It serves as a venue for other recreational skating groups such as the Yale Figure Skating Club and Yale Youth Hockey as well as for the wider New Haven community, for whom The Whale hosts a wide variety of events in its space. Though constructed for the University, Ingalls Rink is home to more than just Yale’s varsity hockey teams. Already one of the most distinguished feats of architecture at Yale, the $23.5 million renovations helped The Whale elevate its facilities with the addition of new spaces, technology and cultural history. A quasi-museum, the space showcases Yale’s hockey team through the years - beginning with the first intercollegiate hockey game ever played in America - Yale’s 1896 match against Johns Hopkins University. Phase III included the establishment of a hockey heritage area in the interior of the main building on the upper and lower levels. The three phases of construction involved extensive work that fitted the rink with a new press box, refurbished exit doors, lighting along the ceiling and a 14,000-square-foot underground space that houses a new strength and conditioning room as well as lockers for the men’s and women’s varsity teams. More than half a century after its initial construction, Ingalls Rink went through a multimillion-dollar renovation in 2009. “What impressed us all,” the professors wrote in a letter, “was the character and integrity of principle as carried out with Twentieth-Century means - quite up to date, yet never likely to go out of date.” Saarinen’s vision pulled from Gothic, Roman and Asian roots but merged them together with pioneering technology. The professors, including legendary Yale figure, architectural historian Vincent Scully ’40 GRD ’49, were impressed with the diverse stylistic elements incorporated into the rink’s design. Like the works of many distinguished architects, it is also a sculptural masterpiece.Īt the time, in support of the project, Saarinen recruited art historians to endorse the design for the rink. Breathtaking to behold, The Whale is more than just a functional ice rink. From the outside, Ingalls Rink resembles a massive whale with a humpbacked roof and tail rising over the central entrance. A cable net cascades off the arch, supporting a timber roof and giving the rink its famous, double curvature form. The rink’s innovative design includes a 90-meter concrete arch that rises over the ice - an architectural motif Saarinen replicated when designing the Gateway Arch of St. ’56, The Whale was designed by prominent architect Eero Saarinen ARC ’34 and was built in 1959. Ingalls Rink after ice hockey captains David S. It’s a perk of being a Yale hockey player that we have a program that really strives to give the players everything they need.” “The Whale is an unbelievable building, and we are fortunate to be able to call it home. “Sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are to have the facilities we have,” forward Dante Palecco ’21 said. Yet few who walk through the rink’s front doors pause to appreciate the architectural marvel that is Ingalls Rink. In this past weekend’s game against Harvard, tickets sold out days before the match, while those who could not get their hands on a seat purchased standing room-only tickets to get a glimpse of the action-packed game. With the capacity to seat 3,500 people, The Whale often finds its interior packed to the brim with hockey fans. Of course, it helps when the team is Yale men’s ice hockey and every home match is held in Ingalls Rink, acknowledged by The Wall Street Journal for having the best design across America. There is always something special about watching a home game.
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