COMPETITION VENUE VARSITY ARENA

Varsity Arena, situated adjacent to the east side of Varsity Stadium on the UofT's downtown campus, has been home to women's ice hockey programs (both university and community-based) for more than 70 years.

The official opening was held on December 17, 1926, and the first night's program featured an exhibition by members of the Toronto Skating Club, followed by a hockey game between two U of T teams, coached by Conn Smythe and Senator Joseph Sullivan. The Arena was designed by the late Professor Tommy Loudon, who was inducted into the U of T Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.

The versatile Varsity Arena has attracted such diverse activities as boxing and wrestling matches; professional and amateur lacrosse; one of the world's largest book sales; concerts, from ragtime to jazz and on to the electronic rock of the eighties; trade shows; political and religious rallies; and major "Teach-ins" during the protest years of the late 1960s.

Many facets of public and sporting life have found a home at Varsity Arena.

It is the permanent home for the Varsity Blues women's and men's intercollegiate Hockey teams, and has provided ice for both university and community figure skating programs. The largest intramural hockey program in North America--the more than 80 teams in the University of Toronto's men's and women's intramural leagues--utilizes the Arena more than any other group.

By 1980 it had become apparent that the Arena required major renovations if its tradition as a multi-purpose facility for the University and the community was to continue. Alumni, students, staff, and friends of the University responded to the challenge and a successful fundraising campaign was held during the following five years.

Renovations, completed in 1986, included a new front entrance, ice plant, and wider ice surface (now 196' by 85'), a new roof and heating/ ventilation system, and on the second floor of the south end of the Arena, the spacious Blue and White Lounge. Seating capacity for hockey is 4,116.

Now in its 73nd year, Varsity Arena has touched virtually every student, sports-minded or not, who has attended the University of Toronto, and has become a popular multi-use community facility in downtown Toronto.