A RICH HISTORY
Founding fathers set the course for The SC of Boston
by TROY SCHWINDT
An oil painting of one of the club’s founding fathers, Charles M. Rotch, hangs in the upstairs lounge at the rink. It was their vi- sion, set in motion 100 years ago this month, that’s left an indelible mark on the history of figure skat- ing in the United States and serves as the impetus for Blount and the club’s leadership moving for- ward.
J Theresa Weld Blanchard Te third oldest club in the United States
Figure Skating Association, Te Skating Club of Boston shares its century-old anniversary with the venerable Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, as well as with the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel in downtown Boston, where on Feb. 18 the club hosted its Skaters’ Ball to celebrate “100 Years of Excellence.” Only the Philadelphia Skating Club & Hu-
mane Society in 1849 and the Cambridge Skating Club in 1898 hold earlier club designations than Te Skating Club of Boston. “From its earliest years, Te Skating Club of Boston was both a social and athletic organi- zation,” longtime member Paul George said. “In Boston, it has had a presence due to its prominent members, its ownership of its own rink in a vis- ible location, its longstanding carnival (Ice Chips) and its enormously successful competitive skaters. Beyond Boston, this competitive success at the na- tional and international level put it on the skating map.” Home sweet home Te Skating Club of Boston boasts one of the
Sherwin Badger
great histories of any sports organization. Te club was founded by an enthusiastic group of Boston-
oe Blount doesn’t have to look far for inspi- ration as the 21st president of Te Skating Club of Boston.
area skaters, informally known at the Back Bay Skating Club. Tey skated outdoors, primarily at Hammond’s Pond in Chestnut Hill. Tey later moved to the Boston Arena, which
was constructed in 1909 as one of the first indoor artificial ice surfaces in the United States. It was a place where the “international style” of skating was being introduced, and where local skaters could practice the new style on indoor ice. In 1911, under the leadership of George
Atkinson Jr., Te Skating Club of Boston was formed and later incorporated in April, 1912. Charter members of the founding group included Atkinson, who was the first president, and A. Win- sor Weld, the second president. Weld’s daughter, Teresa, and her partner, Nathaniel W. Niles, were the leading local exponents of the international style.
Te club skated at the Boston Arena until the
start of World War I, when supplies of fuel became limited. But it was a fire that destroyed the arena in 1918 that restricted skating in the Boston area. To get by, the club used a small sheet of ice in Cambridge, Mass., called the Ice Pavilion, which enabled locals to continue skating until the “New Boston Arena” was rebuilt in 1920. In 1939, the club moved to its own building
on Soldiers Field Road in Brighton, Mass. Success- ful carnivals (ice shows) at the Boston Garden en- abled the club to build a cash reserve and purchase land in the spring of 1938. On New Year’s Day 1939, Te Skating Club of Boston opened its new rink at a cost of $180,000. Joan Tozzer, the reign- ing U.S. ladies champion, was the first person on the ice when the rink opened. Te new rink featured a “Quonset Hut” type construction, which allowed the rink surface to be
Montgomery Wilson
The Skating Club of Boston 24 APRIL 2012
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