2023 NHL Winter Classic legacy project to aid Boston-area youth
Building of fieldhouse expected to impact lives of 50,000 kids and their families
Legacy Project donates $300K to Dorchester Fieldhouse
A gaggle of children were jammed into a cramped gym, playing floor hockey against each other with help of retired Bruins alumni Bob Sweeney, Andrew Raycroft and Tuukka Rask. Blades, the Bruins mascot, along with Wally and Tessie, the mascots of the Boston Red Sox, had joined the fray as well, and the sounds of sticks hitting the floor and the peals of laughter from the kids reverberated around the intimate space.
For a minute, Bill Richard could close his eyes and picture this scene playing out in the state-of-the-art fieldhouse that will be built, in part with contributions from the NHL, Boston Bruins, Boston Bruins Foundation, Boston Red Sox and Boston Red Sox Foundation to the Martin Richard Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of Dorchester's fundraising efforts.
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"It's incredible," said Richard, the head of the Martin Richard Foundation. "You know playing hockey is fun. Our goal would be to, you know, to take it to that next level at a facility like this, whether it's hockey, again, whether it's baseball, whether its skills training. Whatever it might be."
The foundation was founded in 2014 to honor 8-year-old Martin Richard, one of three people killed when two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The foundation works to advance values of sportsmanship, inclusion, kindness and peace by investing in programs that encourage young people to celebrate diversity and engage as community leaders.
The fieldhouse is the latest endeavor to further that mission, said Richard, Martin's father, who started the foundation with his wife, Denise.
The 75,000-square foot facility will bring year-round athletics, culture and community to Boston kids and families, and serve more than 50,000 young people who live within a 3-mile radius. It will be a valuable addition to the three clubhouses in operation that already provide more than 200 activities.
"This will be the first of its kind in the city of Boston; there's not another field house in the city of Boston," Richard said. "But along with the turf field and the hard courts and the running tracks, it's really going to be a youth development center.
"Kids who live in Greater Boston typically have to travel as much as 30 to 45 minutes outside of the city to participate in activities at facilities like this. We are embarking to change that."
That journey of change has special appeal to the NHL, says Jeff Scott, the League's vice president of community development and growth. It is a special part of the festivities surrounding the Winter Classic, which will end with the game between the Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park on Monday (2 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, CBC, TVAS).
"Our legacy projects mean so much to the community because we're bringing our game to the community as opposed to expecting the community to come to the sport of hockey," Scott said. "And especially when we're targeting so many underrepresented, marginalized communities where their first option to play hockey is not a reality.
"To be able to create a new space, whether it's a ball hockey rink, whether it's an educational learning space, whether it's a multi-purpose building or even just classroom, it all means so much because now the community feels like they are connected to our organizations that that are connected to our brand, that they understand that the sport of hockey can be a conduit for their future development."
The fact that the fieldhouse, when it is finished in approximately two years, will have many of the amenities that the NHL seeks from its legacy projects under one roof made the decision a no-brainer.
"This is everything," Scott said. "When you talk about a field house that services 50,000 young adults ... children in a 3-mile radius. I mean, you can imagine how vibrant, how busy the impact that a facility like this will have on the broader community that will hopefully take a lot of the burden off of the adults and the parents in this space, because they know that when they when their children come to a place like this, they'll be safe. They'll have education provided for them to have ... sports and activities to keep them off the streets and out of trouble.
"You know, this is major and I think this particular legacy project will be one of those where we'll talk about as a best practice for years to come."
The legacy initiative is an ongoing philanthropic endeavor through which the League and its member clubs provide support to community organizations in the host city of each NHL event.
Since 2003, the NHL, its clubs and partners have donated more than $6 million to communities across North America. Projects have aided thousands of hospital patients in recovery, helped at-risk youth and families gain better access to educational and vocational training, and provided greater access to people of all ages to learn and play hockey.
