"If the immortal G. Washington could enter the city he first laid out into town lots, and should see the way genius has baffled nature and an ice skating rink now coquets with frolicking skaters whether old Bareas comes with his chilly whiz or the gentle zephyrs from the Southland bring palmetto odors almost to our gates, he would doubtless twitch nervously in his tomb and inquire what the world is coming to." - "The Morning Times", January 19, 1896
During the late Victorian era, interest in skating flourished in many of North America and Europe's capitals with the construction of lavish new covered rinks. It might surprise you to know that one of the largest indoor rinks of this period opened in Washington, D.C. - a city without a particularly rich skating tradition.
The Convention Hall Ice Palace opened its doors on January 6, 1896, on the top floor of a massive market house with a thousand stalls for vendors. The Convention Hall took up an entire block between K and L and 5th and 6th Streets in what is now known as the Mount Vernon Triangle neighbourhood. At the time, it was hailed as "the largest rink ever built". It was also one of the quickest rinks ever constructed.
Less than a week before Christmas of 1895, the city's Choral Society had held a Messiah concert in the space. Sixteen miles of piping distributed ammonia over the three-inch ice floor, which measured two hundred and five by one hundred and fifteen feet. The January 5, 1896 issue of "The Morning Times" noted, "The ice surface is the largest of any similar place of amusement in the world... The fittings of the reception rooms, retiring rooms, smoking rooms, and cafe are such as to excite the admiration and wonder of everyone who has inspected the rink. The large general reception room is situated in the front of the building on L Street. The reception room and retiring room for ladies are located on the right hand side of the hall while those for gentlemen are placed on the opposite side of the structure. A smoking room has also been provided for the gentlemen. These rooms are all furnished in Oriental style with hangings of Persian goods. The effect thus made is gorgeous and elegant beyond description. Thousands of incandescent lights will illuminate the rooms and furnish just the right quality of light to fit the surroundings. Everything for comfort, convenience and pleasure will be found here and the management has spared no expense to make this part of the ice palace go ahead of any in the world. The cafe will be located in the gallery of the hall and here the patrons of the rink may eat an excellent meal and be regaled mentally as well as physically by the music which will be rendered by the orchestra... The hall will present a most attractive appearance on the opening night. The roof as usual will be studded with thousands of lights but the addition will be in the glistening ice surface, which will reflect the light and make it even more brilliant than ever. Around the ice basin have been placed several rows of seats for those who do not wish to join in the skating but who like to come and see others enjoy themselves. A promenade will be made of the space which comes in between the ice basin and the doors leading to the hall proper. Inside the railing and just outside the ice surface is a strip on which the skaters may stand while putting on their skates."
Over two thousand skaters and spectators attended the Convention Hall Ice Palace's opening night. For the admission price of twenty-five cents, patrons could rent a pair of skates and marvel at exhibitions by visiting skaters from Baltimore and Canada - that is, if you were white. A crew of twenty-five young men of colour was relegated to the menial task of tying the patron's skates.
The Convention Hall Ice Palace was run by theatrical manager David Towers and actor Lee Hutchins. Hutchins was the son of Stilson Hutchins, the founder of "The Washington Past". It was owned by the newly incorporated Purity Ice Co., which manufactured and distributed ice for cold storage.
The Convention Hall Ice Palace was open six days a week and offered two sessions a day. The first session was for women only and on Saturday children had the rink to themselves. A group of instructors, the first being E.T. Leonard, was hired to give free lessons to those who had never skated before.
To attract patrons, the Convention Hall Ice Palace spared no expense. They brought in hockey teams from Quebec and staged a speed skating race, which was won by World Champion Joe Donoghue of Manhattan. Harry Park was invited to give displays of bicycle riding on ice. As D.C. had "few, if any, expert skaters", Canadian skaters were invited to give exhibitions of fancy skating. Among those who wowed crowds were Mabel and Fanny Davidson and George Meagher. The management organized a series of Souvenir Days, where women who attended an afternoon session were gifted a pair of Barney and Berry skates. At a fancy dress carnival held in March of 1897, those wearing "the handsomest costumes" were gifted with a gold watch.
In the height of its popularity in 1897, the Convention Ice Palace closed its doors for the season... and for good. Several factors contributed to its demise. The rink's management spent more money than it took in and the Purity Ice Co. which owned the rink faced serious financial difficulties. Two months after the Ice Palace's closure, they were placing ads to sell off ice-making apparatuses in the newspapers and over the next two years, they were in and out of court over solvency issues. On top of all this, one of the Ice Palace's managers, David Towers, was seriously injured in a bicycle accident.
The upper floor of the Convention Hall where the Ice Palace was housed was converted into a bicycle track and later, a bowling alley. In March of 1946, the roof and bowling alley at the Hall were badly damaged in a serious fire. After extensive repairs, the market on the Hall's bottom floor re-opened in 1955, only to close less than a decade later. The National Historical Wax Museum was housed there from 1965 to 1974. The building sat unused for over a decade and was demolished in 1985.
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