Dalhousie Memorial Arena

The Dalhousie Memorial Arena was a 1,280 seat multi-purpose arena in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was home to the Dalhousie University Tigers Ice hockey team.

The Dalhousie Memorial Rink opened in 1950, and commemorated Dalhousie students who fought in the two world wars. It burned down in May 1978, suffering a structural collapse in the process.[1]

A new facility, the Dalhousie Memorial Arena, was built on the same site. Designed by architect Daniel F. Tully, the structure was inspired by the arena at the University of Maine. It opened in 1982 and had a seated capacity of 1,280.[1]

The Memorial Arena saw The Dalhousie Tigers' only AUS Championship win in 1978. In 2011, Dalhousie's board of governors voted to demolish the arena, which was in need of repair. The university said that the cost of renovating the arena (estimated to be $11-12 million in 2011) was roughly the cost of building a new one.[2]

In June 2021, the Dalhousie board of governors approved a budget of $21.6 million for a new arena, called the Dalhousie Event Centre, to be built on the site of the old one, which had been used as a parking lot in the interim. In June 2022, the board was informed that costs had risen. An amended budget of $36.5 million was approved.[3] However, construction was halted in late 2022 due to cost and labour issues. In March 2023, it was reported that there were no immediate plans to recommence work, but that the university remained "committed" to the project.[4]