Back in December, I wrote an article entitled “If You Build It, We Will Come.” It centered on the efforts of a group known as the Bentley Top Shelf, whose goal was to convince the Bentley administration that it would be beneficial to build an on-campus convocation center. This center was planned to house, amongst many other things, Bentley’s very own hockey rink.
It is with very great pleasure that I inform you—IT’S OFFICIAL! On March 10, an article posted by Dan Rubin via U.S. College Hockey Online confirmed that Bentley is finally beginning to evaluate suitable sites for an on-campus rink. The article includes several quotes from the school in response to the plan, including one that describes the target capacity of the new arena:
“‘The arena, currently estimated to hold between 2,000-2,500 spectators, would move the Bentley hockey team from their current home at the John A. Ryan arena in Watertown to the campus in Waltham…. Targeted to open in 2018, the arena would give the campus a needed venue for its increasingly successful hockey program, as well as provide new space to host campus events on non-game weekends’” (Rubin).
Should this figure hold constant, the new arena could be approximately twice the size of the JAR, which only has a capacity of about 1,250. This opens up a plethora of opportunities not only for Bentley’s hockey program, but also for the university as a whole. A brand new on-campus facility will no doubt help Bentley continue attracting top talent for our growing D1 program, as well as give us a chance to try to face big opponents (i.e., BU, Harvard, and other schools that the team has played over the past few years) on our own ice. The facility will also provide Bentley with a larger venue to host some of the most popular on-campus events, such as the comedy show and the fall/spring concerts.
Unfortunately, as the project is not predicted to be complete until 2018, the freshmen will be the only current Bentley class that is able to fully reap the benefits of the new arena. Despite this, it is certainly a very promising plan that all Falcons should be proud and excited about!
If you’re interested in learning more about the proposed arena and the Bentley hockey program in general, I recommend you check out the full USCHO article referenced earlier. If you want updates about the new rink, following The Bentley Top Shelf on Twitter will help you to stay apprised of any new information or articles that have been posted. Also, don’t be afraid to get in on the action and use the hashtags #BentleyRink and #BentleyHockey to express your excitement about the new rink! Because, as we all know… WHEN they finally build it, we will come.
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