Photo: Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee Chair Mark Haley speaking before the Belmont Special Town Meeting

The new Belmont Sports Complex is not just coming in on budget, but is ready to open its doors earlier than originally scheduled.

OK, it’s pushing the official opening up by one day, and there’s going to be plywood instead of the thick exterior windows – the frames for the glass are just arriving. But the ice surface is in place and the complex is ready to welcome skaters and ice hockey players onto the newest rink in eastern Massachusetts.

In a presentation to the Special Town Meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee Chair Mark Haley could hardly contain his excitement to announce the $32 million facility is just days away from coming to life.

“The Belmont Sports Complex is going to be a reality within 10 days,” said Haley to the applause of the members. Haley said the building is scheduled to receive in the next week a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy from the town which allows the new 40,300-square-foot skating rink to be used before all construction is finished, provided it is safe for partial occupancy. 

“If everything goes well, we’ll be able to rent ice come the third of November,” said Haley.

Haley also presented a video from the interior of the facility, providing a tour of the rink as well as a flyover to witness the partial installation of the 26,000 sq.-ft. of solar panels on the roof.

The opening day celebration will now occur on Saturday, Nov. 15, a day earlier than originally planned. The festivities will begin at 1 p.m. with a dedication, and then an open house with free, open skate for two hours.

“We want the community to come and enjoy this new facility,” said Haley. “It takes a village to complete a project of this type, and the village we have here is the town of Belmont.”

Across Concord Avenue from the rink, the public can tell the new Belmont Public Library is getting closer to completion is that the sidewalks have been laid along the building. Where the rink’s windows have yet to be installed, the library’s broad glass fracade reveils the nearly complete interior with stairwells and the large open space of the main lobby.

“I think you’ve all been witnessing the progress, and we are close,” said Clair Colburn, chair of the Library Building Committee, who made her presentation to the Town Meeting before Haley. “We’re really at the finish line.” And they are crossing that line with a little extra in their pockets as the project is coming in “significantly under budget” with any savings to be “given back to the town to reduce the debt and the final borrowing for the project,” said Colburn, to her own members applause.

In a few week, most of the library’s collection will come out of storage and be move into their new home when “substantial completion of construction” will occur, said Colburn. A soft opening for the public is scheduled for January 8, 2026, with a community grand opening on Saturday, January 10, with the snow date for the next day.