^^ Great stuff people!Two postcards of the Glaciarium that used to be on City Road, demolished to make way for Southgate.Soon after Reid's Adelaide rink closed, a full-blown rink capable of International standard skating and ice hockey opened in Melbourne on June 9th or 11th, 1906, at South Gate near the present State Theatre. Gone was the pond-style shape of the Adelaide experiment; this was the first ice arena in Australia and the 3rd-largest rink in the world after two US rinks. Melbourne Glaciarium occupied a land area of almost an acre, or about four standard suburban residential blocks. The 2-storey building was 112m (369 ft) long by 42m (139ft) wide, with a total floor area of 9,530 square metres, or 1,036 imperial squares including elaborate office, cloakrooms, engine and boiler rooms. The ice surface was 180ft by 90ft (54.9m x 27.4m; The Argus, 23 Aug 1930, p 25), or about 1,500 square metres. The minimum size for International hockey matches at that time was reportedly 54m by 23m or 1,242 square metres; the size of the Sydney rink, built the next year, which was actually smaller than Melbourne. In 1925, "The Glassy", as it was popularly known, accommodated a grand piano in an orchestra area conducted by Frank Bladen, who had played with the Pavlova and Gilbert and Sullivan orchestras. It had seating for 2,000 people and it hired 1,500 pairs of skates. Up to 5,000 people attended hockey matches and ice and snow sports carnivals at any one time.Known as the 'The Academy of Skating', Reid managed it initially. The first instructor was Professor Brewer, the "Professional Champion Ice Skater of the World" from Prince's Skating Rink in London, and many others followed, including Professors Claude Langley, Bobby Jackson, Jack Gordon, Lena Uksila, Henry Witte, Dawn Hunter and Felix Kaspar, an Austrian who had been interned during the war as an enemy alien. Kaspar was most-famous of all. He was World Champion in 1937 and 1938; he taught Reid's daughter, Mireylees; and he was also an instructor at Sydney Glaciarium. Other world-famous instructors included Rhona Thael and brother Cliff; Canadian gold medallist, John McKilligan and his wife; and Melbourne-born Albert Enders and his wife and skating partner Sadie. The Melbourne rink seated many thousands because it was also the first purpose-built theatre for exhibiting motion pictures in Australia; one of many such credits due to Reid's syndicate partner, British-based impresario, T J West. The Glaciarium was the first theatre in the world to ever show a true double-feature on May 15th, 1911, and Australia's first colour cinematography in February 1912.A newsreel of the time apparently shows the first building was destroyed by fire in 1917. Its original ice pad of 1,347 square metres was dimensioned for International ice hockey and skating. If it was destroyed, its replacement (pictured above from City Road) re-opened on the same site soon after, because there was little loss of income during those years. The Argus newspaper in Melbourne reported on April 30th, 1917, "The suspension of ice-skating in Melbourne during the summer months would appear not to have diminished the popularity of the pastime, for at the opening of the season at the Glaciarium on Saturday the rink was crowded at both the afternoon and evening sessions. The rink will be open every afternoon and evening." It was managed by Leo Molloy, who continued in that role until it closed. Ice hockey, speed skating, local and International ice shows and skating exhibitions, famous bands and even circuses continued there until the outbreak of the second world war, resuming again in 1946. It was even converted into makeshift film studios in 1924-5 for the film Jewelled Nights, an adaptation of a novel by Marie Bjelke-Petersen and starring Louise Lovely (1895–1980), an Australian actress who had achieved success in Hollywood. It was home to the basketball and gymnastics competitions of the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and finally closed the year after, in 1957. It was the longest operating rink of the original indoor rink era in Australia, perhaps the world. The building was destroyed by fire on Good Friday, 1964, and this time it did not rise from its ashes. But its spirit lives on 100 years later, and considering what took place there, it is hallowed ground nonetheless. The Glaciarium was the cradle of National ice sports, a major building of National significance and, sadly, yet another of the many lost buildings of Melbourne.