Norwood Rink Still A Go?

On February 16, there was a public hearing held by the DCR at the Coakley Middle School to decide where to put the much needed ice rink in the South Metro area. The three possible sites being looked at are the Indian Line Farm and Ponkapoag areas in Canton and our own South Norwood site, which was originally determined to be at the same Coakley Middle School area the meeting was held at.
The Norwood Board of Selectman, Planning Board, School Committee and Town Meeting have all already approved the building of the much needed rink on numerous times; John Rodgers; the State Representative for Norwood, also approved the Norwood sit and helped push it through the first time around.
Over a decade ago, RINC (Recreation In Norwood Community) started looking for a site to put in a public skating rink for youth and high school hockey as well as skating for the community. After things fell through with the first proposal and financial backers, Rodgers got involved to get this project moving forward once again. In 2012, Governor Duvall Patrick approved $6 million for the facility in Norwood, but unfortunately a new administration had taken over before the project could get underway. Incoming Governor Charlie Baker wanted to hear things with his own ears.
One year ago Norwood had all the engineering and architecture done but that’s as far as they got. According to Representative Rodgers, Norwood has the shovel ready and legislature had passed four laws authorizing the construction.
All that remains is for the DCR to make its decision. If the Norwood site is chosen and the money is allocated, Norwood would be ready at the drop of a hat to beginning digging. At that point, it would probably take about eight or nine months to get the building up and running.