Hockey Arena Approved For Sacred Heart University

FAIRFIELD, CT — Sacred Heart University can move forward with plans for its new hockey arena after the school received zoning approval for the project.

The planned venue at 3135 Easton Turnpike on the university's West Campus will be just under 123,000 square feet, with 759 parking spaces and a capacity of 3,621 spectators. The arena is expected to be finished in about 18 months and was estimated to cost $60 million when it was first announced in 2020.

While some neighbors expressed concern at a public hearing in January that the arena could increase traffic and crime while lowering property values, zoning commissioners largely disagreed.

“I felt that it met all the criteria that was needed,” said Commissioner Thomas Noonan, who moved during a Town Plan and Zoning Commission meeting Feb. 9 to grant a special exception application for the project, with conditions.

At full capacity, the arena will generate 809 additional Friday evening vehicle trips on Route 59, and will increase traffic at neighboring intersections by as much as 71.4 percent. However, in most cases the arena will be well below capacity, with closer to 500 or 1,000 people attending games, Sacred Heart representatives said.

Commission Chair Matthew Wagner noted the arena will only cause congestion for a short period of time and said he felt the advantages of the plan outweighed the downside. Commissioner Steven Levy remarked that the arena was placed below grade to promote visual harmony. The venue, which the college plans to use mainly for hockey as opposed to concerts and other performances, will be 56 feet tall, but constructed into a slope.

As part of its approval, the commission set several conditions for the arena. Sacred Heart must maintain a specific level of shuttle service to support its traffic analysis, as well as hire police to direct traffic for all men’s hockey games. Additionally, the university must notify the Stratfield Falls Association of condo owners and the Stratfield Village Association whenever attendance at an arena event is expected to exceed 1,000 people.

Stratfield Village Association leadership spoke favorably of the project at the January hearing. Sacred Heart had already agreed to at least one of the conditions included in the commission’s approval as part of a pending settlement with the Stratfield Falls Association, a university representative said in January.