Avalon Arena Association

lities in the St. The group headed by Mr. David Riche, included Eric Rowe, Rosemary Marshall, Ruth Esau, Gerry March, Pauline Young and Bill Pike. On August 23, 1972 the Avalon Arena Association was incorporated as a non-profit, charitable organization. A piece of land was leased from the City of St. John’s and an additional piece of land was purchased. (The Avalon Arena Association now owns all property.) In June of 1976, Twin Rinks opened the doors for business. The first events held at Twin Rinks in the summer of 1976 were Howie Meeker’s Hockey School and a Regional Figure Skating Summer School. Since then there have been many hockey and skating schools held at the facility. Regional, Provincial and Atlantic events have been hosted at Twin Rinks by both St. John’s Minor Hockey Association and Prince of Wales Skating Club. Mark Messier of the Edmonton Oilers also used this facility for his hockey school. The City of St. John’s has been very helpful to Twin Rinks over the years and their support has been very much appreciated. St. John’s Minor Hockey Association and Prince of Wales Skating Club are the two main users of the facility, enabling many of our youth to participate in the sport of their choice. The population in the 1970’s was much higher than today and Twin Rinks was the answer to the lack of ice facilities. Today, with a declining population we are faced with the same need as we faced 36 years ago, but for a different reason. Today there is much more emphasis on athlete development. Fewer numbers require more ice time to help our athletes reach their potential. As well, many of our user groups are long time patrons, who use the ice for adult recreational and team hockey. During the weekdays we have groups who are retired and use Twin Rinks to continue playing the sport into their senior years. Over the past 10 years, there have been upgrades to the building at a cost of over $1.5 Million. The roof now has a life span of 20 years, our ice plant has been upgraded, the parking lot was enlarged, two new Olympia Ice Machines purchased as well as a new score clock, the bleachers have been replaced and probably the most appreciated of all was the construction of new dressing rooms, giving teams twice the amount of space as before. The newest additions have been a low emissive ceiling, and a dehumidifier.