The William Allman Memorial Arena

The grand old shrine celebrates 100 years in 2024

Paul Wilker, Gord Conroy

The Classic City Arena built along Lakeside Drive in 1924 had artificial ice cooling facilities and in 1996 was renamed the William Allman Memorial Arena in honour of its long-time building manager. 

The original Waterloo Street Arena with only natural ice where Howie Morenz, The Stratford Streak,  once played  was built in 1886. It was a mammoth building with an ice surface 200 feet by 89 feet used for skating, curling and hockey in the winter.  It was bounded by Water Street, Waterloo Street South, and what is now referred to as Lakeside Drive. It fronted onto Waterloo Street and stretched to the east, parallel to Water Street. In the summer, it was used for dances, boxing matches and silent movies. 

It was eventually enlarged by the addition of a curling rink which ran to the north off the hockey rink's east end. It never did have the insulation and ice plant to meet the increasing needs of hockey teams, recreational skaters and curlers, so in the early 1920s, a committee was formed to built a modern arena.

The Stratford Classic City Arena was built in 1924 in just 66 days. Its original main entrance was off North Street. When the new lobby area was built at the other (west) end of the rink on Nile Street in the 1950s, the main entrance was changed to the north end of Nile Street, which has since been renamed Morenz Drive. As mentioned, in 1996, the arena was renamed the William Allman Memorial Arena after its longtime building manager.   

Dozens of banners now hang from its rafters in testimony to the championship seasons that have played out on its ice for almost a century. It has hosted title and trophy wins by teams at all levels. For more than half of its years it has been home to one of the most successful junior B franchises in Canada.