Ice rink

An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Besides recreational ice skating, some of its uses include ice hockey, bandy, rink bandy, ringette, broomball, speed skating, figure skating, ice stock sport and curling as well as exhibitions, contests and ice shows. There are two types of rinks in prevalent use today: natural, where freezing occurs from cold ambient temperatures, and artificial (or mechanically frozen), where a coolant produces cold temperatures in the surface below the water, causing the water to freeze. There are also synthetic ice rinks where skating surfaces are made out of plastics.

Etymology

Rink, a Scottish word meaning 'course', was used as the name of a place where curling was played. The name has been retained for the construction of ice areas for other sports and uses.

History

Early attempts at the construction of artificial ice rinks were first made in the 'rink mania' of 1841-44. As the technology for the maintenance of natural ice did not exist, these early rinks used a substitute consisting of a mixture of hog's lard and various salts. An item in the 8 May 1844 issue of Littell's Living Age headed "The Glaciarium" reported that "This establishment, which has been removed to Grafton street East' Tottenham Court Road, was opened on Monday afternoon. The area of artificial ice is extremely convenient for such as may be desirous of engaging in the graceful and manly pastime of skating".

Ice Arena (Adelaide)

IceArenA, located in Thebarton, Adelaide, South Australia first opened on 17 September 1981 as the Ice Arena. In late 1987, the centre closed for the construction of the world's first indoor ski slope and reopened later that year as Mt Thebarton Snow and Ice, featuring what was probably the world's first indoor ski slope on artificial snow. The centre underwent a further name change to Snowdome Adelaide. Most recently, following the closure of the Ski Slope in 2005, a final name change to IceArenA was made. The IceArenA is South Australia’s premier ice skating facility located just minutes from the Adelaide CBD.

The venue offers a wide variety of activities including ice hockey lessons, ice skating lessons, snow play sessions, school holiday skating, birthday parties, public skating sessions, and it is also the home venue of the Adelaide Adrenaline ice hockey men's and women's teams.

History

The centre first opened in 1981 with a full size skating rink surrounded by a speed skating track. The indoor snow slope was added in 1987. To accommodate the new structure supporting the ski-slope and to make room for the bottom of the slope, the concentric skating rink concept was abandoned and replaced by two ice skating rinks (one large 56×26m rink and one smaller 30×15m surface). The facility temporarily closed in June 2005 due to the running costs of the centre, but has since reopened minus the indoor slope. The financial strain was due to poor management, and also increases in the cost of public liability insurance.