The Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation has launched Project Power Play 2.0, a commitment to the protection and enhancement of the various community dek hockey rinks built by the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation and Highmark.

The initiative follows the Penguins Foundation’s Project Power Play, an ongoing, decade-plus long venture that provides outdoor, multi-use facilities to thousands of kids in the tri-state area. The project originally budgeted over $2.3 million to construct 12 dek hockey rinks in the Pittsburgh area, and later funded the construction of three additional deks for a total of 15. The Foundation is now set to invest an additional $100,000 over the next two years, after recent evaluations indicated requests for revitalization.

The Penguins Foundation fulfilled one-time matching grants of up to $15,000 to organizations that demonstrated an ongoing commitment to the preservation of these projects, a goal that the Foundation shares. Matching grants also support the permanent removal of any rinks deemed irreparable.

Current funds are aiding five existing dek hockey rinks around the Pittsburgh area in Oakmont (Riverside Park), McCandless (North Park), Richland Township (Richland Community Park), South Park Township (South Park) and Oakdale (Settler’s Cabin Park).

Additional renovations are expected to take place this coming spring in hopes of re-opening these surfaces next summer.