Fort Wayne Ice Skating Club

HISTORY:

Fort Wayne Ice Skating Club has a long and storied history, producing many national and international competitors through the years. In 1952, the city of Fort Wayne and Allen County wanted to honor the war veterans with a dramatic symbol of their sacrifices. The Allen County War Memorial Coliseum was born as a venue for the Zollner Pistons (which later moved to Detroit) Basketball Team of the NBA, which was also founded in Fort Wayne. The design of the arena was conducive to other sports and options for conversion to an ice hockey surface were included in the design. The Fort Wayne Komets Hockey Team became that team and are still competing there today. After many years of pond skating in the winter months of Northern Indiana, figure skaters were thrilled to begin using the Coliseum ice for practice and shows. In 1958, Fort Wayne Ice Skating Club was formally incorporated and has been a proud member of US Figure Skating ever since. One of those founding members is performing in our show today, Glenn Voirol. After a few years trying to schedule figure skating around basketball and hockey games and the many other events at the Coliseum, these founding members convinced the Fort Wayne Park Board to make an outdoor rink at McMillen Park on the city's southeast side. Shortly after that, that rink was enclosed and indoor skating became a year-round pursuit. Fort Wayne Ice Skating Club made McMillen Park their home until 2010, when Canlan Ice Sports opened our current facility on the city's north side.