Broadmoor Ice Palace today.

[FSWer]

Say,I was wondering about it. Broadmoor Ice Palace (aka the Arena that held the 1961 Nationals). Does anyone know if it's still around? Did it survive into the 21rst Cent.? If so. Does it still hold Competitions and Shows. Is it also home to any famous Skaters or Learn to Skate classes,or Synchronized Skating?

[barbk]

No, the old World Arena has been torn down, sadly.

The current "World Arena" is by I25, has both an arena and separate practice ice, and is home to lots of famous skaters (Patrick Chan, Rachael Flatt,...)

[Sylvia]

Here's an article about the history of the old Broadmoor Ice Palace, later renamed the World Arena: http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...or.html?cat=14
Excerpts:

For 56 years the Broadmoor World Arena was an elemental thread in Colorado Springs' civic fabric. A perpetually loose, informal aura cast a chill shadow across long practice hours, open skate sessions, a regular stream of high-profile international, collegiate and high school hockey games, and, of course, internationally famous figure skating competitions. The origins of today's ten-year-old Colorado Springs World Arena, is an important story. What collection of events brought us to the freewheeling good times now a decade underway at the silver cylinder atop Venetucci and Interstate 25? What, indeed, is in a name? Why "World Arena"? The Broadmoor Ice Palace, renamed World Arena in 1961, was rich with sports history. Without five decades of top-caliber Broadmoor ice events, it is doubtful that Colorado Springs would have a modern multi-use facility like the current World Arena, opened January 1998.
...
As the 1970s grew old, the World Arena's vibrancy persisted. A feature length Columbia Motion Picture, 1978's Ice Castles, includes prominent shots involving the arena and nearby locations. The United States Figure Skating Association reached an agreement with Columbia that allowed numerous skaters to appear as extras without losing their amateur status. More than 100 individuals from the Broadmoor Skating Club appeared in Ice Castles. The lead role was played by 1974 U.S. Novice Ladies' Silver Medallist, Lynn-Holly Johnson, who trained on the Broadmoor ice.

ETA: The article mentions that the Broadmoor Ice Palace opened to the public on January 1, 1938, and the demolition of the (renamed) World Arena took place in March 1994.

[FSWer]

Gee,was it torn down quite by coencidence because of it being run-down? Or because of memeries of the Skaters who died in the Plane Crash? BTW. was it built on that exact spot? Is it were the origal was? Or what is there now? BTW. are ther any savaged photos of the outside/inside of the old Rink?

[joannskater]

The rink was torn down in 1994. Yes, it was run-down, but the Broadmoor Hotel no longer wanted an ice rink on the hotel grounds. The Colorado Springs World Arena continues some of the tradition since it is the home of the Broadmoor Skating Club. What is there now is what we locals call "The Bench" that remembers the skaters killed in the 1961 plane crash. There is a hotel building on the land where the rink was. Here's a link to some information on the club: http://figureskating.about.com/od/pr...roadmoorsc.htm

[FSWer]

The rink was torn down in 1994. Yes, it was run-down, but the Broadmoor Hotel no longer wanted an ice rink on the hotel grounds. The Colorado Springs World Arena continues some of the tradition since it is the home of the Broadmoor Skating Club. What is there now is what we locals call "The Bench" that remembers the skaters killed in the 1961 plane crash. There is a hotel building on the land where the rink was. Here's a link to some information on the club: http://figureskating.about.com/od/pr...roadmoorsc.htm

How run Down-was it? Were things broken,etc.? Why wouldn't the Hotel no longger want an Ice Rink on their grounds? I should think that they would. As it must have given busness to the Hotel? Skaters...if you know what I mean. By deciding they didn't want a Rink. They gave up busness. So there''s ANOTHER hotel built right were it was? What Hotel is it,and is there anything at the Hotel remembering what happened there? If you go in I mean?

[Sylvia]

Here's a short history of the Broadmoor Ice Palace:
http://www.d11.org/bristol/Bristol_w...0_icepalac.htm
Excerpt:

In 1961, the Broadmoor Skating Club received devastating news. Edi and the entire United States Olympic figure skating team headed to Prague for the World Figure Skating Championships. En route, their plane crashed and Edi and the entire American team, plus other coaches, team managers, officials, friends and relatives were all killed. The World Skating Championships were cancelled that year in memory of the American team. The Broadmoor Skating Club created its own memorial to those who perished. A skate-shaped granite bench was placed outside the front entrance to the rink with the names of the Broadmoor Skating Club skaters who died inscribed upon it.

This wasn't the end of the Broadmoor Ice Palace although the name was changed to the Broadmoor World Arena. Thayer Tutt searched for the best coach he could find. He hired Carlo Fassi who ended up coaching Peggy Fleming at the Arena. She went on to win the Olympic Gold Medal at Grenoble in 1968.

The Broadmoor World Arena was torn down in 1993 and in its place are more deluxe rooms as well as meeting rooms for the Broadmoor Hotel. Now for ice skating events, people drive to the World Arena located on the southside of Colorado Springs. The picture of the Broadmoor Ice Palace makes for a good memory of a special time and a special group of talented people.

[Iceman]

I thought from your title you were saying something was happening there today.

[Sylvia]

Here's a photo of the "skate-shaped granite bench" memorial on the grounds of the Broadmoor hotel (near where the original Broadmoor Ice Palace rink stood): http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._4698182_n.jpg

Facebook page where the photo is from: http://www.facebook.com/notes/broadm...50090851802444

[FSWer]

Here's a photo of the "skate-shaped granite bench" memorial on the grounds of the Broadmoor hotel (near where the original Broadmoor Ice Palace rink stood): http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._4698182_n.jpg

Facebook page where the photo is from: http://www.facebook.com/notes/broadm...50090851802444

It doesn't look like all names were put on it. BTW. I was wondering how they desided on a Bench to Dedicate to the Skaters? Do we have a history on that? Also it looks like so far so good. But I surely hope the Broadmoor Police are watching it for vandulisum.

[Sylvia]

The names on the bench memorial are of the 8 Broadmoor Skating Club member skaters who died in the 1961 plane crash: Edi Scholdan (coach) and his son Jimmy, Stephanie and Sharon Westerfeld, Greg and Nathalie Kelley and Laurie and William Hickox.

From the Facebook page:

A marble memorial to the members of the Broadmoor Skating Club who lost their lives was dedicated February 15, 1964. The memorial represents a skate blade and functions as a bench. It is set beside the lake in front of the location of the former World Arena where Edi [Scholdan] and the skaters made it a habit to rest between lessons and practice sessions.

[barbk]

How run Down-was it? Were things broken,etc.? Why wouldn't the Hotel no longger want an Ice Rink on their grounds? I should think that they would. As it must have given busness to the Hotel? Skaters...if you know what I mean. By deciding they didn't want a Rink. They gave up busness. So there''s ANOTHER hotel built right were it was? What Hotel is it,and is there anything at the Hotel remembering what happened there? If you go in I mean?

I was last in the building in 1988. It was a creaky old wooden building, some gaps in the wood, cold, and with bathroom/locker room facilities that were quite out-of-date. In addition to the main arena, there was a smaller subsidiary rink (often used for curling) in another part of the arena. It was used for the skating club, for Colorado College hockey matches, and curling. It was not in the least up to ADA standards, and probably could not have been so adapted without major bucks. (It was still lovely, with banners for world champions hanging around the arena.)

The Broadmoor is a very, very high end resort hotel -- probably the finest in Colorado. The World Arena took up prominent and desirable land on the lake behind the Broadmoor, and I'm not at all surprised that the hotel thought that an expansion would yield more revenue than the World Arena. (The expansion is of the Broadmoor, not of a different hotel entirely.)

I don't think that the Broadmoor has a big vacancy rate at any time, so I'm not sure that the presence/absence of the World Arena on the premises makes much difference. (I think that at some of the international skating events the USFSA has put up the judges & international officials at the Broadmoor even though the competition has been held at the new arena. Most other attendees probably wouldn't be able to afford the Broadmoor's charges.)

[flatsee]

I recall going to a Fourth of July show there-possibly the last show ever held-at the Broadmoor in July 1993. Our family had been visiting the museum and happened to stop by the rink just as the show was starting and it turned out to be terrific. The roster included Paul Wylie, Scott Davis, Nicole Bobek, who all did a bunch of triples.
I think Scott and Nicole were training w/Kathy Casey there at the time and I remember them checking their takeoff and landing etchings on the ice when the lights came up after the show.
The rink had a cool feel to it-there were banners hanging with the names of all the U.S. and World champions all over, but you could definitely tell the venue needed some renovations.
I'm just glad I was able to get there before it went away!

[FSWer]

I was last in the building in 1988. It was a creaky old wooden building, some gaps in the wood, cold, and with bathroom/locker room facilities that were quite out-of-date. In addition to the main arena, there was a smaller subsidiary rink (often used for curling) in another part of the arena. It was used for the skating club, for Colorado College hockey matches, and curling. It was not in the least up to ADA standards, and probably could not have been so adapted without major bucks. (It was still lovely, with banners for world champions hanging around the arena.)

The Broadmoor is a very, very high end resort hotel -- probably the finest in Colorado. The World Arena took up prominent and desirable land on the lake behind the Broadmoor, and I'm not at all surprised that the hotel thought that an expansion would yield more revenue than the World Arena. (The expansion is of the Broadmoor, not of a different hotel entirely.)

I don't think that the Broadmoor has a big vacancy rate at any time, so I'm not sure that the presence/absence of the World Arena on the premises makes much difference. (I think that at some of the international skating events the USFSA has put up the judges & international officials at the Broadmoor even though the competition has been held at the new arena. Most other attendees probably wouldn't be able to afford the Broadmoor's charges.)

You...SAW the inside of that Rink? Do you mean you were the last person to see it? So yo mean those were the Skaters who had that Rink as a Home base,right? Is there anything that actually (along with the Bench) is Dedicated to ALL the victums and Skaters? BTW. is there anyone here who actually DID go to see the 1961 Nationals there?

[VALuvsMKwan]

You...SAW the inside of that Rink? Do you mean you were the last person to see it? So yo mean those were the Skaters who had that Rink as a Home base,right? Is there anything that actually (along with the Bench) is Dedicated to ALL the victums and Skaters? BTW. is there anyone here who actually DID go to see the 1961 Nationals there?

Dana, I think that she meant the last time that she herself was in the building, not the last time anybody at all was in it.

[Frau Muller]

I......I don't think that the Broadmoor has a big vacancy rate at any time, so I'm not sure that the presence/absence of the World Arena on the premises makes much difference. ......)

It probably had something to do with liability insurance.

[attyfan]

IIRC, the 1994 World Junior Championships were held in Broadmoor in late '93 That event included the first competition between Kwan and Slutskaya; the Russian men's team included Alexei Yagudin, Ilia Kulik and Alexander Abt. Anyone know if this World Junior event was held in the new arena or the old one?

[FSWer]

Is there anyone here who actually DID see the inside of that Rink? Or did indeed see the 1961 Nationals there? Also,was there a Synchronized Skating Team there before it was torn down? BTW. we know they had to replenish the Olympic Team. I'm also believing because of the crash that they had to also replenish the Skating Club? If this is true....how long did it take to do so? Say,can anyone btw. get me a copy of the 1961 Nationals?

[icetiff]

The old Broadmoor rink had so much history to it. I started skating there and I believe I am the last skater still competing that started skating at the original Broadmoor rink. The last memory I have of the rink was the last day the rink was open right before they tore it down, they drove a white limo onto the ice after each practice session, and each of us skaters would climb into limo with our skates on and they would take us for a lap outside around the Broadmoor hotel. They wanted all the skaters to say goodbye to the rink in style. I will never forget that day.

[Yazmeen]

Dana, not everyone who perished in the 61 accident was a member of the Broadmoor club, so they didn't really have to replenish the full club so to speak. Also, that competition was 50 years ago, so it is doubtful anyone here on this board was there. There is some video available on the competition on youtube. You can look up the skater by name. Not all performances are there, and not all of the available clips are a full program, but you can still see quite a bit. One thing: the clips are in black and white, and will look very fuzzy and poor quality compared to what you'd see today, but that was the only technology available back then.

Here is Laurence Owen as an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0114AudgYms

You can find other performances when you watch this clip.