Inside the Ingalls Addition

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Slightly more than a year ago at this time, the addition to Ingalls Rink was barely more than a hole in the ground. Now, as the 2009-10 academic year gets underway, the addition is nearly complete -- along with several other major improvements to the legendary facility.

The underground addition, which includes approximately 13,000 square feet of varsity operational space, is located on the Mansfield Street side of the rink. It includes locker rooms for both the men's and women's varsity ice hockey teams, along with lockers for the many youth hockey teams that also use the rink. There is also a strength and conditioning center, student-athlete study area, training room, officials room, video room, coaches' offices, equipment room and more.

The rest of Ingalls has also received a major upgrade, with work continuing now on the Schley Room reception area on the other side of the rink. A Yale Hockey Heritage area, highlighting more than 120 years of Yale hockey history, will be located right outside the Schley Room. There will also be a new concessions stand and bathrooms in the area where the visiting varsity team locker room used to be; the visitors will now use the locker room that the Yale women's team used to use.

Fans of Yale's varsity teams will enjoy an improved sound system along with refurbished seating. The first regular season home game for the defending ECAC Hockey and Ivy League champion Yale men's team is Nov. 13 against Cornell. The first regular season home game for the Yale women's team is Nov. 6 against Princeton.

All of the renovations are designed to preserve Ingalls' distinctive architecture and charm while adding substantial capacity for all who use the facility. Named after former Yale men's ice hockey captains David S. Ingalls '20 and David S. Ingalls Jr. '56, the rink was designed by famed architect Eero Saarinen '34 and built in 1959. Gifts from the Ingalls family provided the bulk of the funding for its construction. Its famous arched roof, 76 feet high at its zenith and featuring a 300-foot backbone, earned it the nickname "The Whale". It has been the home of the Yale men's ice hockey team since 1959 and the women's team since 1977. Ingalls is also used for recreational skating, the Figure Skating Club, intramural hockey, high school playoffs and Yale Youth Hockey.