Hamden eyes $5 million in state aid to repair tennis courts, ice rink

HAMDEN – For longtime resident Ed Doll, the condition of the town’s tennis courts has been a concern for several years.

“The courts have been in a state of deterioration for some time,” said Doll, who visited the courts Friday to practice tennis.

On a couple of occasions, he has asked the town about repairing the cracked courts, he said, and was told it would be too expensive.

But in the coming years, that could change: Hamden is seeking $5 million from the state’s Community Investment Fund, a portion of which would help repair the tennis courts. The rest would go toward updating and renovating the neighboring Louis Astorino Ice Arena.

The Legislative Council on Tuesday voted to give the town administration permission to submit the CIF application.

The tennis courts, which are used by Hamden High School’s tennis team, have large cracks in them. Officials described their state of disrepair as a safety issue.

“The tennis court is uneven and cracked,” said Councilman Justin Farmer, D-5, adding that the conditions could cause users to trip and fall. “I just see it as a general hazard.”

While the town had the cracks patched earlier this year, Mayor Lauren Garrett said, that solution is not long-term; just liked patched potholes, the material can easily re-crack.

As for the ice rink, Garrett said it has its own safety issue: its cooling system, which uses the chemical ammonia, has come under the scrutiny of the Environmental Protection Agency in recent years.

Sean Donohue, who helps manage the rink, said the arena also requires various aesthetic repairs, including upgrades to doors, flooring and the locker room.

“It’s just an old building, so we’ve got some electrical stuff that needs to be done. One of the major things is just some work with the compressor,” said Donohue, noting that the compressor is part of the cooling system.

But the possibility of a state investment raises questions about longterm plans for the rink, which occasionally comes up as a subject of debate among local officials, as the New Haven Independent reported in 2021.

While the rink is townowned, it is managed by a private company called 595 Mix Management, LLC, which operates under a contract with the town. Donohue is a coowner of the business, state business records show.

Currently, the rink costs more to operate than it brings the town in revenue, according to Garrett. In addition to being responsible for utility and certain capital improvement costs, the town pays 595 Mix Management an annual fee of $257,500 for operating the rink, the contract between the town and the firm shows.

One reason the rink cannot currently offer public skate is a lack of rental equipment, Garrett said.

Donohue is working to procure rental skates and hopes to have public skate sessions starting at the beginning of the coming school year, he said.