Bridgewater Sports Arena
Bridgewater, NJ
Haven't been to this rink in a long time. It's a standalone facility off route 22 in NJ.
Two full-size sheets of ice plus a small "pond sized" third sheet. (1/3 size)
During the summer, they only keep one rink operating - the others were taped off with Do Not Enter signs.
The operating rink has a harness line across the far end of the ice. Spectator bench seating on top of the locker and bathrooms. Skate rental is down a half-flight of stairs, inside the rink. Brown leather rentals, btw.
Active skating school and club with lots of info on the bulletin boards.
Second-floor pro shop is a hockey shop. Didn't see any figure skating stuff in Stock. A separate staircase/elevator leads to the snack bar and eating area, which doubles as a party room. This area has windows overlooking the rink, above the skate rental. Nice view, that.
The ladies room inside the rink was clean and well-maintained, but could use a good, deep scrubbing. The rink itself has flooring issues near the stairs - looks like skaters were kicking the rubber until it was shredded. The walls in the hockey box need painting - looks like th hockey players use it for slap shot practice, although most of the damage is above the height of the boards. What good are high-flying shots in hockey, other than to whack another player? Poor coaching if that's their goal.
The ice wasn't great - the crease areas were coned off and wet, there were visible repaired cracks and, outside the rink, the rink floor/walls looked damaged and rotting. I've skated on worse ice - this was smooth and level, just soft and slow.
The Friday evening public session had less than 25 skaters (2 FS) and the cost was only $7. Staff was friendly and helpful.