Cass Rink reopening as an all-season facility.

This afternoon, members of the Roxbury Community, and their representatives in the Massachusetts House and Senate, joined Governor Deval Patrick at the Melnea Cass Rink on Martin Luther King Boulevard for a press conference discussing the fate of the local landmark. After years of the rink falling into disrepair from a lack of funding, the Shelbourne Community Center will receive the necessary money from the state to refurbish the outdoor rink into an all-weather skating facility.

Just three nights before, a community meeting was held at the Community Center to discuss the fate of the rink. According to the DCR chairman, Rick Sullivan, the meeting was one of the most passionate and well-attended one he had ever seen. $450,000 has already been committed to the construction project, which is set to begin within thirty days.

Under the weather-torn roof of the Cass Rink, Deval Patrick said this regarding the community spirit behind the project:

We are not able to do it all. But in the choices we make, we are choosing to invest in leadership as much as in projects; in people as much as in infrastructure, and the leadership that was shown and has been show in this community around the programs, design and the ideas of this facility, and the reasons for it, I feel blessed as governor to support this project."

Among the assembled supporters were the Boston Derby Dames (BDD), who have been vocal supporters of the Shelbourne Community Center's plan, and the Roxbury Community in general. Skaters from the Boston Massacre and Boston's Home Teams were in attendance, speaking with local and state officials about the upcoming project and with the residents in attendance.

Governor Deval Patrick with the Boston Derby Dames. More photos of the event can be found here.

Speed Metal of the local team, the Nutcrackers, applauded the announcement:

I'm really happy to work on the behalf of BDD to help create a potential partnership between our league and the Melnea Cass Community Center. It makes me proud to know that playing a sport I enjoy and being a part of a league I love gives us the opportunity to support the positive efforts of this Boston community. As a public school teacher just down the street from this rink, I know how badly the kids of this area are in need of a facility that will not only provide a safe haven for them to play, but a center that can provide programs to help their growth.

Power Jammers will provide more updates to you as they become available.