Torbyd, Ice rink in Bydgoszcz, Poland
Torbyd is an ice sports stadium in Bydgoszcz with a 1780 square meter (19,100 square feet) ice surface and seating for 300 spectators in a bright hall with large windows. The facility includes dedicated training areas for hockey players, a restaurant, and changing rooms with lockers for visitors.
Bydgoszcz's first artificial rink, the fourth in Poland, opened on 19 December 1959 with a match between Górnik Katowice and Polonia Bydgoszcz. It was built in nine months by a citizens' committee led by Antoni Koczorowski, using refrigeration from the nearby meat plant. The rink closed in 2004 and was demolished; the city sold the 1.5-hectare site in 2016. The new hall, designed by TBiARCHITEKCI, opened on 5 January 2018.
The name Torbyd was chosen by readers of the Ilustrowany Kurier Polski newspaper in a contest; the new hall's name was also put to a public vote in 2017, beating Kryształowa Arena, Arctic Arena and Tafla. A mural inside, painted in August 2019, honours the city's skaters and hockey players.
The hall stands in Central Park, west of the Łuczniczka arena. The rink holds about 240 skaters at once and the stands seat 300. Skate rental, a sharpening and drying room, changing rooms and medical rooms are inside; a first-floor restaurant looks onto the ice through a viewing window.
The building's silver cladding and glass give it the shape of an ice crystal, and after dark the triangular joints of the facade are lit up. Inside, a mural made in August 2019 honours the rink's skaters and hockey players. The ice sheet covers 1779 square metres within a 4605 square metre building.
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