ON FINE ICE

Skating rinks have evolved tremendously since the late 1800s, as have their roles as centres for entertainment and social interaction. The above image shows Saint John, New Brunswick’s Victoria Skating Rink, which opened in 1865. Designed by architect Charles Walker and constructed of wood, it was some fifty metres in diameter. Howard Shubert’s Architecture on Ice: A History of the Hockey Arena (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 328 pages, $49.95) follows the designs of enclosed rinks and arenas in Canada and the United States, up to and including the multi-purpose complexes that host today’s National Hockey League teams.