Melbourne Glaciarium

Melbourne Glaciarium

Harold Paynting Collection, State Library of Victoria
Location	16 City Road, South Melbourne, 3205
Surface	54.9 metres (180 ft) × 27.4 metres (90 ft)
Opened	9 June 1906

The Melbourne Glaciarium (also known as the Glaci) opened in1906, the second indoor ice skating facility built in Australia after the Adelaide Glaciarium. The Glaci hosted the first game of ice hockey played in Australia and was the home of the first ice hockey association in Australia. At the time the Melbourne Glaciarium was opened, it was the 3rd largest indoor ice rink in the world. The rink closed in 1957 and was soon demolished.

The Melbourne Glaciarium was officially opened at 3:00pm on 9 June 1906 with, then, Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sir Henry Weedon being part of the opening ceremony. It was estimated that 2500 people, invited by the directors, attended the opening of the Glaciarium, where an exhibition of "free skating" was conducted by Professor Brewer before the first general skating session in Melbourne began with 50 experienced skaters skating to the orchestral music being played. Later that evening the Glaciarium was opened to the general public and was almost over crowded. There was an exhibition of hockey played on skates which would resemble field hockey which professor Brewer and other instructors gave an exhibition of.

The original 2 story building was constructed out of brick with a rendered facade, using tinted cement, on City Road and also had frontage on the Yarra bank. The block that the Glaciarium sat upon measured 30.48 meters (100 feet) by 60.96 meters (200 feet). The ice surface measured 54.9 metres (180 ft) by 27.4 metres (90 ft) and featured splayed corners, it was a suitable size by international ice hockey standards. There were 2 rows of reserved seating surrounding the rink surface for use at carnivals which also had heating by a network of hot water pipes running beneath the floor of these 2 rows. The west side of the venue featured a wide promenade behind the reserved seating section and behind that were the rows of general public seating. There was a designated smokers section called a "smokers retreat". The building also housed furnished ladies and gentleman's rooms both featuring offices for skate hire, administration offices and also a basement that was used as cold storage for produce.

The Glaciarium was illuminated by electrical lighting and used twelve 1800 candlepower lights and in the event of an emergency, there were five 1000 candlepower emergency lights connected to a generator that could be switched on quickly.

In the year 1920, the Melbourne Glaciarium did not use the ice floor but due to the popularity of dancing it was converted into a Palais de Dance. The following year the Glaciarium arranged to meet the requirements of both dancers and ice skaters by keeping a large part of the floor for dancing. The dancing floor had enough room for an approximated 150 couples. The ice rink opened to ice skaters again on 5 May 1921 with upgrades to increase comfort. Radiators were fitted to the boxes for spectators as well as in the refreshments annex.