The Walker Center (formerly the Clarkson Arena and Walker Arena) is an indoor multipurpose facility located in

Potsdam, New York Potsdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town population was 14,901 at the 2020 census. When the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University are in sess ...

. It was the home of the Clarkson varsity

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 ...

team from 1938 to 1991. It is currently used by Clarkson University for a variety of purposes after a $1 million renovation in 2008.

History

Ice hockey began at Clarkson in 1921 when Murray Walker organized an ice hockey club for the college. The team became popular and successful enough that the program was formally established in 1935 and an indoor rink was needed to replace the outdoor surface at Ives Park. The Clarkson Arena was completed in 1938 and played home to the ice hockey program for the next 53 years. The building was renovated multiple times, first in 1952 when artificial ice was installed then again in 1971 when heating and additional seats were added. In 1975 the building was renamed the Murray G. Walker Hockey Arena (known as the Walker Arena) in honor of the father of Clarkson ice hockey. By the late 1980s the building was beginning to show its age and plans for its replacement soon came to pass. The Walker Arena was sent out on a high note, however, as the 1990–91 men's team won its first conference tournament in 25 years with their two quarterfinal wins being the last games played at the Arena. After the hockey team transferred to the

Cheel Arena Cheel Arena is a 3,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Potsdam, New York, at Clarkson University. Cheel Arena was opened on October 26, 1991, and is named after Helen Snell Cheel, a long-time benefactor of Clarkson University, who provided a major g ...

The building was renamed the 'Walker Center' and remained mostly disused until a major renovation turned it into a multipurpose facility with a synthetic turf used by the

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

and other field programs.

References

External links

{{ECAC Hockey League Clarkson Golden Knights men's ice hockey Defunct college ice hockey venues in the United States Ice hockey venues in the United States Sports venues in New York (state) Sports venues in St. Lawrence County, New York Clarkson University 1938 establishments in New York (state) Sports venues completed in 1938