Melbourne Glaciarium
Location
16 City Road, South Melbourne, Victoria 3205
Surface
54.9 meters x 27.4 meters
Date Opened
9 June, 1906
Date Closed
The Melbourne Glaciarium (also known as the Glaci) opened in 1906, 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.[1][2] The rink closed in 1957 and was soon demolished.
History
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.[3] 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.[4][5]