The St. Louis Globe-Democrat reported that our “first ice castle”–St. Louis’ first indoor ice skating rink, located near the Grand Center, was inaugurated by Louis Globe-Democrat. It boasts “a frozen surface that neither weather prophets, moths, the rust or the thaw may corrupt.” The ice is still there and will remain there even if there are blizzards or prolonged days with more solstice heat.
Opening ceremonies were modest. There was a race between John Sandblom, Swedish skating champion, and Ed Woods, American skater, plus a demonstration by Jack Crooks (St. Louis Browns second baseman), of superfast backward-skating, alongside E.C. Gilmore, “The boy wonder of Minneapolis”.
However, it was not a small venue. The St. The St. They did. London’s Glaciarium was the first artificial rink in the world. But indoor rinks had not been invented for 20 years. St. Louis boasted an indoor rink that spanned 20,000 feet. It featured a balcony-wrapped rink where spectators could see dashing curlers chasing a puck and their fellow citizens falling on their stomachs.
St. Louisans have gathered at the Ice Palace for many glorious years to enjoy amateur hockey races, games, tricks, and fancy skating. Most importantly, St. Louisans loved being on the ice. Socialites hosted costume balls on skates. There were also amateur speed skaters competing, who whizzed around the rink’s perimeter. Some simply wanted to have a good time during open skating.
The Ice Palace was as fragile and fleeting, like real ice. It was given to Charles “Hardluck”, a boxing promoter, in 1903. He moved his boxing club there. Although it was called the Auditorium Ice Rink briefly, it was soon overshadowed by the Winter Garden at DeBaliviere & Kingsbury. It was built during the World’s Fair. The Palace was demolished in 1963 to make its way to a mall. Steinberg Skating Rink opened just a few years before. This rink was not only bigger than any other in the Midwest, but it also reminded us of how ice in its natural habitat is cooler.
