My husband played hockey when he was younger, and he enjoys going to a game every now and then. Last weekend, we had tickets to the UMass Lowell River Hawks game in Lowell, Massachusetts at the Tsongas Center. It was a busy night, and we knew the arena was expected to be full. We planned to arrive about an hour early.
Now, some of you may remember that the day before this game, I had broken my toe. So I definitely needed accessible parking and the less walking, the better. Parking was a nightmare snarl of traffic trying to get into the parking garage which, incidentally, was half closed due to construction. We asked the attendant where the handicapped parking was located, and he replied with, “Good luck. Take it if you see it.” After driving up four stories, we ended up finding a parking spot near the elevator, but did not see any handicapped parking.
Then, we had to make our way back to the arena. Then stairs up to the entrance. Inside, the line for the elevator was very long, so we opted to go up even more stairs. It was very crowded, and I honestly can’t imagine trying to navigate all of that with a wheelchair. If you or your companions require accessible parking or seating, I advise arriving as early as they will allow for your event. While they do have some parking and an elevator, the time needed to use these things is quite a lot.
The tickets were affordable, and we had a good view. And, we got to support a local college team. I can’t and don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars for a night out, but I do enjoy the energy of a good hockey game. A bonus for me was watching the Chelmsford Squirts take the ice. They were so cute and had a great showing out on the arena. Even the guys rooting for the away team behind us cheered for these kids.
It was a really fun night once the game started, but the hectic and somewhat taxing experience of getting to the arena did detract from the evening a bit. I had been to this venue before, but never when I had trouble walking. I caution that you allow a lot of extra time in order to get an accessible parking space and get into the arena itself.