Mutual Street Rink

The Mutual Street Rink also known as the Caledonian Rink^[1] was a curling and skating rink located on Mutual Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the primary site of the sport of ice hockey in Toronto from the 1880s until 1912 when it was replaced by the Arena Gardens. In the 1880s, it was considered Toronto's largest auditorium.

Opening announcement

Building

The building was opened in December 1875 under the name of the "Caledonian Skating & Curling Rink". The Caledonian Society was a club which celebrated Scottish games, had excursions and celebrated Robert Burns Day.

The rink was like other ice hockey rinks at the time, a large unheated building with a concrete floor, which was flooded with water in wintertime to create a natural ice rink. At the time of construction, the seating area was a raised floor surrounding the ice. In the summer-time, the building was used as an auditorium. Its approximate size can be judged by the attendance at church gatherings in the 1880s, which with temporary seating allowed 4,000 to 5,000 to attend. In the 1880s, it was Toronto's largest auditorium.^[2]

Usage

Two sports were the initial users of the rink, Ice skating and curling. In 1888, the Caledonian Hockey Club was formed and the rink was first used for ice hockey.^[3] As the popularity of ice hockey grew, the rink became the primary site of ice hockey in Toronto. 1892 and later Ontario ice hockey championship were played at the rink. Toronto's first professional ice hockey team, the Toronto Professional Hockey Club, began play there in 1906.

When ice was not present, the building was used for other purposes. In June 1886, a large choral festival of over 1,000 performers, 100-piece orchestra, children's choir, plus soloists was held at the rink.^[4] Church gatherings in the 1880s attracted up to 4,000 persons. In 1906, the rink building was the site of one of the first displays of motor cars in Toronto.^[5] Over $400,000 worth of automobiles were shown.^[6]

By the 1910s, the seating capacity of the rink for hockey was not sufficient, and the Arena Gardens complex was built on the Mutual Street site. In 1937, the Arena Gardens was renamed the Mutual Street Arena. In 1962, curling would return to the site, when curling sheets were installed at the Arena, which was no longer used for ice hockey. The Arena, by then known as 'The Terrace', was demolished in 1989.

References

1. ^ Toronto Directory. Might & Taylor. 1880. p. 227. 
2. ^ Crouse, Eric Robert (2005). Revival in the City. McGill-Queen's Press. p. 59. ISBN 0773528989. 
3. ^ Redmond, Gerald (1982). The sporting Scots of nineteenth-century Canada. Toronto, Ontario: Associated University Presses Inc.. p. 270. ISBN 0838630693. 
4. ^ Filey, Mike (1994). Toronto Sketches 3. Dundurn Press Ltd. p. 188. ISBN 155002227X. 
5. ^ Filey, Mike; Russell, Victor (1993). From horse power to horsepower: Toronto: 1890-1930. Dundurn Press. p. 25. ISBN 1550022008. 
6. ^ Automotive industries (Chilton): 716. 1906.