At the March 20th Hoboken City Council, buried amongst the nearly 500 pages of meeting materials, was a contract formalizing a partnership between the City of Hoboken and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils. The agreement, which was approved by the council, will see the Devils’ contribute $240,000 for the team to take the lead on the renovation of the Multi-Service Center Roller Rink at 124 Grand Street. Read on for more about the agreement and what residents can expect.
About the Deal
The New Jersey Devils will spend $240,000 on the facility and programming in Hoboken. Per the contract, $230,000 will go toward physical renovations of the roller rink, and another $10,000 will be spent on personnel and administration for hockey programming and instruction. The money is meant as a donation to the community, per the contract.
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The work on the existing facility will include ” removal and disposal of the old boarding system, patching and leveling of the rink surface and installation of dasher board curb footing, a new dasher board system and new rink flooring and acquisition of new ball hockey equipment,” per the contract.
^ A rendering of what the rink could look like. Photo Credit: City of Hoboken
No timeline was set for the work. The Hoboken Girl has reached out to the NJ Devils organization for more information and will update this piece when we hear back. The City Council’s vote to approve the contract was unanimous.
A spokesperson with the City of Hoboken shared with HG that a large portion of the effort to create the partnership with the Devils came from the Department of Recreation, led by Jessica Lezcano. “I’m so pleased to share that Hoboken will be partnering with the New Jersey Devils to receive a grant for a new roller hockey rink,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “This is the latest effort we have undertaken to coordinate with community stakeholders to bolster our recreation offerings and improve our public spaces, and I want to offer my sincere thanks to the entire Division of Recreation for working hand-in-hand with the Devils team, to make this possible. I look forward to these renovations and eventually cutting the ribbon on the new rink!”
About the Facility
The Hoboken Multi-Service Center is located at 124 Grand Street. The roller rink is part of the 40,000-square-foot facility, which also houses city offices and other recreational facilities. In 2023, Hoboken held a series of public meetings to share proposals about a possible renovation of the space. Residents weighed in on what they’d like to see, and much of the conversation focused on adding a community pool.
^ A rendering of what the rink could look like. Photo Credit: City of Hoboken.
The three proposals were shared by the City in June 2023. This deal to renovate the roller rink is the biggest news on the topic in months, as no announcements have been made regarding which of the three final proposals were selected by the City. Two of the three designs included a hockey rink. Plan 1, called Stacked Recreation with Rooftop Aquatics, included a multi-purpose hockey rink on the ground floor as part of a recreational pavilion. Plan 3, called Raised Recreation, included an open-air, covered hockey rink on the ground floor.
Hockey in Hudson County
The other ice rinks in Hudson County are located in Bayonne and Secaucus. Charlie Heger Ice Rink, located in Jersey City, has been closed since 2022, with no clear signs of reopening. A consequence of the Heger rink’s closure is the deterioration of the relationship between the NJ Devils and Jersey City Youth Hockey through the Hockey in NJ Program. The program is designed to offer children the opportunity to learn about hockey through local clinics. Some of the programs offered include sled hockey, all-girls’ clinics, roller hockey, and more. There is an academic component as well, providing participants with academic support such as tutoring and other resources. While Hockey in NJ began working with Jersey City’s program in 2015, the partnership has dwindled as there is no ‘home ice’ for the Jersey City program.
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