featured rink The Bog

by BRIAN COOK Kingston, Mass.

Massachusetts Adds A Rink In A Hockey Hotbed

uring the years of Bobby Orr and the Big Bad Bruins, hockey was in Dfull bloom on the South Shore of Massachusetts. The Weymouth Skating Club, Ridge Arena and Cohasset Winter Gardens operated almost around the clock and produced local stars like Bobby Sheehan, Mike O’Connell, Ralph Cox and Rod Langway. But in the past 30 years, the “original three” have all closed and little THE BOG additional capacity had been added. The South Shore continues to be a hotbed of hockey, producing NHL players The Bog is located almost midpoint between Boston and Cape Cod. like Tony Amonte, Kevin Stevens and Jeremy Roenick, who have been joined by Location “The project was presented in a Ryan Whitney, Joe Callahan, Mike Mottau “The need to keep costs down has led thorough and professional manner,” said and Bobby Allen. And while both youth many developers to build in out-of-the- building inspector Paul Armstrong. “That hockey and junior hockey continue to way locations where land is cheap, far allowed us to fully evaluate it and respond develop and grow, the supply of quality, from highway access or commercial quickly.” This is the type of public-private convenient ice skating rinks has not activity,” said McKenzie. partnership that allows good projects to grown to meet demand. But despite the The Bog is located almost midpoint go forward quickly. lack of ice, and 4:30 a.m. ice times, local between Boston and Cape Cod, next to a high schools were usually in contention full-service health and swim club, a Functionality & Efficiency for state tournament titles. bowling alley and several restaurants and The building supplied by Metallic Based upon fond memories of local supermarkets. Both Cook and McKenzie Buildings of Texas was selected by Atlantic residents Ed Dalton and Ed Taylor, and note that the efforts of the town of Construction’s Paul Rodrigues because of the desire to meet the growing needs of Kingston to embrace and support the its design and functionality. “We had local youth hockey groups, high schools project cannot be stressed enough. Town worked with both the company and the and figure skaters, Brian Cook, a local leaders such as the building inspector, erectors before,” said Rodrigues. “We lawyer and former hockey player, teamed town planner and the planning board saw chose a building that could be maintained up with engineer and former hockey this project as a community-based project and kept clean and would also be energy- player Brad McKenzie to build their “field in the right location that created jobs, efficient.” of dreams.” The end result of their efforts provided a needed resource for the Rodrigues noted that one of the major is said to be one of the best, and easiest to community and was not going to provide issues confronting rinks is energy costs. In find rinks constructed in the Northeast. any negative impacts. many buildings, the insulation materials

12 RINK MAGAZINE september/october 2008 featured rink info The Bog

• Year building opened – December 2006 • Square footage of building and land – Building is 57,600 square feet on 7 acres • Featured tenants – Duxbury Youth Hockey, Coastal Stars Youth Hockey, Hanover Youth Hockey, South Shore Conference Youth Hockey, Duxbury High School, Pembroke High School, Yarmouth Ice Skating Club, Bay State Speed Skating • Size and number of ice surfaces – Two 200' x 85' NHL-size ice surfaces; 50' x 30' synthetic ice surface (Rink 2 in development and scheduled to open summer 2009) • Number of locker rooms/party rooms – Six locker rooms, four under construction, and two meeting/party rooms • Type of rink floor – Sand THE BOG • Type and manufacturer of refrigeration system – R-22 Flooded evaporator-type refrigerator system with pumped brine cooling source, BRR dehumidification system Youth Hockey, Coastal Stars Youth Hockey, size pools, complete health and fitness and • Manufacturer of dasher boards – Athletica Hanover Youth Hockey, South Shore cardio center, state-of-the-art day spa and Crystaplex NHL glass and boards Conference, Duxbury High School, Pembroke hair salon, aerobic/dance studio, physical • Height of glass and netting – 8-foot end High School, South Shore Seahawks, therapy clinic panels, 6-foot side panels, safety netting Yarmouth Ice Club, The Bog Mites on Ice, • Any national ranked athletes training at installed The Bog Learn to Skate, Baystate Speed facility – NHL stars Brendan Shannahan, Skating Group • Type of lighting – T-5 fluorescent lighting Kevin Stevens, Jeff Norton, Mike Mottau and systems in the arenas • List of any significant events hosted at nationally ranked figure skaters Matti Wunder the facility – MIAA State championship and Michelle Boules • Year, model, fuel source, and hockey games, Cranberry Open Figure Skating manufacture of IR’s – One 1987 Zamboni • Interesting tidbit or fact about facility – Competition, New England Regional Figure (purchased from Harvard), one 2008 Zamboni The Bog will house a Wall of Fame recognizing Skating Competition on order awaiting delivery South Shore hockey players, coaches and rink • Other features: retail space/ builders who have contributed to hockey on • Seating capacity – 600 seats, with 250+ restaurant/pro shop, etc: – 1,000 SF Sport the South Shore; first inductees: Rod additional standing room About Pro Shop, 1,000 SF Café, 400 SF Media Langway, Kevin Stevens, Len Ceglaski, Jack • Hourly rate of ice time during prime Center, 500 SF off-ice training center, Access Reilly, Gerry Ridge, Ed Dalton, Mike Breen and time – $290/hour to the Kingsbury Club: Full-service Ed Taylor • Listing of skating programs – Duxbury restaurant, six tennis courts, two Olympic- are exposed and may be damaged by record time, driving the excitement for a that line the sand bed of each ice surface. flying pucks or vandalism. The Bog was project that had been discussed for more The ice plant system is a two-stage, four- constructed of panels in which the insula- than 20 years. cylinder compression system that uses tion was enclosed between the walls to Henry Stout of Atlantic Construction R-22 and brine input-output. avoid damage and to increase the insulat- completed his team with Glynn Electric, Preferred Mechanical not only was ing factor. Marty Barnes of Barnes which installed high-efficiency, low- responsible for the engineering and Buildings, a recognized expert in building energy T-5 lighting fixtures, as well as construction of the plant but is also erection, was chosen to order the building Preferred Mechanical, which was respon- responsible for the maintenance and and construct it. Barnes, true to his word, sible for the rink plant and installation of continued operation of the system. With completed his phase of construction in the more than 17,000 square feet of pipe offices in Pembroke, Massachusetts, just a

14 RINK MAGAZINE september/october 2008 featured rink THE BOG

A full-service health club and proshop is located adjacent to the rink.

few miles from the Bog, response time will be immediate. The proponents of the project purchased and installed a BRR dehumidification system to increase energy efficiency and reduce condensa- tion, fogging and mold and mildew issues.

Accessibility & Usability The building is set on a slope to allow visitors to enter at balcony level, increas- and their families could work out or relax ing the impact of entering the building in a state-of-the-art facility,” said Cook. and seeing a sea of ice. The building may “With access to ice and professional fitness also be accessed at ground level. instruction, this facility could become a Thyssenkrupp installed an elevator to quasi “Olympic training center.” make the building handicapped-accessible The Bog, when completed, will have from either location. The balcony and two NHL-size ice sheets (200' x 85') mezzanine, in place less than a few feet connected with a large balcony, mezzanine from the ice, are reminiscent of the old and viewing area. The building will also Boston Garden or Maple Leaf Gardens by have a full-service pro shop, a restaurant, bringing the spectators closer to the game. 10 locker rooms, meeting rooms and an Cook notes that the other aspect of this off-ice training facility. When you project that makes it special is the coordi- combine the Bog’s ice surfaces with the nation with the Kingsbury Club, a well- Kingsbury Club’s tennis courts, Olympic- established health, tennis and swimming size pools, weight training and cardio facility with a day spa and restaurant that facility, there is more than 200,000 shares the 13-acre site with the Bog. square feet of recreational space, and “Our goal was to work with the one of the largest ful-service facilities Kingsbury Club to create a full-service in the Northeast. training facility where athletes could train The Bog took its name from the many

16 RINK MAGAZINE september/october 2008 Experience the driest, most cranberry bogs in the area, where most young players first strapped on a pair of efficient, most comfortable, skates. The Bog is home to Duxbury Youth Hockey, the Coastal Stars (Marshfield, and most economical Cohasset and Norwell), the South Shore Seahawks (Scituate, Norwell and Hull), ice arena environment. Hanover Youth Hockey, Duxbury and Pembroke high schools and the Yarmouth ™ Ice Figure Skating Club. Arid-Ice The rink has its own programs that include various learn to skate hockey, CDIMS is the premier supplier of desiccant dehumidifiers. Arid-Ice speed skating and figure skating programs. units are equipped to reduce humidity levels, eliminate indoor conden- The hope is to create an “old-time hockey” sation and fog, prevent mold, reduce refrigeration costs and improve facility where players, parents and coaches indoor air quality, these systems utilize natural gas, steam or electric will want to spend time and make use of reactivation. We have provided equipment for over 300 skating surfaces throughout North America from 500 to 45,000 SCFM. the facility as a community center. The tradition of the game is stressed For Arid-Ice sales and equipment thoughout the building with memorabilia specifications, call 248-344-7236. and trophy cases and hockey jerseys. A 29235 Lorie Lane, P.O. Box 1013 • Wixom, MI 48393 “sister city” relationship was developed 248-344-7236 • Fax: 248-344-9401 with Kingston, Ontario, which sent a [email protected] • www.cdims.com Kingston and Canadian flag to join the American flag sent by Senator John Kerry (an accomplished hockey player) that had flown over the nation’s capitol. It is not uncommon to enter the Bog and see NHL’ers Kevin Stevens, Jeff Norton and Brendan Shanahan getting ready to take the ice against local former college stars that include movie mogul Bobby Farrelly of the Farrelly Brothers (“Something About Mary”, “Kingpin”, “Dumb and Dumber”). Also on hand are coaching legends Len Ceglaski (Boston College) or Mike Addesa (RPI) Heat or Ivy League Coaches Ted Donato of Recovery Harvard or Keith Allain of Yale, who now available conducted a hockey school at the Bog to reduce this past summer. energy cost! According to rink manager Jim McMorrow, “Our goal was to create a clean, comfortable facility where families and their kids could feel safe while enjoy- ing the highest quality of customer service in a state-of-the-art ice arena.” From the reaction of local ice enthusi- asts and visitors, the Bog is well on its way ETL-C, ETL and CE Rated to achieving its goals. ★

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