Southampton Town Ice Rink Won't Open This Year

No happy family memories will be made on Southampton Town's ice skating rink in Hampton Bays this season — Chris Bean, the town's parks and recreation supervisor, said the rink's liner needs to be replaced.

According to Bean, the liner, which has been in use for seven seasons, has worn out and will cost $4,000 to replace. That money, he said, has not been budgeted this year and his department is working to request funding in the town's next budget.

"We will have a rink in 2014 and only possibly sooner, if we can work it out," said Bean, noting that it is not on the top of his department's agenda as his staff has been busy remediating damage at parks caused by Superstorm Sandy.

In year's past, the town has opened the rink in mid-January after five consecutive days of 30 degree weather to ensure the rink freezes.

The original liner was donated to the town by the Mark Sinclair Foundation and Bean said the town will, of course, accept any donations toward a new liner.

Southampton Village's ice skating rink has not returned to Agawam Park in a couple years, and there are no plans to erect it this winter, according to the office of the superintendent of public works. The village did not have much luck with the rink, as rain and sleet or warmer than expected temperatures made it difficult to maintain a surface suitable for skating.

A new pavilion planned for the grounds of 25 Jobs Lane — a village-owned properly formerly occupied by the Parrish Art Museum — has been suggested as a possible site for a seasonal outdoor ice rink in the future.