The $250,000 Lincoln Street four-season rink project is just about finished and the rink is expected to open next week, Westbrook Community Center Director Greg Post said.

Post sees it becoming a recreational hot spot in the city.

Soccer and hard-court football, called futsal, programs will be offered at the new rink with skating and hockey programming in the winter. Time also will be allotted for pick-up games, community skates and league play. Lighting will allow for nighttime use.

Meanwhile, the boat ramp near the rink is being rehabilitated for safer access to the Presumpscot River.

“People seem excited, and this will be a place kids want to be,” Post said.

Finishing touches, such as minor painting and the installation of nets, were being worked on this week, and Post said the rink should be ready for play June 10.

The project, which initially was scheduled for completion last summer but was delayed after the initial project manager died, was a collaborative effort between Soccer Maine and the city.

Soccer Maine, a nonprofit serving youth, plans to begin league programming at the rink in the fall.

“The rink is a lot safer now and much more inclusive,” said John Morgan, who runs the Roosevelt Soccer Club and was an advocate who secured funding for the project. The club is sponsored by the Westbrook Soccer League but is open to any southern Mainer ages 12-21.

The old rink with its splintering boards and rough surface discouraged many people from playing there.

“Youth boys enjoyed it, but we found out how clumsy they can be and were often sending them home wrapped in gauze because of the falls and scrapes on the asphalt,” Morgan previously told the American Journal.

The old rink was built in 1994 for $30,000.

“I am excited to see people out and playing,” Morgan said. “There is the basketball court, but otherwise not many places here for kids to meet and have those pick-up games we had as kids.”

Soccer Maine Executive Director Shari Levesque said there is “nothing like it around.”

“We hope this is hugely popular and that we can use it as a model for similar courts and funding around the state,” Levesque said.

Soccer Maine contributed $50,000 for the rink and that amount was matched by the Cornelia Warren Foundation. The U.S. Soccer Foundation provided $30,000 in funding, and Morgan and Post then were awarded $120,000 in Community Development Block Grants from the county.

Comments are not available on this story.

« Previous

Westbrook jeweler has designs on greater good

Next »

Solar arrays, credit union branch approved for Westbrook