Altrincham Ice Dome 2.5

Altrincham Ice Dome is an ice rink in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England. It has 2,140 seats according to the rink website, and up to 300 standing places.The Ice Dome hosts the home matches of the Manchester Storm and Altrincham Aces ice hockey clubs, as well as junior ice hockey (Trafford Tornadoes), public skating sessions, birthday parties, private events, and skating lessons. It was previously the home of the Manchester Phoenix until a legal dispute arose in 2014-2015 between the management of the Altrincham Ice Dome and the Phoenix team over alleged financial impropriety regarding junior teams at the venue.The rink replaced the original Altrincham Ice Rink, which had closed in 2003. The Dome itself was originally meant to be replaced by a more permanent 3,000 seat facility as part of the Altair development, but changes to the plans have seen the current rink retained, with alterations to be made, including the addition of a 10 pin bowling facilityConstructionThe Ice Dome is a prefabricated structure constructed in Finland. The building uses a wood and steel frame, with the lower half of the walls being made of brickwork, whilst the upper half and roof are clad in aluminum sheeting. The base of the ice pad is compacted sand which contains the pipework for the ice plant.Assembly began in August 2006, and cost around £2.5m. The rink was due to open on 24 September 2006, when Manchester Phoenix were scheduled to host the Sheffield Steelers in their opening home game. But due to several delays, the opening was put back to 17 February 2007 match against the Edinburgh Capitals, with a reduced capacity of 1,200. However, due to the ice surface not being ready in time, the first game actually took place on 25 February 2007, against Basingstoke Bison. The number of people allowed into the building was just 1,000. The seating was finally finished in October 2007.