Skating Club of Boston breaks ground on Norwood facility

May 21, 2019 : Wicked Local Norwood, by Paula Vogler

After 20 years of talking, planning, and hoping, the Skating Club of Boston recently celebrated its groundbreaking for a new and expanded facility in Norwood on May 13.

The new 180,000 square foot training facility at 750 University Ave. is set to open in the summer of 2020 and will house three rinks, a dance studio, club and team locker rooms and more.

"This is a day many folks thought might never come," Executive Director Doug Zeghibe said. "It's been almost 20 years since the idea for a multi- rink skating club was sketched out on a napkin."

The $37 million facility will house The Performance Center which will be an Olympic sized arena with seating for 2,500 spectators, a dedicated figure skating rink with seating for 1,500 and a third, NHL sized rink for hockey with 400 seats.

In addition, there will be a 7,000 square foot facility called the Micheli Center at The Skating Club of Boston that will allow athletes to train with a focus on injury prevention as well as receive medical care and rehab treatment.

Selectman Chairman Paul Bishop praised the relationship the town has developed with officials from The Skating Club of Boston calling them gentle and good people.

"Skaters are great artists," Bishop said. "The difference is they create their artistry and passion on the ice. Make no mistake about it, figure skating is definitely an art form."

According to Norwood's General Manager Tony Mazzucco, the new facility will transform the town in some ways.

"It's a world class facility that will attract world class visitors," Mazzucco said. "It will probably transform development along University Ave. World ranking athletes will be coming here for training and competitions. If Boston were to host the Olympics, they would hold events here. We're so excited."

Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton said The Skating Club of Boston has always been a venerable institution, one that he enjoyed going to. He said the new facility is an investment in the future that will continue to teach kids about getting up when they get knocked down.

Hamilton said by his low end estimates he has fallen 41,600 times which also means he has gotten up 41,600 times.

"Once you build that tenacity of falling down, getting up, falling down, getting up, nothing can defeat you in life," Hamilton said.

Olympic Champion Tenley Albright said ice skating at The Boston Skating Club was rehab for her when she contracted polio as a child.

"The Boston Skating Club has been a real community, not just for the skaters but for the fathers and mothers that took us to the rink, for the coaches and for anybody interested in skating," Albright said. "It's a family and it's always been known for its excellence."

The Skating Club of Boston is the third oldest skating club in the country and a founding member of U.S. Figure Skating.

According to a press release the new facility is designed by Studio Troika and constructed by J Calnan & Associates with project managers Northstar Project and Real Estate Services and with financing provided in part by Dedham Institution for Savings and MassDevelopment.