MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The BOPARC board has reached an agreement with the designer of renovations to the Ice Arena to allow a shortened 2023–24 hockey season.
BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles said the Mills Group has recommended dividing the project into two phases, leaving most of the mechanical work for the second phase. The Mills Group was also able to offer assurances that the existing structure could be razed in the second phase without damaging the new slab to be built in phase one.
“With this approach, many of the other delays in the bidding process can be avoided, and the chiller bid can attract specialized contractors that may not be interested in subcontracting under the general bid,” Wiles said.
The original lead time for the chiller system was about 50 weeks, and replacement was planned as part of the overall project. Now, money and time are saved by moving the chiller system into phase two.
“The assurance would allow for a permanent chiller solution,” Wiles said. “Which would mean we would not have rental costs of up to $75,000 that we were expecting with a temporary chiller.”
The dates announced for the 2023–24 Morgantown Hockey Association are Oct. 1, 2023, to March 1, 2024. The current season will end on Feb. 26, 2023, to allow contractors to begin working on March 1 of this year.
“The amount that was achieved between our last meeting and today is absolutely remarkable,” BOPARC Board member Jenny Thoma said. “I’m grateful to so many of you who were able to work off the clock and apparently around the clock to make that happen.”
President of the Morgantown Hockey Association, Frank Oliverio, has a league of about 250 players that will not have to scramble for a place to play next year. Oliverio had been working on a number of potential sites that could have served as a temporary home for the league during construction.
“We obviously know the rink needs to be renovated, that was never in doubt,” Oliverio said. “It was just the best way to do it without interrupting a season, and it looks like they’ve figured out how to do that.”
Oliverio is satisfied with the solution reached but wants the current increased level of communication to continue. The members of the association have a great deal of exposure to other facilities in the region, and they want to share that information for the good of the future facility.
“We have resources and connections throughout the country that are beneficial, or should be beneficial, to a local board of parks and recreation,” Oliverio said.
The solution also accommodates area figure skaters, curlers, and the WVU hockey teams that call the facility their “home ice.”