, last year the Township Council approved bonding for $40 million towards the Ice Rinks. In addition, the township was awarded $3 million from the NJ State Budget. This gave us a total budget of $43 million. We broke the bids into two arms – one for the building and one for the ice portion.

We received 23 bidders for the building, and they all came in at $26-28 million. NJ Contract law requires us to take the lowest responsible bidder, so we will be going with the $26 million. The Ice bids hovered around $4 million and there were three excellent, high-quality firms that provided bids. Again, we will go with the lowest and that will also be up for approval at the next council meeting. These bids put us at $30 million in building costs."

Cohen projected that It is unlikely that furniture, fixtures, equipment, change orders and professional services will eat up the remaining $13 million. "If that holds, there is a good chance that the entire project will come in under budget – how often do you hear that?" Cohen exclaimed.

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Mike Reissner and Keith Kipp will reach out to Council members and local interests shortly as many decisions need to be made as we anticipate and plan for a robust ice hockey and other sports programs in the new facility.  "While we will be hiring our consultant to aid in the development of programs and overall rink operations, the decisions rest with the township – and that is where we need your help," Cohen told the Council.  "Additionally, internal design features, marketing, and other decisions will need to be made once we have a reasonable timeline," he said.

Here are some facts about the East Brunswick Ice Arena project:

• Access to the arena will be from the new extension of Renee Road which runs along the perimeter of Legacy Place.  The front is parallel to Tices Lane, but the whole building is at the rear of the property and will be behind the second apartment complex (yet to be built) that comprises the third of the three sections of the Legacy Place development.
• When discussing the "valuable input" of the Ice Rink Committee, Mike Reissner named a variety of activities that could happen at the location, including figure skating, public skating, hockey, skating and hockey lessons, therapeutic recreational skating with the Daisy Center and programs through the Special Olympics, birthday parties, summer day camp programs, and hockey camps.
• Rink 1 has seating for 400 visitors; Rink 2 has around 200 seats.  Both rinks are regulation size approved for sports.
• The second floor of the facility may host mezzanine seating.
• There are 18 planned locker rooms and numerous showers and bathrooms.
• There are two rental locations for parties.
• According to Keith Kipp, East Brunswick's Director of Planning and Engineering, there are 184 dedicated parking spaces, with additional bus parking available through an agreement with Lowe's on Route 18.
• There is a full kitchen and concession stand.
• Kurt Vierhilieg said that the location would be "the premiere local facility" for ice sports.

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