Hull Ice Arena saved with up to £1m council bail-out

Councillor Craker was "surprised to see" how derelict Hull Ice Arena has become

A 1980s "dreamland" ice arena will be prevented from falling into dereliction by £1m of council funding.

Hull Ice Arena boasts an Olympic-sized rink and is also a concert venue with a capacity of nearly 4,000.

But people have increasingly complained about the state of the building and now the freezing equipment has broken.

A new ice arena is eventually planned for Hull's Albion Square redevelopment, but the council said in the meantime the city needed a working ice rink.

Cllr Dave Craker, Hull City Council portfolio holder for culture, leisure and tourism, said he had not realised how "derelict" the building had become until he saw pictures in a newspaper.

The authority will now invest up to £1m "to bring it up to European standard".

Mr Craker said: "I've been inundated with emails over the weekend from people worried about the state of the building.

"People are having to travel to Leeds for their sport."

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He said the council "always knew" the old rink needed investment, but it had been brought forward because of broken equipment.

"I thought the rink remained closed because of coronavirus, I didn't realise it was because of the equipment," he said.

"The only reason investment is happening at this point is because people are getting worried about the state of the building."

The Three Ships mosaic on Hull's old BHS building was created in 1963 with almost a million pieces of Italian glass

The arena may not be able to reopen until April 2021 when new equipment is installed, but the council said the new rink planned for Albion Square was still several years off, held up by coronavirus and the Three Ships mural which has now been Grade II listed.

"But I can assure people, the council's little dreamland from the 80s will continue," Mr Craker said.

Since opening in 1987, Hull Ice Arena has hosted the Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Robbie Williams and Ed Sheeran.