University of Illinois Ice Arena, also known as the Big Pond,Daily Illini
"Search for 'Big Pond'"
Daily Illini website, retrieved February 22, 2011. is an ice arena and recreational sport facility in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

, and owned and operated by the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. The arena serves as the home for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

men's and women's

college ice hockey College ice hockey is played principally in the United States and Canada, though leagues exist outside North America. In the United States, competitive "college hockey" refers to ice hockey played between colleges and universities within the g ...

teams that competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. The men's ice hockey team competes at the ACHA Division I level as a member of the

Central States Collegiate Hockey League The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) is Division I ACHA level hockey-college athletic conference. The CSCHL is in its 51st season of existence and is one of the top ranked ACHA leagues. It currently has 4 member teams in the Midwe ...

and the women's team competes in the Red Division of the Women's Central Hockey League. The Illinois Fighting Illini men's ACHA Division II team plays as an independent team in the Central Region. The facility is also the home of the U of I

synchronized skating Synchronized skating is an ice skating sport where between 8 to 16 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork. This complex sport originated in 1956 and was ...

team and severa
skating clubs
The arena features a non-standard sized ice sheet approximately . By comparison, an NHL regulation sheet is 200 ft x 85 ft and Olympic regulation ice sheets are 200 ft x 100 ft. The arena is used 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 h ...

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

short track speed skating Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

, open skating, and local youth and high school hockey.

History

The University of Illinois Ice Arena was built in 1931 and designed by Chicago architecture firm Holabird and Root, the same firm that designed the University of Illinois Memorial Stadium and Chicago's

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since ...

. The arena features four rows of bleacher seating in an elevated balcony that runs the length of the ice rink on either side. These bleachers provide seating for roughly 1,200 fans, with standing room and bench seating available underneath. Because of this set-up the team benches are actually directly underneath the stands. This situation made for easy player/spectator verbal and physical contact. "It was not unheard of to evict a fan and a player due to skirmishes back in the late 1960 and 90s," said Referee Michael Rzechula. Due to the size of the rink being originally larger than at approximately it was and still remains at its current size of one of only a few remaining rinks in the entire U.S.A. to be capable of hosting Junior, National, and International level

meets. The first

World Short Track Speed Skating Championships The World Short Track Speed Skating Championships are a senior international short track speed skating competition held once a year to determine the World Champion in individual distances, relays and Overall Classification. It is sanctioned by th ...

were held at this rink in 1976 capable of placing 9 racers instead of 6 on the start line unlike any other rink in the U.S.A. It was and still is the largest indoor ice sheet in the U.S.A. This rink has been called home by many and been host to virtually all U.S. World Champion and Olympic speed skaters.
Local Olympians include:

Jonathan Kuck Jonathan Kuck (born March 14, 1990) is an American speed skater and silver medalist in the Winter Olympics. At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kuck won a silver medal in the team pursuit along with Brian Hansen and Chad Hedrick. Kuck has also won fo ...

Katherine Reutter Katherine Reutter-Adamek ( ; born July 30, 1988) is an American short track speed skater. She is a two-time medalist (one silver, one bronze) in the Winter Olympics, 2011 overall world silver medalist and the 2010–2011 overall ISU Short Track ...

, Chantal Bailey,

Bonnie Blair Bonnie Kathleen Blair (born March 18, 1964) is a retired American speed skater. She is one of the top skaters of her era, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, winnin ...

, Erik Henriksen, Roger Capan.
It is rumored that the rink will be closed and later demolished in the late 2020s. Currently (January 2020) there ar
two sites being discussed for development
of 3 new sheets of ice all only 200 ft x 85 ft NHL size which will end the long history of speed skating in Champaign, Illinois.

References

External links

Ice Arena
website {{Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey navbox Illinois Fighting Illini ice hockey venues Illinois Fighting Illini men's ice hockey

Ice Arena 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 ...

Indoor arenas in Illinois Indoor ice hockey venues in Illinois College ice hockey venues in the United States Sports venues in Champaign–Urbana, Illinois Tourist attractions in Champaign County, Illinois Buildings and structures in Champaign, Illinois Event venues established in 1931 Projects by Holabird & Root