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The first ice rink opened in Cape Town in 1971, having been built single-handedly by the owner, Mr. Ken McPherson. The ice surface measured 40 x 19 meters, far short of the required 60 x 30 Olympic size required for international competitions today. Despite this, the Western Province skaters have over the years mastered the art of stretching their routines to fit the larger surfaces elsewhere and come out tops in both figure and hockey events. The rink changed hands in 1986, when the McPherson family retired, and a club was formed (The Cape Peninsula Ice Skating Club) with an elected committee (mainly skaters' parents) appointed to attend to the running of the rink. Many hardships were encountered in the early days with numerous machine breakdowns and financial burdens. Thanks to the dedicated members of this club who unselfishly gave up spare time and donated paint and hardware, these were overcome and a few ice shows later, the rink was able to hold its head firmly above water and started to show a profit. These profits were ploughed back into the building and also to the sport in the form of a monthly subsidy paid to each skating association for their development. During 1994 the news that the property had been sold was initially met with dismay, but soon turned to joy when the rink, renamed The Ice Station, was included in the Grand West Development. The Cape Peninsula Ice Skating club will continue to manage The Ice Station and fulfil its commitment to provide an ice rink to promote ice skating in Cape Town. The sport of Ice Skating will grow thanks to the support of Sun West. |
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