Harp announces Albertus Magnus hockey team plan for Ralph Walker Rink

Mayor Toni Harp and Albertus Magnus College President Marc Camille receive personalized hockey jerseys as gifts. Mayor Toni Harp and Albertus Magnus College President Marc Camille receive personalized hockey jerseys as gifts. Photo: Brian Zahn / Hearst Connecticut Media Photo: Brian Zahn / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Harp announces Albertus Magnus hockey team plan for Ralph Walker Rink 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — Mayor Toni Harp and Albertus Magnus College President Marc Camille took about 10 minutes to announce a major idea Wednesday.

When the city reopens Ralph Walker Skating Rink — currently projected for fall 2019, according to City Engineer Giovanni Zinn — it will become the home of a newly announced men’s hockey team at Albertus Magnus College.

Camille, who played hockey as an undergraduate, said it has been “a seamless collaboration in terms of dreaming big.”

He said that, although there is an ingrained ice hockey culture in Greater New Haven —namely Yale University’s and Quinnipiac University’s programs — there is no Division III team in the area.

“There is space and opportunity for that,” he said.

Currently, Connecticut College in New London, Trinity College in Hartford and Wesleyan University in Middletown are the only three schools in the state with Division III hockey teams.

According to Albertus Magnus Director of Athletics Jim Abromaitis, creating the NCAA Division III men’s hockey team will add 30 student athletes to the school’s campus. The school currently is looking for its first head coach.

Camille said the school is beginning with a men’s program, but it is exploring the feasibility of adding a women’s team.

In addition to launching a new team, the city also is launching a partnership with that team to create a “learn to skate” youth hockey program.

Harp recounted that when she proposed closing the rink “people became apoplectic.”

The refurbished design, which will expand the building to accommodate a regulation-size rink, includes a view of the East Rock monument.

“My administration has been working for years to foster partnerships across the spectrum for people who call New Haven home,” Harp said. “In a word, we couldn’t be more excited about this new alliance.”

The proposal must pass aldermanic approval, but Ward 19 Alder Kim Edwards and Ward 10 Alder Anna Festa, whose wards cover the college and the rink, respectively, said they are on board with the program.

“We like to spend money on things that make sense,” said Festa, responding to Harp’s joke that the Board of Alders doesn’t like to spend money. “Bringing college experience to kids alone is something to be excited about.”

Edwards said the partnership is a “win-win.”

According to Zinn, the first phase — extending the building and refitting the ice — is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year. The second phase, which will focus on the locker rooms and accommodations for the public, is expected to be completed by fall 2019, when the building currently is projected to open.

He said the building capacity has not yet been determined, but he estimated it would be between 400 and 500 people. There will be parking beside the building, but the city is looking for more spaces.

“This is how we need to move forward. The greater good can be achieved,” said Camille.

Camille also said he would be joining Harp and a New Haven delegation to visit Changsha, China, from April 5 to 15. City spokesman Laurence Grotheer said in an email the trip to one of the city’s sister cities would be “to try and develop business expansion opportunities among the dozen or so companies with which the delegation will meet in three cities - Changsha, Beijing, and a city just outside Hong Kong.”