National Ice Centre facts for kids
 |
|
.jpg)
The public rink at the National Ice Centre
|
|
| Location | Bolero Square The Lace Market Nottingham NG1 1LA United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°57′10″N 1°8′22″W / 52.95278°N 1.13944°W |
| Owner | Nottingham City Council |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1993 |
| Opened | 1 April 2000 |
| Construction cost | £43 million |
The National Ice Centre (NIC) is a super cool place for ice skating and live shows in Nottingham, England. It's located just east of the city centre, near the old Lace Market area.
This centre was the first in the UK to have two Olympic-sized ice rinks. An Olympic-sized rink is 60 meters long and 30 meters wide, which is huge! It really helped ice skating grow in the country.
The NIC also includes the Motorpoint Arena Nottingham, which is a big venue for concerts and other events. So, it's a place for both fun on the ice and exciting live entertainment.
The first ice rink, inside the Arena, opened on April 1, 2000. It was opened by the famous Olympic Gold Medalist, Jayne Torvill. The second Olympic rink opened a year later, on April 7, 2001.
Contents
Building the Ice Centre
From Old to New
The National Ice Centre was built where an older building, the Nottingham Ice Stadium, used to be. That stadium opened way back in 1939 and was getting quite old.
Plans to replace the old stadium were first announced in September 1995. The new centre was expected to cost about £13 million. Some of this money came from the National Lottery, which helps fund good causes across the UK.
Honoring Ice Legends
To make space for the new ice centre, some old buildings had to be taken down. The old Ice Stadium closed in March 2000. By May 2000, it was almost completely gone.
This old stadium was where Olympic ice dancing champions Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) used to train. To honor their amazing achievements, the square in front of the new building was named 'Bolero Square'.
Cool Discoveries
During the digging for the new building in July 1998, something very old was found. Workers discovered a rare 1,100-year-old jug from the Saxon times! You can see this jug on display at the Nottingham Castle Museum.
They also found a graveyard from the 1800s under the car park. The bodies were carefully moved from there.
Grand Opening and Special Visits
.jpg)
The National Ice Centre officially opened on April 1, 2000, with Olympic champion Jayne Torvill. Public ice skating sessions started that same month.
The second part of the project, the 'family rink', opened earlier than planned on April 7, 2001. The whole project ended up costing £43 million. A big part of this money, 10%, came from the National Lottery.
A very special visitor, HM The Queen, came to see the National Ice Centre and Nottingham Arena on July 31, 2002.
What You Can Do at the NIC
Two Amazing Rinks
The Arena, which opened in April 2000, is super flexible. It can be an Olympic-sized ice rink for sports or a concert venue. When there's a concert, the ice is covered, and seats and a stage are set up. It can hold 7,500 people for ice sports and 10,000 for concerts.
The second Olympic Rink, sometimes called the 'family rink', opened in April 2001. This is where most public ice skating sessions and fun family events happen.
With these two rinks, the NIC is perfect for all sorts of ice sports. You can try ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, and synchronized skating. Many top ice skaters also train here, alongside beginners.
Home of Speed Skating
The National Ice Skating Association (NISA) has chosen the National Ice Centre as a special training place for Short Track Speed Skating. It's where the GB (Great Britain) Short Track Speed Skating Squad trains.
For example, the team prepared here for the 2018 Winter Olympics before heading to PyeongChang.
One of the squad members is Elise Christie, who was a triple ISU World Champion in 2017. She even broke the 500-meter short track speed skating world record in 2016! The NIC proudly displays a banner calling her the "fastest woman on ice."
Ice Stars TV Show
The National Ice Centre was the filming location for an award-winning TV documentary series called Ice Stars. This show, made for CBBC, followed young ice skaters at the NIC as they learned different ice sports.
There have been three series of Ice Stars so far, with the first one airing in 2015. The show featured young ice hockey players, speed skaters, and teams from the Nottingham Synchronized Skating Academy. It also showed members of the NIC Figure Skating & Ice Dance Academy.
The NIC helped with the show to get more people interested in ice skating across the UK. Ice Stars is listed as a live-action program in the BBC children's TV programmes list.
Being Green and Eco-Friendly
The National Ice Centre is an Industry Green accredited venue. This means it's dedicated to using much less energy. The centre thinks about how much electricity, water, heat, and gas it uses. It also considers the actions of its staff, contractors, and visitors.
The NIC works to manage its impact on the environment by looking at:
- How much electricity, water, heat, gas, and other resources are used.
- How much waste and pollution is created and how it's disposed of.
- Emissions from travel related to the centre.
On April 22, 2017, the NIC took part in Earth Day. For one hour that day, the centre powered itself entirely from the sun using solar panels! This hour of energy is like using 40 hairdryers for 30 minutes every day for a whole year. To encourage eco-friendly travel, customers who came by public transport or walked got an ice skating discount.
