The Hambly Arena was an indoor

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water or an artificial sheet of ice where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The growth and increasing popularity of ...

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, also known as the Oshawa Arena. It operated from 1930 to 1953, and was primarily used as an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

venue for the

Oshawa Generals The Oshawa Generals are a junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League. They are based in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The team is named for General Motors, an early sponsor (commercial), sponsor which has its Canadian headquarters in Oshawa. ...

. The Hambly Arena was built as a replacement to the wooden Bradley Arena, which burned down in 1928. The Hambly Arena was located at the northeast corner of Bond Street West and Arena Street, beside the

Oshawa Creek Oshawa Creek is a watercourse that flows from its headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine to its mouth on Lake Ontario, at Oshawa, Ontario. It drains a watershed of . In its lowest reaches, in Oshawa, two tributaries, Goodman's Creek and Montgomery C ...

and south of Kinsmen Stadium. The construction of the Oshawa Arena was led by the Hambly brothers, Ernie and Harold, who teamed up with

Samuel McLaughlin Colonel Robert Samuel McLaughlin, (September 8, 1871 – January 6, 1972) was a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He started the McLaughlin Motor Car Company in 1907, one of the first major automobile manufacturers in Canada, which e ...

, Paul Clark, and the

Ontario Hockey Association The Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) is the governing body for the majority of junior and senior level ice hockey teams in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1890, the OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern ...

to complete the arena. The Hamblys were local businessmen, who ran the

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

bottler and distributor in Oshawa, and McLaughlin was the founder of the

McLaughlin Motor Car Company McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited was a Canadian manufacturer of automobiles headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario. Founded by Robert McLaughlin, it once was the largest carriage manufacturing factory in the British Empire. Around 1905, Robert's ...

. Construction began during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in October 1929, and was finished in January 1930, with an estimated cost of $100,000. The arena was designed with steel roof trusses to provide an unobstructed view of an artificial ice surface that was 194 feet by 85 feet. The arena sat 3,750, and held 5,000 including standing room. The Oshawa Majors began play in 1930, and the team was reborn as the Oshawa Generals in 1937. While playing at the Hambly Arena, the Generals won seven consecutive

J. Ross Robertson Cup The J. Ross Robertson Cup is a Canadian ice hockey trophy. It is awarded annually in junior ice hockey to the champion of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs. It was donated by John Ross Robertson to the Ontario Hockey Association in 1910, an ...

titles, and three

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

championships from 1937 to 1944. The Hambly Arena burned to the ground on the morning of September 15, 1953. When the fire was extinguished, the only remains were parts of the brick facade and twisted steel, in a pile of rubble. The estimated loss was about $350,000, only partially covered by insurance. The Generals lost all of their equipment and uniforms in the fire. Due to the financial losses, and since the fire occurred only one week before the season was scheduled to begin, players were dispersed and team operations put on hiatus. The former site of the arena was occupied by a car dealership in 1955. The

Oshawa Civic Auditorium The Oshawa Civic Auditorium was an indoor arena in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. It operated from 1964 to 2006, and was primarily used as an ice hockey venue for the Oshawa Generals. The auditorium was built as a replacement to the Hambly Arena, whi ...

opened as the city's new primary hockey venue in 1964.

References

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External links

Hambly Arena profile
- The OHL Arena & Travel Guide

- The OHL Arena & Travel Guide 1930 establishments in Ontario 1953 in Canada 1953 disestablishments in Ontario Burned buildings and structures in Canada Defunct ice hockey venues in Canada Defunct indoor arenas in Canada Disasters in Ontario Event venues established in 1930 Indoor arenas in Ontario Ontario Hockey League arenas Oshawa Generals Sports venues completed in 1930 Sports venues demolished in 1953 Sports venues in Oshawa