David
S. Ingalls Rink, located near the heart of the Yale Campus on the corner
of Prospect and Sachem Streets, is one of the most distinguished collegiate
hockey facilities in the country.
The home of Bulldog men's hockey since 1958 and women's hockey since
1977, the rink has been dubbed the "Yale Whale" because of its hump
backed roof and arching, 300-foot backbone designed by renowned architect
Eero Saarinen (although it has been said that the design depicted the
grace involved in skating). Shortly after it opened, Ingalls, which
replaced the New Haven Arena (1927-59) as home of the Elis, was featured
in Sports Illustrated. The construction cost was $1.5 million, which
was twice the orginal budget.
The
arena is named in honor of David S. Ingalls '20, who twice captained
the Yale hockey team, and his son David Jr. '56 who served as captain
of his freshman and varsity teams. Gifts from the Ingalls family provided
the bulk of the funding for its construction.
The rink, which seats 3,486 fans, is made of concrete with an aluminum
roof supported by cables. The famous ceiling is 76-feet high at its
zenith. Ingalls also contains a weight room, three locker rooms, and
a reception room which houses Yale team photos dating back to 1895.
In 1991, renovations totalling $1.5 million were performed on the rink
surface and ice-making system. A new 4" thick cement slab with refridgerant
tubing was placed over the original. Ingalls' playing surface, which
is 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, is among the best in the country.
Both the men's and women's locker rooms were also recently refurbished.
Ingalls Rink, open 18 hours a day and staffed by Manager Joe Snecinski
and his assistants,
is also the home of recreational skating, the Figure Skating Club, Intramural
hockey and Yale Youth Hockey.
