| Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena | |
|---|---|
| The Ritter | |
| Location | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY 14623 |
| Opened | 1968 |
| Owner | Rochester Institute of Technology |
| Operator | Rochester Institute of Technology |
| Surface | Ice |
| Architect | Roche-Dinkeloo[1] |
| Capacity | 2,100 (hockey) |
| Field dimensions | 185 ft x 85 ft (56 m x 26 m) |
| Tenants | |
| RIT Tigers (Men's and Women's Hockey) Genesee Figure Skating Club |
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The Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena, known colloquially as "The Ritter", is an ice arena on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology in Henrietta, a suburb of Rochester, New York, United States. It is home to the RIT Tigers ice hockey teams and the Genesee Figure Skating Club. Its official capacity for ice hockey games is 2,100.
The building was erected in 1968 when RIT moved from downtown Rochester to a new suburban campus in nearby Henrietta. Frank Ritter, a furniture maker famous for his dental chairs, helped found the Mechanics Institute, a forerunner of the Rochester Institute of Technology, in 1885. The Ritter-Clark Arena on the downtown campus had previously been named in part for Frank Ritter. Frank Ritter Shumway, Ritter's grandson and a major figure in U.S. Figure Skating, was a generous benefactor of RIT, and he ensured that the ice rink on the new campus was named for his grandfather.
The arena is also home to the Genesee Figure Skating Club, founded in 1955 by F. Ritter Shumway.
The ice surface measures 85 feet by 185 feet (26 m by 56 m), with the goals at the north and south ends. The home bench, scorer's table, and penalty boxes are on the west side; the visiting bench is on the east side, with the men's and women's home locker rooms underneath the east bleachers. The Pike Press Box (room for 16 with 5 telephones and ethernet access) and the President's Box (stadium-style seating for 16) are two stories up from the ice surface, on the south side of the rink.
A new scoreboard was purchased and installed in time for RIT's inaugural Men's Division I season, 2005-2006. Previous renovations in 2000 improved the lighting, acoustics, and concessions in the arena. In 2010, the Institute announced a $3.5 million expansion project to include new locker rooms, offices, video rooms, and training rooms.[1]
The arena was ranked the second-best rink in the ECAC West (out of six) in 2003. [1] (The only better rink was the Utica Memorial Auditorium, which is a professional-level hockey arena.) The Ritter is the third-highest-capacity rink in Atlantic Hockey (behind Army's Tate_Rink and Air Force's Cadet_Field_House_Ice_Arena and tied with Niagara's Dwyer Arena). In 2009, USCHO.com national columnist Dave Starman wrote that the Ritter was "A Great Atmosphere More Should Experience", explaining: "Between the pep band, the small size of the arena (2,100), and perhaps the best public address announcer in college hockey, the RIT Tigers have created a buzz on campus that more people should see on a national broadcast."[2]
Rochester Institute of Technology is currently in the fundraising phase of building the Gene Polisseni Center, which will be the eventual replacement home to the varsity hockey programs. RIT has stated that Ritter will remain open even after the varsity hockey programs move to the new center [3]
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