About Facility
The Colgate University rink facility, located in Hamilton, New York, is a premier venue that exemplifies the university’s dedication to athletic excellence and community engagement. Known as the Class of 1965 Arena, this state-of-the-art ice rink is home to the Colgate Raiders men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, providing an exceptional environment for both athletes and spectators.
The Class of 1965 Arena spans 97,000 square feet and features a meticulously maintained ice surface, advanced training and conditioning areas, and modern locker rooms equipped with the latest sports technology. The facility is designed to support high-performance training and competitive play, ensuring that Colgate’s athletes have access to top-tier resources. Additionally, the rink offers seating for 2,222 fans, creating an electric atmosphere that enhances the game-day experience.
"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."
Wayne Gretzky– Legendary Hockey Player
Scope of Work
The state-of-the-art, 2,222 capacity, Class of 1965 Arena is the new home of the Colgate men’s and women’s ice hockey teams. The ice surface in the arena will be known as Steven J. Riggs ‘65 Rink in honor of the former men’s ice hockey team captain. Riggs was killed in combat in Vietnam in 1968 and was inducted posthumously into the Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor.
The ice rink industry continues to be challenged by the increasing restrictions and phase-outs of synthetic or artificial refrigerants that adversely affect the environment and finding suitable substitutions. Finding an environmentally friendly solution to the ice system that would be serving their new state-of-the-art ice arena facility was very important to Colgate University. B32 Engineering Group was hired after initial discussions with other design firms failed to identify an acceptable solution. Given the proximity of this facility to campus and to student and residential housing; ammonia, a natural refrigerant, was not desirable to them.
B32 Engineering Group incorporated a modular heat pump type system that uses the synthetic refrigerant R-410A refrigerant but in much smaller quantities than typical refrigeration systems used in these facilities. These types of systems typically require lower flowrates than are needed to keep the 17,000 square feet of ice frozen so additional design challenges had to be met to provide the ice quality and performance required for a Division 1 college hockey program. In the end, B32 Engineering Group was very successful in meeting the environmental, performance and maintenance goals of the University for the ice system.