Melbourne Glaciarium

The Melbourne Glaciarium (also known as the Glacci) was the second indoor ice skating facility built in Australia after the Adelaide Glaciarium. This is the location of the first game of ice hockey played in Australia as well as the site for the formation 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.

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. 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.

Architecture and specifications
The original 2 story building was constructed out of brick with a rendered facade, using tinted cement, on City Road and also had frontage on the Yarra bank. The block that the Glaciarium sat upon measured 30.48 meters (100 feet) by 60.96 meters (200 feet). The ice surface measured 54.9 metres (180 ft) by 27.4 metres (90 ft) and featured splayed corners, it was a suitable size by international ice hockey standards. There were 2 rows of reserved seating surrounding the rink surface for use at carnivals which also had heating by a network of hot water pipes running beneath the floor of these 2 rows. The west side of the venue featured a wide promenade behind the reserved seating section and behind that were the rows of general public seating. There was a designated smokers section called a "smokers retreat". The building also housed furnished ladies and gentleman's rooms both featuring offices for skate hire, administration offices and also a basement that was used as cold storage for produce.

The Glaciarium was illuminated by electrical lighting and used twelve 1800 candlepower lights and in the event of an emergency, there were five 1000 candlepower emergency lights connected to a generator that could be switched on quickly.

The Glaciarium For Sale
In March 1923, the Melbourne Ice and Refrigeration Company went into voluntary liquidation. The property was sold at auction by Baillieu Allard Pty Ltd. for £35500.00 to Cameron Rutherland and Seward Pty. Ltd.

Ice Hockey


From the first days of being open, the Melbourne Glaciarium was intended to be a venue to hold ice hockey among other ice sports and the formation of hockey clubs began as the Glaciarium opened. In an interview published only 2 days after the Glaciarium had opened, H. Newman Reid spoke of the formation of hockey teams.

The First Ice Hockey Game Played In Australia
The birthplace of ice hockey in Australia was in the Melbourne Glaciarium in Melbourne, Victoria and was the first time and place that ice hockey had been played in the country. The first recorded game of ice hockey in Australia was on Tuesday July 17, 1906 and was between a Victorian representative team and the American sailors from the visiting American Warship the USS Baltimore. This game was held in the Melbourne Glaciarium and at 9:00pm a whistle blew to clear the public skaters from the ice surface so that the surface could be cleaned with scoops and brooms to remove the snowy covering generated by the public skating session before. The American team was made up of Warrant Machinist F. G. Randell (team captain), Seaman F. Brooks, First-class Fireman T. H. Miller, Seaman J. Benditti, First Class fireman D. F. Kelly (goaltender) and Third Class Gunner's mate J. T. Connolly.

The Australian team were dressed in all white and the team from USS Baltimore wore white shirts with a large upper case black B on the front and center of the chest and grey trousers with red socks.

The game was played in two 15 minutes halves, using a red ball made from gutta-percha and curved heavy-headed sticks as used in English field hockey at the time. The skill level of the Australians was not seen to be up to the level of the Americans but the game was hard fought and result of the game was a 1-1 tie. The USS Baltimore team were first to score when Mr. T.H. Miller scored goal but Mr. Dunbar Poole scored off a hard shot to tie up the game.

The First Ice Hockey Association in Australia


12 September 1908 is the date of the formation of the first ice hockey association in Australia in a meeting at the Melbourne Glaciarium which occurred directly after an ice hockey game between the Brighton Ice Hockey Club and the Melburnians, which resulted in a 2-2 tie. The meeting was for the purpose of organising a club for the following season and the following committee was appointed: Lorimer, Ward, Errol F. Woods, W. Purbrick and Andrew Lambert Reid. Mr. Purbrick was nominated as honorable Treasurer and Mr. Reid was nominated as the Secretary.

The name of the association was the Victorian Amateur Ice Hockey Association (VAIHA). The association consisted of 4 ice hockey clubs:
 * Beavers
 * Brighton
 * Glaciarium
 * Melburnians

The Glaciarium Ice Hockey Club were the first ice hockey club to form in Australia, in 1907 and they are named for the Melbourne Glaciarium as the in house representative team. The remainder of the original 3 teams were formed in 1908. The Melburnians IHC consisted of the Melbourne Grammar School field hockey team and the team was named the Melburnians after the school. The Brighton IHC team were also named after a school, Brighton Grammar School.

The first state championship series in Australia was held in the Melbourne Glaciarium between 14 September 1909 - 27 September 1909. The final game was held on the evening of 27 September 1909 and was between the Glaciarium and Melburnians. The Glaciarium won the championship final by a score of 3-0 and were awarded gold medals.