Victorian-era skating rink in Halifax was like a 'ball room with an ice surface'

Halifax's Public Gardens is a place where people go to relax and enjoy a peaceful setting, but back in the 19th century, it was also a place where people went to skate.

For nearly 30 years, there was an indoor skating rink located in the Gardens.

It may be long gone, but it’s not forgotten.

Jonathan Fowler is an anthropology professor at Saint Mary's University.

As someone whose field is the study of humans, he and other anthropologists look for study humans by looking for “all of the things left behind by people,” he said. “They become puzzle pieces for us.”

Fowler's latest puzzle takes us back to Victorian Halifax in the 1860's.

“The rising middle class needed to find things to do, to distract itself and have fun,” said Fowler.

So they built an indoor rink that stood inside the Public Gardens.

“It was a big rectangular building and it was constructed in late 1862,” Fowler said.

A picture taken from Citadel Hill is the only known photo of the rink which was about 180 feet long and about 60 feet wide, according to Fowler.

That made it one of the bigger structures in Halifax.

“It was a wooden building,” Fowler said. “It had a couple of floors, it had a gallery up top, so you could go up and watch the skaters. It was lit by gas.”

Fowler says during the cold winter months it stayed open until 10 o'clock every night.

People came to skate while an orchestra provided entertainment.

“Kind of like a ball room with an ice surface,” Fowler said.

Historian Martin Jones says in an era when most skating was done on frozen lakes, this venue was an innovation well ahead of its time.

“Arguably, there is some debate within months that it's the first covered rink in Canada and perhaps North America,” Jones said.

There's very little above ground to suggest the rink ever existed.

But underground lies an archeological treasure trove linking a plot of land to a long ago, and somewhat forgotten time, in Halifax's rich history.

“We found evidence that there are structures under there, foundations of the building, maybe some of the plumbing,” Fowler said.

The rink was torn down in 1889.

Fowler will host a lecture on the subject Thursday night at seven o'clock at the Burke Building at Saint Mary's University.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Paul Hollingsworth.

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  Anthropologist Jonathan Fowler says during the cold winter months the indoor skating rink at Halifax Public Gardens stayed open until 10 o'clock every night. People came to skate while an orchestra provided entertainment.