Greenwich Residents Challenge Dorothy Hamill Rink Project

GREENWICH, CT — Several Byram residents are looking to halt the proposed Dorothy Hamill Rink project from proceeding in its current form.

The project received Municipal Improvement status from the town's Planning & Zoning Commission last month. The Town Clerk's office then received a letter from Liz Eckert, Joseph Kantorski, Al Shehadi and Lucy Von Brachel on Dec. 23 asking for the MI status to be referred to the Representative Town Meeting.

MI status is required for all projects on town property and allows projects to pursue funding from the town's Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Under the town charter, property owners can appeal MI status to the RTM.

Notably in December 2022, the RTM voted to revoke the MI status of an intersection improvement project in downtown Greenwich, and the project was effectively stopped from moving forward.

The RTM will examine this latest referral from the Byram residents during the legislative body's regularly scheduled meeting on Jan. 21.

On Dec. 10, the Greenwich Planning & Zoning Commission voted 4-1 to grant MI status for the project.

The current Dorothy Hamill Rink was built in 1972 essentially as a slab of ice. It was then built up in a piecemeal fashion, leading to disrepair over the years to the point that it needs to be replaced.

The town is looking to build a new 40,671-square-foot ice rink at the location of the current baseball field — Strazza Field — north of the existing Dorothy Hamill Rink in Byram within Eugene Morlot Memorial Park.

Once the new rink is up and running, the existing facility will be demolished and a new baseball diamond will be constructed.

The proposal for a new rink calls for improved vehicular circulation at the site, a walking path for passive recreation throughout the park, and additional signage to both identify a grove of memorial trees dedicated to Byram veterans and the Thomas Lyon House, the oldest unaltered colonial home in town.

Opponents of the proposal have cited concerns with increased traffic and congestion as a result of the facility, and impact to the surrounding neighborhood. Others have criticized the large building's potential impact on the park and a loss of green space due to the flipping of the baseball field and the ice rink.

In explanatory comments associated with the Jan. 21 RTM agenda item on the rink, Eckert, Kantorski, Shehadi and Von Brachel said that while they agree the current rink is outdated and needs to be replaced, "any such replacement rink should be designed and constructed in a manner which is consistent with the Plan of Conservation and Development."

The residents said the proposed project "has not involved the level of community outreach afforded other town projects," and that the town "has largely ignored feedback and requests for more information" from various community stakeholders.

"The Representative Town Meeting should reject... and instruct the town to come back with an application which is consistent with the POCD, which reflects the involvement of the neighboring community and neighborhood association, and which responds to consistent feedback from local organizations such as the BNA (Byram Neighborhood Association), town commissions and the general public," the residents said in explanatory comments.

Along with objections from residents, proponents of the project must also deal with rising costs.

No money is included in the current year's budget, but the spending plan outlined $980,000 for fiscal year 2026 for design and planning, and $23 million for fiscal year 2027 for construction.

However, the latest newsletter from the First Selectman's Rink User Committee for Design and Planning notes that First Selectman Fred Camillo's proposed fiscal year 2026 budget includes a capital appropriation of $1.2 million for design work and an estimated $24 million for construction which would commence in 2027.

Residents could be skating at the new rink starting in mid-2028, but that's if all goes according to plan.

Camillo will present his proposed budget for 2025-2026 later this month.