The Ice Arena (stylised as IceArenA), formerly Snowdome and Mt Thebarton Snow and Ice, is an ice sports and public skate centre, located in

Thebarton Thebarton ( ), formerly Theberton, on Kaurna land, is an inner-western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of West Torrens. The suburb is bounded by the River Torrens to the north, Port Road and Bonython Park to the east, Kintore St ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. The centre is the home of the Ice Factor Foundation Inc and the ice sports associations (SAISA, IHSA, and BASA), and their respective clubs, including Adelaide Adrenaline ( AIHL),

Adelaide Rush The Adelaide Rush is an Australian amateur ice hockey team from Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2005 as the Adelaide Assassins, the Rush, who were also known as the Adrenaline for four years, have been a member of the Australian Women's Ic ...

( AWIHL), and Adelaide Generals (

AJIHL The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League (AJIHL) is an elite amateur national ice hockey league in Australia, open to players 20 years of age or younger. History The Australian Junior Ice Hockey League was first announced on 18 September 2012 by ...

History

The centre first opened in 1981 as the Ice Arena with a full size skating rink surrounded by a speed skating track.
In late 1987, the centre closed for the construction of the world's first

indoor ski slope Indoor skiing is done in a climate-controlled environment with snowmaking, artificially produced snow. This enables skiing and snowboarding to take place regardless of outdoor temperatures. Facilities for both alpine skiing and nordic skiing a ...

and reopened in 1988 as Mt Thebarton Snow and Ice, featuring what was reported to be the world's first indoor ski slope on artificial snow. 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 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 ...

s (one large 56×26m rink and one smaller 30×15m surface). The centre underwent a further name change to Snowdome Adelaide.
The facility temporarily closed in June 2005 due to the running costs of the centre, but it re-opened minus the indoor ski slope with the new name of IceArenA. On 4 March 2016, the large ice was closed due to issues with the pipe works under the large ice. Media release stated that Ice Arena were in discussions with the government. On 7 May 2016, the large ice reopened, with various dignitaries in attendance, after a government grant was provided to purchase a new, modern refrigeration plant. On 15 September 2021, the Ice Arena helped launch the National Hockey Super League (NHSL), Australia's first professional ice hockey league. The arena reopened in November 2023 after a change of management.

Events

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.

References

External links

IceArenA official site

IceArenA Facebook

Ice Skating Australia
{{Ice hockey in Australia Indoor ski resorts Ski areas and resorts in South Australia Tourist attractions in Adelaide 1981 establishments in Australia Sports venues completed in 1981 Figure skating venues in Australia Ice hockey venues in Australia Speed skating venues in Australia Sports venues in Adelaide Indoor arenas in Australia

History

Events

See also

References

External links