On Monday, May 1, Hudson Hockey Association members attended a check presentation with Royal Credit Union (RCU) Foundation for a $300,000 grant they were awarded as part of the Excellence at Every Level Capital Campaign.
This grant award brings the fundraising total to $4.3 million of the $5 million-plus goal for upgrades to the Hudson Sports and Civic Center.
“The end is near, and it is our intent is to hit our goal by early summer,” Excellence at Every Level Capital Campaign Committee Chair, Anthony Aderhold stated. “As a committee, we are still constantly phoning, conducting official ‘ask’ meetings and seeking additional donors. All support is welcome regardless of the pledge amount.”
Construction for the upgrades at the Hudson Sports and Civic Center began in December 2022 and through a busy and successful hockey season for both the youth and high school programs, the rinks remained fully operational. Despite the rough winter weather, the construction schedule is less than a week behind the projected finish. Substantial completion for the project is scheduled for the end of June 2023 with final completion by early October 2023.
In the past eight weeks, incredible progress has been made as the weather becomes more cooperative. A grand opening event is currently scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 21 with the highlight of the weekend being back-to-back days of a NCAA Division III hockey series.
Once the improvements are completed, the Hudson Sports and Civic Center will have an additional 20,000 square feet of space that includes community rooms with catering kitchen, updated locker rooms, centralized entrance with a new concession stand, and seating capacity for the new primary rink of more than 800 people.
Over 14,000 area youth have gone through the Hudson Hockey Association program since inception with many more expected as Hudson Hockey Association begins their next 50 years of operations. The updated facilities will drastically improve the experience for the area youth along with the additional 4,000 youth that call Hudson Sports and Civic Center home annually for other programs including learn to skate, Rink Rats, figure skating, Special Hockey for those with disabilities, development and training programs and external tournaments.
Many community events also occur at the Hudson Sports and Civic Center, including past Home and Garden Shows and Hudson School District school open skate sessions. With the improvements it is anticipated that Hudson Hockey Associations revenue will increase approximately 15% annually and local economic impact for the community in excess of $20 million over a 10-year period.
Hudson Hockey Association and Excellence at Every Level Campaign are still seeking donations and if anyone would like additional information, you can check them out at Hudsonhockey.com or excellenceateverylevel.com.
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