Volunteers lay flooring for Dek hockey rink
CRANBERRY TWP — More than 50 volunteers came together Friday to lay the rubber flooring at a new Dek hockey rink being built in Graham Park.
The rink is an effort by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, Highmark and Cranberry Township. It is part of a program called Project Power Play and is the first rink built outside Allegheny County by the Penguins and Highmark.
Dave Soltesz, the president of the Penguins Foundation, was on hand Friday morning coordinating the work. He watched as the swarm of volunteers from Highmark, the Penguins and the township laid down blue, rubber squares that make up the flooring.
Each volunteer squatted on hands and knees, pounding away with hammers to fit the squares in place.
“It’s nice to be out of the office and catch a little sun,” Soltesz said.
The rink is expected to be complete in about two weeks, he said, adding crews only need to install a six-foot high fence and a scoreboard after the work was done Friday.
Soltesz said he is pleased with the first rink outside of Allegheny County.
“It’s a great location in a beautiful park,” he said.
Heather Peters came from her Highmark office in Pittsburgh to volunteer for the project.
She said volunteering to help build the rink was easy to do, considering all the use it will get in the next several years.
“It’s for a great cause,” she said. “It’s good for the community and good for the kids.”
Jen Zatchey of Mars stood outside of the rink with her three young children, watching the volunteers.
Her husband is a Penguins Foundation employee and was helping at the rink. Zatchey said she couldn’t wait until her oldest son, 6-year-old Bryce, could use the rink in about a month.
“It looks like a fantastic facility,” she said. “And we got to be here to see it being built, which is a great memory.”
Pete Geis, director of the township’s parks and recreation department, said crews are a month ahead of schedule in building the rink.
He initially was planning a grand opening ceremony in October where Penguins executives and players could be on hand to open the rink.
However, the rink is nearing completion, which is moving his planning schedule up.
“We were planning on starting leagues there in the middle of October, but now it looks like that might turn in to the middle of September,” he said.
“We don’t necessarily want the rink to go a month without programs taking place there, so we’re in discussions now about that.”
Geis added he’s received a “ton of excitement” from all over the region regarding the hockey rink, and said he, too, is ready to open the facility to leagues and township residents.
