 Rink 2 at Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter | |
| Former names | Tam-O-Shanter Sports Complex |
|---|---|
| Location | Sylvania, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 41°41′28″N83°42′48″W / 41.6911111°N 83.7133333°W /41.6911111; -83.7133333 |
| Main venue | Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter Capacity:
|
| Other sports facilities | Sylvania Sports and Exhibition Center |
| Operator | Sylvania Joint Area Recreational District |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1972 |
| Renovated |
|
| Expanded |
|
| Tenants | |
| |
| Website | |
| https://sylvaniatamoshanter.com/ | |
Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter and theSylvania Sports and Exhibition Center are a combined, multi-purpose athletics complex andconvention center located inSylvania, Ohio. The original Tam-O-Shanter complex consisted of a singleice rink built in 1972, was expanded upon in 1993 and 2001, and as of 2019 is operated by the Sylvania Joint Area Recreational District.
The Tam-O-Shanter facilities include two ice rinks, two restaurants, anice skating equipment shop, and asenior center in a neighboring building. TheSports and Exhibition Center contains a 36,000 square footfieldhouse, used forconventions,trade shows, andsporting events.
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In December 1972, the then-namedTam-O-Shanter Sports ice rink was built under the development of a private organization, Tam-O-Shanter Sports, Inc.[2][3] In January 1980, the city of Sylvania began investigating options for purchasing the facility, at the request of John Crandall, the president of the Sylvania Metropolitan AreaHockey League. He argued that the city could likely purchase the property at less than the $1.1 million being asked. In July of the same year, the chairman of the Board of Sylvania Savings Bank announced that it had acquired the property.[4]
In August 1980, the city announced that it had leased the facility for a period of two years and that it would be run by a commission of nine volunteers. In December that same year, the center held a grand reopening after being remodeled, with the ceremony presided over by Mayor James E. Seney.[4]
In August 1982, the city officially purchased the fouracres of land where the property stood from the Sylvania Savings Bank.[5] In June 1993, the Sylvania Area Join Recreation District broke ground on a new expansion to the complex for a second ice rink and a lobby area to join the old and new buildings.[4]
In June 2000, city officials hiredarchitects to prepare plans for third, "dry rink" in the Tam-O-Shanter complex that could be used forindoor soccer, basketball, or other indoor sports, as well as a senior center.[6] The city soldbonds in order to finance the construction of a field house expansion to the main building, while the senior center would be a new building.[7] Construction on the new facilities was completed in 2001,[8] and the expansion was named theSylvania Sports and Exhibition Center at Tam-O-Shanter.[4][3]The Blade reported in 2002, approximately one year after the expansion, that nearly 1,000 children and more than 125 adults were regularly using the new facilities for a variety of activities.[9]
In September 2007, renovations were made to the Exhibition Center fieldhouse and Tam-O-Shanter ice rinks, which included new bleachers, a new ceiling to improve energy efficiency, and 27,000 square feet ofartificial turf.[10]
Children's Wonderland is aChristmas-themedexhibit that has been presented annually for 61 years since it premiered on December 6, 1963 at theLucas County Recreation Center.[11][12] It features a walk-through collection of Christmas displays, many of which are original to the exhibit and feature simpleanimatronic figures.[13][14] It was sold to the Sylvania Recreation District in December 2010, and since then has been displayed each year at Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter in the Exhibition Center fieldhouse.[4][15][16] The exhibit was cancelled for the 2020 holiday season due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]