Harmar to build $84,000 dek hockey rink in Acme Park

Harmar Township has secured a $42,000 state grant which it will match to install a dek hockey rink and renovate the basketball court at Acme Park along Herron Avenue.

The project was prompted by the lack of use of the park’s tennis courts, according to township officials.

For more than a year, the township has been planning for the dek hockey rink, working with its engineer on the details.

“We feel the dek hockey rink is a sign of the times, and we are trying to develop facilities that the youth of today are interested in,” said Supervisor Bob Exler, who describes himself as a longtime sports coach and a “good athlete at one time.”

Although there isn’t any particular dek hockey league or community group pushing for the rink, township officials expect interest and usage once the rink is developed.

“We’ve seen in other communities with dek hockey take off,” Exler said.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded a $42,000 grant to develop the hockey rink with the township kicking in another $42,000, according to Ian Fitzgerald, township secretary-treasurer.

DCNR has a “moving target process” for the grant that required the township to submit documentation several times and work on the scope of the project, he said.

The project includes milling the existing asphalt tennis court and overlaying the dek hockey rink over top. The existing fence will be repaired and more fencing will be installed.

Acme Park’s basketball courts will be rehabbed with a new acrylic surface and its lines painted.

Additionally, a new ADA parking spot will be lined and painted along with a new sidewalk from the parking lot to the basketball courts.

Work on the rink and court is expected to begin in the spring and finish sometime this year.