Construction of the ice-skating rink began during Interterm. The Physical Plant's carpenters took about two days to construct the board around the rink's foundation.
"It was not ready earlier because until recently there was a stretch of warm weather that prevented us from making ice," said Jim Brassord, director of facilities planning and management of the Physical Plant. "Even with extremely cold temperatures it takes approximately one week to make ice that is sufficiently thick and smooth enough for skating."
The Physical Plant will maintain the rink and clear it periodically. A Zamboni will not be used in maintenance of the rink.
"[Response from the College] had been relatively quiet during Interterm because it has been under construction," said Brassord. "It's a nice feature for the campus."
Marx agreed that the College community should benefit from the addition. "You can just step outside and skate for a little while. It should be fun," Marx said.
The rink dimensions were designed with the intention of fitting in Valentine Quad. "We installed it on the Valentine Quad in coordination with the sidewalks and distribution," said Brassord. "That site was thought to be ideal because it was a flat and a heavily-trafficked area." According to Brassord, construction costs were relatively inexpensive.
This is not the first time an ice rink has been built on campus. "I'm told that 15 years ago, an ice-skating rink was established on Memorial Field," said Brassord.
Student response to the new ice rink has generally been positive. "It would be amazing if I knew how to ice skate," said Sabato Visconti '08. "I wouldn't pay for skate rentals though." Currently, Visionti's concerns about rental fees are irrelevant. Ice skate rental is currently not part of the program, and there is nowhere at the College where students can rent skates.
"I think that anything that gives us more options for recreation at Amherst is a good thing, especially if it's exercise-related such as ice skating," said Ryan Smith '07.
Elan Ghazal '05 expressed concern over whether the ice rink could pose a potential safety hazard. "I think it's interesting," he said. "I just hope it doesn't become a liability hazard for the school to delineate where the snow stops and the ice starts," he said.
The ice rink seems to be a welcome novelty particularly for students from warmer states. "I think most of the people who aren't from places like Amherst with snow are especially excited," said Karina Zaveri '08. Ian Shin '06, a Californian, disagrees. "There's no need to be colder than you already are," he said. "I would prefer a Jacuzzi to an ice-skating rink."
For the Physical Plant and the administration, the weather does pose a problem. Physical Plant will have to shovel off the snow, and if it gets too warm, the ice will not remain sufficiently hard enough for students and members of the College community to skate. "We hope the weather will cooperate," said Marx.