Clare gets its skates on

The £5.5 million facility on Newmarket Road features a 56x26 metre international-standard ice pad, and seats for 300 spectators. The building is also fully accessible.

On February 15th 2020, before an ice hockey match between the Cambridge and Oxford Blues teams, Professor Harris organised a free skate session for Clare students and staff. We spoke to him about the new arena and how he helped to make it a reality.

How long have you been involved with the project? What was it that drew you to get involved?

I’ve been involved since I arrived in Cambridge in 1997, that’s 23 years now. Being a Canadian, I’ve skated and played ice hockey my whole life. When I came to Cambridge, I heard that there were three ice hockey teams, the two (men’s and women’s) Blues and the second team (the Eskimos), and that the Cambridge University Ice Hockey Club (CUIHC) was one of the oldest clubs in the world.

I immediately got involved and started coaching these teams. I also heard that an alumnus of the club, David Gattiker, who had played for CUIHC from 1929-1930, had left £1million in his will for the building of an ice rink for Cambridge. So, I immediately made Gattiker’s dream my own as well.

Who did you need to work with to get the project completed?

Many people. First and foremost was the University who had invested the Gattiker money, and CUDAR [Cambridge University Development and Alumni Relations] who helped me reach out to other alumni, because the cost of any rink was going to exceed by far what Gattiker had bequeathed. The local authorities were also extremely supportive, and the delivery of an ice rink became a recognised need for the city, and a potential “low-hanging fruit” for a new sports facility. We formed a charitable company called Cambridge Leisure and Ice Centre (CLIC) to work on the project and all the members of CLIC over the years have been hugely helpful – I’d like to single out Clare ex-bursar Donald Hearn with whom I worked for so many years; David Henry, city planner from Savills; and Graeme Menzies of Mills and Reeve who helped CLIC with a myriad of legal issues – all of them working pro bono for this project. Then there was the Marshall family who found the wonderful site for us to build the arena on. Cool Venues was the company who managed the project. We had to deal with Cambridgeshire County and the Park & Ride – we have excellent parking – and South Cambridgeshire District Council have given us a large prudential loan to cover the remaining costs. Finally, we have been working with the Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL, aka Better), who are doing a brilliant job at running the facility. There have been so many people involved.

At one point, I asked all the Clare Fellows to write to the City Council saying how much they wanted a rink in the city. Many did, and everything anybody did, from giving a couple of pounds to much more, from doing a little work to devoting a lot of time, all helped.

You have said that this is one of the most energy-efficient ice rinks in the UK. How was this achieved?

This is a purpose-designed ice rink and no more. The walls and ceilings are highly insulated, so the cold stays in. It uses an advanced ice grid system that is more efficient. It is a rather small space for an international sized ice rink. It is situated next to trees and in an orientation where the outside of the building does not absorb too much heat, and finally, not yet installed, it will have solar panels. It was always one of the most important things that this facility should be as green as possible. The other really important point about having a small, well-insulated facility is that the ice is great – it’s the best ice in the UK.

Describe how you felt at the grand opening!

It was unreal. But somehow that fact that I’d been working on this for 22 years when it opened, and that I’d been there through all the stages of its building made it seem strangely natural that it should exist, and I should see people skating on Cambridge home ice. The ice was like a miracle to the generous alumni and many donors, who showed up and regaled me with stories of where and when in the middle of the night they had to travel to practice, but to me it was just a joy to see them all there and to note that the vision we all shared had been achieved.

What will this mean for the Cambridge University Ice Hockey teams?

This is fantastic news for the ice hockey teams. There are now four of them, the three I mentioned above, and a new development team called the Huskies. Having the rink within a cycle ride away means that we save about £300 per week on travel to practices. Part of the agreement with the operator means that the University gets 10 free hours per week of practice time, which makes a huge difference (compared to the 3 hours previously that we had to pay for at Peterborough). So, we end up getting much more practice while saving tens of thousands of pounds per season. I am looking forward to years of Varsity Match success.

How would you encourage more Clare members to get on the ice?

GLL is offering discounted membership rates to use the ice for all University members. You just need to show your University card or CAMCard to get reduced monthly or yearly membership rates. GLL are also offering learn to skate and learn to play programmes, public skating and disco skating sessions each week, figure skating options and even curling on Thursday nights. So even if you are not on an ice hockey team there are many ways to take advantage of the facility.