Covid recovery funding to help pay for $3M renovation of Greensburg ice arena

Kirk S. Nevin Arena is slated for an overdue $3.1 million overhaul so area ice hockey teams and other people can continue to enjoy smooth skating at the Greensburg facility.

Greensburg City council is expecting to receive a $1.5 million grant for the project, available from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as part of covid-19 pandemic recovery funding. Discussed at this week’s council session, acceptance of the grant will be on the agenda when council reconvenes Monday.

“The system is currently functioning as it should. However, it’s past its 25-year life expectancy, and a renovation is necessary for normal function to continue,” said Glenn Moyer, facility manager for the city’s recreation department.

Moyer said the project will include removing the arena’s concrete floor, boards and refrigerant system, which will be replaced with a new system.

At Lynch Field, the arena was built in 1968 and was last renovated in 1998. At that time, it got a new floor, locker rooms, bleachers, lobby and garage area.

The upcoming renovation is planned for the spring of 2024, Moyer said.

He said the project was “set off course due to loss of revenue during covid. Ice hockey, public sessions, figure skating and all the other activities that go on at the arena were halted due to the shutdown.

“Even after things began opening back up, we could not work at full capacity.”

The arena hosts ice hockey teams from the Greensburg Salem, Latrobe and Hempfield communities, as well as the Westmoreland Hockey Association.

It operates seasonally, from mid-August through mid-March.

The coming season will begin Aug. 15, Moyer told council.

“We’re getting ready to paint the walls and the floors, all of our pre-season work,” he said. Refrigerant will be pumped into the arena floor in advance of the opening, he said.