The New York City Council approved plans for the Kingsbridge National Ice Center (KNIC), designed by an architectural team that includes Murray Beynon of BBB Architects and Stadium Consultants International (SCI), to occupy the Kingsbridge Armory space in the Bronx.
The colossal Kingsbridge Armory, a turreted fortress that has sat vacant since 1996, will be transformed into the world's largest indoor ice center. The Kingsbridge National Ice Center will host nine year-round ice rinks, including 763,000-square-foot facility will house nine ice rinks, a 5,000-seat arena, plus 50,000-square-feet of community space.
The first phase of the development involves the construction of five ice rinks and the community space, will be complete and operational by September 2018. The second phase will take an additional year.
“The developer, KNIC Partners, LLC, founded by Kevin Parker, has privately invested $275 million into the project. It should created 260 permanent jobs and 890 construction jobs. All nine rinks will be indoor regulation size, and useable for national and international hockey tournaments, figure and speed skating competitions, and ice shows.
Five rinks will be on the main floor, and four will be on two elevated platforms 40 feet above the main level. At least two of the rinks will be usable for sled-hockey for people with disabilities. The center more than doubles the number of indoor ice rinks in NYC ; there are only seven and none are located in the Bronx.
In addition to the rinks, there will be dressing rooms, lockers, retail space for sports goods, parking for 480 cars, and a wellness center with off-ice training fitness, rehabilitation, sports therapy programs. One of the community programs will be run by a KNIC foundation that will host free after-school hockey and skating, as well as academic tutoring.” Curbed