Patinoire Michel-Raffoux (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: Michel Raffoux Ice Rink) is an

ice rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

located in the

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It is the second venue to bear that name after another located in the

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

district of Malo-les-Bains, which it replaced. Like its predecessor, it serves as the home venue for

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team

Corsaires de Dunkerque The Corsaires de Dunkerque are an ice hockey team in Dunkerque, France. They were founded in 1979, and play in the FFHG Division 1, the second level of French ice hockey. The Corsaires previously played in the Ligue Magnus. History The Corsaires ...

History

The new building replaces its older namesake, a 56 × 26 metre facility inaugurated on 7 November 1970 and demolished in late 2019. Beyond the name, there is no connection between the two, as the old Patinoire Michel-Raffoux sat near the city's casino and congress center, two kilometers to the northeast of the new one. Both were named in honor of Michel Raffoux (1934 – 1990), a former president of the Corsaires and the

French Ice Sports Federation French Federation of Ice Sports (or French Ice Sports Federation; french: Fédération française des sports de glace or ''FFSG'') is the national governing body for a number of ice sports in France. It manages completely different sports discip ...

's Northern Minor Hockey League. Negotiations to replace the aging rink had been ongoing for years when, during a 1 November 2014 game against

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, an errand puck flew into the unprotected stands and hit 8-year old fan Hugo Vermeersh in the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, mortally injuring him. The child's death and resulting national media attention lent added gravitas to calls for an up-to-date venue, which received funding from the

Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque The Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque ( en, Dunkirk Urban Community) is the ''communauté urbaine'', an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Dunkirk. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. I ...

in late 2015. The current version was inaugurated in the summer of 2019. It is located on a disused

mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...

in Dunkirk harbor, half a mile west of Dunkirk city centre.

Design

The new Patinoire Michel-Raffoux represented the second phase of the mole's rehabilitation project, following architect :fr:Pierre-Olivier Faloci's remodel of the Halle aux Sucres, a late 19th-century warehouse built by :fr:Paul Friesé, into an information commons. Patinoire Michel-Raffoux stands next to it, and its proportions are meant to echo those of Faloci's work. As a further nod to the area's industrial background, three of the rink's sides have been covered with aluminum panels that simulate a rusted look. The remaining short side is a 45 × 10 metre wall of glass. Its northerly orientation allows a view on the Halle aux Sucres' central aisle while protecting the recreational rink, which it borders, from excess sun glare. The building consists of an Olympic-sized track and a smaller recreational track. The main hall is equipped with six VIP boxes, and a restaurant with a row of club-level seats above the home goal. It was designed by Chabanne et Partenaires, who also created ice arenas for the agglomerations of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

Cergy-Pontoise Cergy-Pontoise () is a New town#France, new town and an Agglomeration communities in France, agglomeration community in France, in the Val-d'Oise and Yvelines departments of France, departments, northwest of Paris on the river Oise (river), Oise. I ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Notable events

*2019 French Ice Sports Championships

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
(in French) Indoor arenas in France Ice hockey venues in France Buildings and structures in Dunkirk Sports venues in Pas-de-Calais Demolished buildings and structures in France Sports venues completed in 1971 Sports venues completed in 2019 Sports venues demolished in 2019 21st-century architecture in France