Bridgewater Sports Arena - Bridgewater, NJ

[Isk8NYC]

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.

[tstop4me]

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.

Just to clarify:  This isn't standard summer operating procedure.  In the past, all 3 rinks were open year round.  The small rink was shut down earlier in the year.  The other full size rink was shut down about a month ago for repairs.  There are plans to renovate and expand the facility.