Dartmouth has announced a project to renovate Rupert C. Thompson Arena that will modernize locker rooms and team spaces, and benefit team building, student-athlete development, and future recruiting.
Thompson Arena has been the home of Dartmouth men’s and women’s hockey since opening in 1975. The 11,050-square-foot renovation will provide both programs with new locker rooms, team lounges, sports medicine spaces, a weight room, a coaches’ suite, as well as a new donor and fan hospitality space on the concourse level.
“This renovation will create a modern space to facilitate individual student-athlete development and team cohesion both on and off the ice,” Dartmouth director of athletics and recreation Mike Harrity said in a statement. “We’re able to provide our teams with this enhancement because of the tremendous support from our alumni, the college, and the athletics and recreation department.”
The Thompson Arena locker rooms were last renovated in the summer of 2016 with both the men’s and women’s locker rooms receiving improvements. Part of the 2016 renovation also saw updates to the playing surface including new dasher boards and glass and a new refrigeration system.
“An upgraded locker room is meaningful to our team because it will give us the ability to have more space and create a true hockey epicenter, which is important to our program,” said Dartmouth women’s hockey coach Maura Crowell. “The upgraded stalls and design will put us among the best locker rooms in the nation.”
“One of the great positives from this renovation is that everything related to Dartmouth hockey will now be under the Thompson roof,” added Big Green men’s hockey coach Reid Cashman. “Our new coaches’ suite will allow our coaches to have more integration with our student-athletes. The new locker rooms and lounges will give our student-athletes an unbelievable atmosphere to prepare on and off the ice.”
The project will be divided into three phases, with the final phase expected to be completed in the fall of 2026.
Phase one, which started in January 2025, focuses on adding to the building infrastructure of the arena. Phase two focuses on the energy upgrades to the mechanical systems which is part of Dartmouth’s decarbonization effort to reach carbon-zero operations by 2050.
Phase three will complete the interior renovations and all site work upgrades with the completion anticipated in time for the start of the season in fall 2026.
Throughout the renovations, both Dartmouth men’s and women’s hockey will continue to call Thompson Arena home.
