Adelaide Glaciarium facts for kids
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Ice Palace Skating Rink
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The entrance tower as seen in 1928 from Hindley Street Adelaide SA.
State Library of South Australia B 4785 |
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| Location | 91 Hindley Street, Adelaide, 5000 |
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| Capacity | 580 |
| Surface | 35.05 metres (115 ft) × 25.6 metres (84 ft) |
| Opened | 6 September 1904 |
The Adelaide Glaciarium was Australia's very first indoor ice-skating rink! It was also known as the Ice Palace Skating Rink. You could find it on Hindley Street in Adelaide, South Australia.
This cool place was where the first "hockey on the ice" game in Australia happened. It wasn't exactly like the ice hockey we know today. It was more like roller polo but played on ice with ice skates. Even though modern ice hockey wasn't played here, the Adelaide Glaciarium helped pave the way for the Melbourne Glaciarium, which is where Australian ice hockey truly began.
Later, in 1907, the building became the Olympia Roller Skating Rink. Then, in December 1908, it changed again into a picture theatre called West's Olympia. This was Adelaide's first permanent cinema! In 1939, a new building replaced it, becoming West's Theatre.
Contents
A Look Back: The Building's Story
The building where the Glaciarium stood has a long and interesting history. It was first built in 1890 as a "Cyclorama."
What Was a Cyclorama?
The Cyclorama opened on 28 November 1890. It was a special building designed to show huge, circular paintings. These paintings would wrap all the way around the inside of a large room, making you feel like you were right in the middle of the scene! People sometimes called it the Trocadero too.
How the Cyclorama Looked
The Cyclorama building had a unique design. It faced Hindley Street with a two-storey building that had a tall dome. This part was like a fancy Victorian house.
- Tower Entrance: This was a tall, domed tower on Hindley Street. It was about 23 metres (75 feet) high! Inside the dome, there was a special room. A camera obscura would project reflections of the outside world onto the inner walls.
- Long Hallway: After entering the tower, visitors walked down a long hallway, about 29 metres (95 feet) long. This hallway led to the main Cyclorama building at the back. It had electric lights and waiting rooms.
- Main Building: This large brick building was about 40 by 35 metres (130 by 115 feet) and 14 metres (47 feet) tall. It had a huge viewing platform in the middle with spiral stairs. From here, people could look at the giant circular paintings. The roof was partly glass to let in natural light.
Seeing the Shows
The Cyclorama was open every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and again from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. They even had lectures at certain times.
The first big painting shown was Jerusalem at the Time of the Crucifixion. There was even a legal argument about whether this painting was a copy of another artist's work!
The Big Fire
Sadly, on 11 March 1899, a fire broke out at the Cyclorama. A police officer saw the flames around 2:40 am. The fire spread quickly, and despite efforts, the building was completely destroyed by 4:00 am.
The building and the paintings inside were insured, but everything was lost. This included a painting of the Battle of Waterloo and another of the Crimea War.
From Cyclorama to Glaciarium
After the fire, the Cyclorama building was bought in 1904 to be turned into an ice rink. People thought the old building was perfect for this new idea.
The remodelled building opened as the Glaciarium on 6 September 1904. It had a large ice surface, about 47 by 25 metres (155 by 84 feet), and could seat 580 guests.
Events at the Glaciarium were often advertised in The Advertiser newspaper under the "Amusements" section. They had many fun events, just like roller skating rinks did. The Glaciarium would close for the hot summer months and reopen in March.
Skating Times and Prices
You could skate at the Glaciarium during three sessions each day:
- Morning: 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
- Afternoon: 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
- Evening: 7:30 pm to 10:00 pm
Prices varied, but generally, adults paid 1 shilling and children paid 6 pence or 1 shilling, depending on the session. You could also rent skates for 1 shilling.
Fun Events at the Glaciarium
The Glaciarium hosted many exciting events:
- Basketball on Ice: In 1905, they even tried playing basketball on ice for the first time!
- Fancy Dress Carnivals: These were very popular! People would dress up in amazing costumes, and there were awards for the best, most original, or funniest outfits.
- Skating Shows: Professor James Brewer, a famous skater, often put on shows with fast skating and fancy moves.
- Races: They also held skating races, like quarter-mile hurdle races and half-mile scratch races.
Hockey on the Ice: Australia's First
The "hockey on the ice" played at the Adelaide Glaciarium was different from modern ice hockey. It was actually an ice version of roller polo, a popular sport at the time. Each team had six players, and they used hooked sticks to hit a ball (not a puck) while on ice skates.
The Very First Game
The first "hockey on the ice" match happened on 12 October 1904, during a carnival. It was played between a "Rink" team and a "Scratch" team (made up of visitors). A reporter said it was like "football on ice skates"! The game was part of a fun evening where everyone was in costume.
The game had four quarters. The Scratch Team scored two goals in the first quarter. But in the last quarter, the Rink team caught up, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw!
Early Matches and Teams
Many early matches were played between different groups. For example, on 15 May 1905, employees from local businesses like G. & R. Wills & Co. and D. & W. Murray, Limited played against each other.
The Warehouseman's Association
In May 1905, a group called the Warehouseman's Association started organizing hockey on the ice games. Six teams, made up of employees from different local companies, joined the association. These companies included:
- G. & R. Wills & Co.
- James Marshall & Co.
- Harris, Scarfe & Co.
- Clutterbuck Brothers
- D. & W. Murray Limited
- Goode, Durrant & Co.
These games were very popular, with one match drawing 800 people! On 5 July 1905, teams representing Australia and England even played a match. The final game for the championship and gold medals was on 12 August 1905, with Harris, Scarfe & Co. winning!
What Happened Next?
Roller Skating Fun
On 14 December 1907, the Glaciarium changed again. The ice was replaced with a surface for roller skating, and it became the Olympia Roller Skating Rink.
West's Pictures: A Cinema Star
In 1908, the building became West's Olympia, Adelaide's first permanent cinema. It could hold 3,000 people! They showed scenic films and exciting detective stories.
Later, in 1938, the old cinema was torn down, and a brand new, modern cinema was built. This new West's Theatre opened on 1 December 1939. It had a beautiful Art Deco design, with fancy wood and a grand foyer. It could seat 1,447 people. The last movie shown there on 28 February 1977 was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Other Uses of the Building
After the cinema closed, the building had many different lives:
- Jade Palace Restaurant: In 1978, it briefly became a Chinese restaurant.
- Sinatras: In 1979, it turned into a popular disco nightclub with mirrored tiles and velvet lounges.
- Greater Union Cinemas: In 1980, it became a cinema again, opening as Hindley Cinemas 5 & 6 in 1982. Cinema 5 showed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Cinema 6 showed The Year of Living Dangerously. Both cinemas closed in 1991.
- Meridian Time Zone: From 1994 to 2001, it was an amusement centre.
- Grainger Studio: Since 2001, the building has been the home of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra's Grainger Studio, named after composer Percy Grainger.
Images for kids
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The entrance tower as seen in 1928 from Hindley Street Adelaide SA.
State Library of South Australia B 4785 -
28 November 1890 advertisement announcing the opening night of the Adelaide Cyclorama
National Library of Australia]] -
1905 – Skaters in fancy dress at the Glaciarium.
State Library of South Australia B 62204 -
Taken at the Carnival 2 August 1905.
National Library of Australia -
Skaters on the ice during a carnival in the Glaciarium, May 1906.
National Library of Australia -
Advertisement for hockey on the ice, 4 August 1905.
National Library of Australia -
10 October 1904 ad referring to the "hockey match" as being polo.
National Library of Australia -
Costumed roller skaters at the Carnival (1908)
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Interior of West's Olympia (1936)
See also
- List of ice rinks in Australia
