The Gardens Ice House is a privately operated skating and fitness facility in
Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While the city limits are entirely in northern Prince George's County, outlying developments extend into Anne Arunde ...
. Built on Fairland Regional Park land, the venue features an Olympic ice rink, two
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
rinks
(the third of these added on January 1, 1999),
and since November 2013, an outdoor mini-rink.
The Gardens is a public-private partnership between the
Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) is a bi-county agency that administers parks and planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties in Maryland.
History
The commission was formed in 1927 by the Maryland G ...
and Top Shelf Development.
[ The facility hosts the Mid Atlantic Skating School, Gardens Figure Skating Club, and , as well as the annual Maryland Scholastic High School Championship. It hosted the ]American Indoor Football
American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...
league's Maryland Reapers
The Maryland Reapers were an American Indoor Football team that played in 2012. Based in Laurel, Maryland
Laurel is a city in Maryland, United States, located midway between Washington and Baltimore on the banks of the Patuxent River. While t ...
in 2012 and Washington Eagles The Washington Eagles were an American minor pro ice hockey team from Washington, D.C. that played in the Eastern Hockey League from 1939 to 1942. During those three seasons the Eagles played 186 games with an overall record of 102 wins, 67 losses a ...
in 2013. The facility hosted the Washington Jr. Nationals from 2010 until their move to Vermont in 2014. The Gardens is the home arena for the Washington Power
The Washington Power were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 2001 and 2002 seasons. After the inaugural championship in 1987 in Baltimore (as the Thunder) through 1999 and an unsuccessful stint in Pittsburgh (as the CrosseFire), ...
roller hockey team.
"Whitey's Pond", an outdoor skating venue open from November to March each year, had its grand opening at The Gardens on November 1, 2013. Named in honor of veteran hockey rink owner Whitey Guenin[ described at other rinks as a form of ]pond hockey
Pond hockey is a form of ice hockey similar in its object and appearance to traditional ice hockey, but simplified and designed to be played on part of a natural frozen body of water. The rink is 50 to 80 percent the size of a standard NHL-specif ...
.
As of early May 2020, The Gardens was being used as a temporary morgue
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...
while otherwise closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
, with the bodies elevated from the ice, draped with Maryland flags, and guarded by Maryland Park Police officers while awaiting transportation elsewhere.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardens Ice House, The
1996 establishments in Maryland
Buildings and structures in Laurel, Maryland
Sports venues in Maryland
Indoor ice hockey venues in Maryland
Sports venues completed in 1996
Curling in Maryland
Indoor arenas in Maryland