Almost there! City’s first ice rink in Dwarka to be ready by Aug

New Delhi: City’s first ice rink at Dwarka Sector 23 sports complex is set to be ready by Aug.Spread over 4,200 sqm, the facility will feature a 60m x 30m rink along with associated infrastructure. It is expected to host national and international sporting events in the future.“Delhi-NCR may have ice skating and adventure sites, but this will be a proper rink matching Olympic standards,” an official said.“The place would serve the dual purpose of providing recreational avenues to the people of Delhi, besides creating state-of-the-art infrastructure for training sports enthusiasts. Currently, the civil construction is almost completed and progress on internal fittings will take time to ensure proper temperature control for the ice rink,” said a senior DDA official.Located within the cloverleaf at Dwarka Sports Complex in Sector 23, the facility lies along the Urban Extension Road and will be accessible from the Dwarka Expressway as well as the airport tunnel linking Dwarka Sector 21 to Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3.Being developed under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, the project’s construction and operations are being handled by a private agency in collaboration with international partners on a 15-year licence fee basis.“With growing interest in niche sports such as ice hockey, ice skating, figure skating and curling across India, DDA officials were asked to explore the possibility of creating such a facility in Delhi,” officials said.Given Delhi’s long and intense summer months, the ice rink is also expected to emerge as a unique indoor recreational destination with a climate-controlled environment.The Sector 8 Centre of Excellence, spread over 23.3 acres, was developed for boxing, wrestling, weightlifting and taekwondo, and was inaugurated in May. The third centre, dedicated to tennis and shooting at Sector 19, Dwarka, is under construction.