The Broadmoor World Arena was a skating rink and hockey arena located at The Broadmoor Resort & Spa in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Originally an outdoor equestrian center and riding academy, the building was enclosed and converted into an ice arena which opened in January 1938. It was the original home of the Colorado College Tigers hockey team, as well as the Broadmoor Skating Club, a major force in the figure skating community. The building served as the first home of the NCAA Hockey Championships, hosting the first ten Final Fours (1948–1957) and once more, in 1969. The arena served as host to the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in 1962. It also hosted the World Figure Skating Championships five times between 1957 and 1975.
 | |
| Former names | Broadmoor Ice Palace (1938–1960) |
|---|---|
| Location | The Broadmoor 1 Lake Ave Colorado Springs, CO 80906 |
| Owner | The Broadmoor |
| Operator | The Broadmoor |
| Capacity | 3,000 |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1937 (conversion) |
| Opened | January, 1938 (ice arena) |
| Closed | March 1994 |
| Demolished | 1994 |
| Tenants | |
| Broadmoor Skating Club (1939–1994) Colorado College Tigers (NCAA) (1938–1994) | |
With wooden seats, red aisle carpeting, and wildlife paintings on the walls, the arena had an intimate atmosphere that reflected its lakeside, resort hotel setting.
The arena was the primary arena setting in the 1978 movie Ice Castles.[1]
In 1993, the Broadmoor announced that it would be closing the arena to make room for a $27 million expansion of the resort. It closed in March 1994. The last major event held at the arena was the 1994 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. The Tigers moved their hockey games to the similarly-named World Arena.
In April 2014, after an agreement with the Anschutz Entertainment Group (owners of The Broadmoor resort), the World Arena in south Colorado Springs was formally renamed the Broadmoor World Arena, in order to take advantage of the name recognition of the original building.[2]
There is a memorial on the grounds of the hotel to the members of the 1961 US Figure Skating team, all of whom perished in the crash of their flight to the 1961 championships near Brussels, Belgium. Many of them had trained at the Broadmoor.
References
edit- ^ Andrew Wineke (October 27, 2005). "Willis and crew film at Springs restaurant:Other movies filmed in Colorado Springs". The Gazette. Colorado Springs, CO. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
- ^ Moix, Cameron "AEG deal results in new name, more events for World Arena" [1] April 16, 2014 Colorado Springs Business Journal (Accessed January 3, 2015)