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Kingston Frontenacs Arena Name: Kingston Memorial Centre |
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| Kingston Memorial Centre |
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| What was the Arena Like? |
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The Kingston Memorial Centre is an old yellow-brick building still located in a run-down section of Kingston near the fairgrounds. The building is surrounded by parkland and is also on the same block as the International Hockey Hall of Fame, which is well-worth a visit if you've got time to kill in the area. The Memorial Centre has a little bit of art deco artifice in the facade, but mainly it looks like a classical hockey barn. On the rear side of the building is football and baseball fields, and believe it or not, the football bleachers are built into the side of the arena so that when you're in the rear hall of the arena you can see the slope of the bleachers facing what seems to be the "wrong way". The Memorial Centre is past its fifty-fifth birthday and looks it; it's been subject throughout its history to the whims of a city council who has never put a lot of money into it, and as a result the arena was probably the OHL's most dilapidated before its closure in 2008. There were numerous problems over the rink's last years, including melting ice and one memorable flood which destroyed equipment in the Fronts' dressing room. Still, the Memorial Centre was, and still is, an old-time hockey arena. Upon first entering the building you see a large memorial to the dead of two World Wars in the small lobby in which there are also ticket booths. Once fully inside the building it feels as though you're inside some kind of factory or warehouse; there are Bauhaus-style windows about the hallways. There are food concession stands and stairways which lead up to the main concourse at the top of the seating area. Your first glimpse of the Memorial Centre ice leads a trained eye to think "there's something wrong here". The ice is regulation length but seven feet wider than standard, so it's about halfway between NHL and Olympic-sized. As a result of this it's interesting to watch the way the zamboni has to clean the ice - it has to do an uneven number of circuits to do the ice properly, and so it and doesn't do the usual loop beforehand like at most buildings. The upper concourse is incredibly narrow - it's only wide enough for one standee and one walker around the top - so if there's a lot of people in attendance it's very difficult to move around easily. All of the seats are originals from 1950; they're made of wood and slatted. Seats are red, blue and grey along the sides with dark green in one end and yellow in the other. It looks strange but the effect is neat. Strangely, though, the row numbers are all painted on the back supports of the seats rather than somewhere they'd be visible, and so latecomers take forever to get to their seats because it's impossible to figure out which row is yours. It's annoying, and would only take a few cans of spray paint and some stencils to fix. Oh well. Some views are obstructed near the back of sections by support pillars. The scoreclock is relatively new, and although it's unlike any other in the league, it works well. Much like in Peterborough, there is a gigantic portrait of HM the Queen hanging over one end of the ice along with several flags. The age of the Kingston Memorial Centre is apparent from start to finish during the attendance of a game there. There is old apparatus everywhere, and clever audience members could fashion a drinking game based upon "guess what that does". The ancient, battered seats quickly become uncomfortable. The sound system is tired. Washrooms are relatively clean but nothing to write home about. The ceiling itself is dark, alpine wood reminiscent of a skiing lodge. In fact, apart from the modern score clock, there's not a lot in the building to remind you that it's not 1950 anymore. Some of the age can prove to be a good thing though - the game is quite clearly the main attraction in Kingston. During the Frontenacs' tenure, there were very few promos interrupting the game. The music selection was excellent - mainly organ music and arena anthems. The halls have memorabilia on display in the Kingston Sports Hall of Fame, and there was a small team store around the back of the building. I have heard that the atmosphere within the building can be lacking at times, but the one night I was there the place was full and the atmosphere was great, with a noisy crowd completely into the game. The Kingston Memorial Centre was the second-last building I visited to complete my original OHL circuit. Throughout my travels I had heard bad stories about how horribly run-down the building was, about how it was empty, and about how attending a game there was a bad experience. While it's true that the Memorial Centre is dilapidated, the place was also filled with heart and with real hockey fans. You could say that it took a real fan to brave the horrid seats and year after year of underperforming Frontenacs teams, and I believe that assessment is correct. Don't believe the stories. Kingston has heart and Kingston has real fans, and in spite of the problems, the Memorial Centre was still a great place to watch a game. I will miss its presence in the OHL. |
| Inside the Kingston Memorial Centre |
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How To Get There |
| From the 401: Exit at John A Macdonald (Exit 615). Turn south. Follow John A Macdonald to Princess Street (Former Hwy 2). Take a left (East). Follow Princess Street to Albert Street. Take a left (north). One block and you enter the Memorial Centre parking lot. |
What's It Used For Today? |
| The future of the Memorial Centre is up in the air at present. The building is horrifically run-down, and operating costs to the city are correspondingly astronomical, but Kingston has a shortage of ice surfaces and so for now, the rink will remain open. The building's status as a war memorial means that many Kingstonians have an attachment to the rink in the city which the Royal Military College calls home, so that will work in preservation's favour. On top of all of that, the building stands on the city's fairgrounds, and the fair uses the rink every year for agricultural shows and such, so at a bare minimum it seems the Memorial Centre could remain open for those reasons. |
Feedback |
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me at  and I'll update the guide. |
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Copyright © Kevin Jordan
2002-08. |