The City of Lafayette has for a long time encouraged locals to take advantage of the Lafayette Hockey Rink for public use. Have you done that? Located at the far parking lot of the Lafayette Community Center at 500 St. Mary’s Road, rink access used to require going to the Community Center’s Recreation Office during office hours and trading an ID for the rink key.
Good news: The key system is being increasingly relaxed. Jennifer Russell, long time Lafayette Parks, Trails and Recreation Department Director, told us Friday that she and her team are working on making access easier, with the gates increasingly left unlocked.
Don’t worry if you don’t play hockey. Lafayette built this rink for you, too. It’s a large, multi-sport court that even has four adjustable basketball hoops, two across from each other so you can play full-court ball as long as you don’t mind a short court.
In addition to hockey (floor and roller), you’ll find that the court is great for roller skating, as well as playing lacrosse, soccer and even catch. No reason you can’t practice tennis, either, as long as you don’t mind an imaginary net. We’ve also seen RC car racing there, too.
In truth, you are limited only by your sport creativity.
We love to see families using the court. Friday, for example, while local schools were off, a local father and his middle school son were playing floor hockey.
So, please, spread the word. This is a really terrific local resource available to all, and FREE for individuals to use.
If the rink is empty when you arrive, you’ll find lots of entrance gates. If they’re locked, just go to the Recreation Office and trade a valid ID as deposit for the key. Increasingly, through, Jennifer says you can expect the gates to be unlocked more often than not.
If someone is already on the court, consider asking to share it. Yes — it’s that big.
Soon, says Jennifer, you’ll likely see a board installed that will detail schedules and other use news, just like you see at the various entrances to the Lafayette Community Park.
NOTE: These relaxed rules are for individual use only. Teams still need to make reservations to use the rink. Call 284-2232 for more details.