 North entrance in March 2006 | |
| Full name | The Pettit National Ice Center |
|---|---|
| Former names | Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink (outdoors, 1967–1991) |
| Address | 500 South 84th Street |
| Location | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Capacity | 2,500 – major events on oval |
| Surface | Ice – 400 m oval, two hockey rinks |
| Construction | |
| Opened | January 1, 1993 |
| Construction cost | $ 13 million (U.S.) |
| Website | |
| thepettit.com | |
The Pettit National Ice Center is an indoor ice skating facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, featuring two international-size ice rinks and a 400-meter speed skating oval. Located adjacent to Wisconsin State Fair Park, the center opened on January 1, 1993, and was named for Milwaukee philanthropists Jane and Lloyd Pettit. Pettit National Ice Center Inc., a non-profit organization, has operated the site since the facility opened.[1]
The Pettit Center replaced, and was constructed on land once occupied by, the Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink,[2] an outdoor facility that was in operation from 1967 to 1991. The indoor climate-controlled Pettit Center was a major improvement and continues to attract many skating athletes from around the world. The Wisconsin Speedskating Club, Pinnacle Speedskating Club and DASH speedskating Club all train at the Pettit Center. The Wisconsin Figure Skating Club and Wisconsin Edge synchronized skating team practices on the figure skating rinks, shared with the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals and many other youth ice hockey organizations who use the facility.
The rink[]
The Pettit is one of only thirty indoor 400-meter ovals in the world, the sixth oldest, and is an official US Speedskating training facility. The Pettit has hosted numerous skating competitions, including the National Short and Long Track Speed Skating Championships, the 2000 World Allround Championships,the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Long Track Speed Skating in 2018 and again in 2022. The elevation of the facility at street level is approximately 720 feet (220 m) above sea level.
The rink also hosts a skating school that offers classes for children and adults in figure skating, ice hockey, and speed skating.
Olympic speed skating gold medalists Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen were the rink's first skaters.
Facility statistics[]
- $13 million facility
- Area:
- 200,000 square feet (19,000 m2) — total building
- 155,000 square feet (14,400 m2) — arena
- 97,000 square feet (9,000 m2) of total ice
- 400-meter oval designed for long track speed skating
- Two Olympic-sized (30 m × 61 m (98 ft × 200 ft)) rinks for ice hockey, figure skating, and short track speed skating
- 443-meter, three-lane run/walk track surrounding the ice oval
- 140-person capacity Hall of Fame lounge overlooking the ice arena
- Skate rental facilities with figure, hockey and speed skates
- Public Skating is available daily October-March
References[]
- ↑ Report Highlights. An Audit: State Fair Park. Janice Mueller, state auditor (June 2006).
- ↑ "Wisconsin speed skate rink trains champs, loses money", Spokesmna-Review, February 14, 1976, p. 16.
External links[]
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Pettit National Ice Center. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |