The Frank Ritter Memorial Ice Arena, known colloquially as "The Ritter", is an ice

arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

on the campus of the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private research university in the town of Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional ...

Henrietta Henrietta may refer to: * Henrietta (given name), a feminine given name, derived from the male name Henry Places * Henrietta Island in the Arctic Ocean * Henrietta, Mauritius * Henrietta, Tasmania, a locality in Australia United States * Henrie ...

, a suburb of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

, New York, United States. It is the former home to the

RIT Tigers The RIT Tigers are composed of 22 teams representing Rochester Institute of Technology in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, crew, cross country, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, and track and ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

teams and current home to 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 Rink 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 Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

, was a generous benefactor of RIT, and he ensured that the

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

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 box The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

es are on the west side; the visiting bench is on the east side, with the men's and women's home

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools, middle and high schools, trans ...

s underneath the east bleachers. The Pike

Press Box The press box is a special section of a sports stadium or arena that is set up for the media to report about a given event. It is typically located in the section of the stadium holding the luxury box and can be either enclosed or open to the e ...

(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 A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards in the past used ...

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. The arena was ranked the second-best rink in the

ECAC West ECAC West was a college athletic conference which operated in the northeastern United States until 2017. It participated in the NCAA's Division III as a hockey-only conference. The conference ceased to exist after the end of the 2016–17 season wh ...

(out of six) in 2003

(The only better rink was the

Utica Memorial Auditorium The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium is a 3,860-seat multi-purpose arena in Utica, New York, with a capacity of 5,700 for concerts. Nicknamed the Aud, it is the home arena of the Utica Comets, the AHL affiliate of the NHL ...

, which is a professional-level hockey arena.) The Ritter was the third-highest-capacity rink in

Atlantic Hockey The Atlantic Hockey Association (AHA) is an NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey conference which operates primarily in the northeastern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as an ice hockey-only conference. Unlike several other ...

(behind Army's Tate Rink and Air Force's

Cadet Field House Ice Arena The Cadet Field House is an indoor sports complex in the western United States, located at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, near Colorado Springs. The multi-purpose facility was built in 1968, and is at an approximate elevation of abov ...

and tied with Niagara's

Dwyer Arena The Robert and Concetta Dwyer Arena houses two ice surfaces, both 200 x 85 ft., and pro shop on Niagara University's campus in Lewiston, New York, United States. The main rink can seat up to 1,400 people and is the home to the Niagara Purple Eagle ...

). 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."
(registration required) In 2011, Rochester Institute of Technology began raising funds for the Gene Polisseni Center, which became the eventual replacement home to the varsity hockey programs in 2014. Ritter Arena remains open despite the move of the varsity hockey programs to the new center.

References

{{Rochester Sports Indoor arenas in New York (state) College ice hockey venues in the United States Indoor ice hockey venues in the United States RIT Tigers men's ice hockey RIT Tigers women's ice hockey Sports venues in Monroe County, New York Roche-Dinkeloo buildings Sports venues completed in 1968 1968 establishments in New York (state) Figure skating venues in the United States