The Pettit National Ice Center is an indoor ice skating facility in Milwaukee , Wisconsin , featuring two international-size ice rinks and a 400-meter speed skating oval . Located adjacent to Wisconsin State Fair Park , the center opened on January 1, 1993, and was named for Milwaukee philanthropists Jane and Lloyd Pettit . Pettit National Ice Center Inc., a non-profit organization, has operated the site since the facility opened.
8-532: The Pettit Center replaced, and was constructed on land once occupied by the Wisconsin Olympic Ice Rink, an outdoor facility that was in operation from 1967 to 1991. The indoor climate-controlled Pettit Center was a major improvement and continues to attract many skating athletes from around the world. The Wisconsin Speedskating Club, Pinnacle Speedskating Club and DASH speedskating Club all train at
16-547: A $ 2 million private contribution. Today, the Pettit National Ice Center, Inc. operates as a private, 501(c)-3 non-profit corporation , that generates 90% of its revenue from operations, including public skating, skating instruction, youth and adult figure skating and hockey programs, running track, and group and corporate meetings, as well as Olympic training. The balance is received through facility and program sponsorships and charitable contributions. The Center has
24-483: A balanced annual operating budget, while continuing to raise sponsorships and charitable contributions for improvements to the Center. World Sprint Speed Skating Championships The World Sprint Speed Skating Championships are annual speed skating championships. The championships are held over a two-day period, with the skaters racing one 500 m and one 1,000 m each day (so-called sprint combination). Since
32-572: The World Sprint Championships for Women since 1970 and both are held at the same time and venue. The first two years (1970 and 1971), they were called the ISU Sprint Championships . Since 2020, the men's and women's World Sprint Championships are held every even year – at same time and venue as the men's and women's World Allround Championships . The (non-Olympic) team sprint world championship events are normally being held at
40-705: The National Short and Long Track Speed Skating Championships, the 2000 World Allround Championships,the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships , and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Long Track Speed Skating in 2018 and again in 2022. The elevation of the facility at street level is approximately 720 feet (220 m) above sea level . The rink also hosts a skating school that offers classes for children and adults in figure skating , ice hockey , and speed skating. Olympic speed skating gold medalists Bonnie Blair and Dan Jansen were
48-670: The Pettit Center. The Wisconsin Figure Skating Club and Wisconsin Edge synchronized skating team practices on the figure skating rinks, shared with the Milwaukee Jr. Admirals and many other youth ice hockey organizations who use the facility. The Pettit is one of only thirty indoor 400-meter ovals in the world, the sixth oldest, and is an official US Speedskating training facility. The Pettit has hosted numerous skating competitions, including
56-434: The higher speeds towards the end of the race tend to favour the skater who skates the last outer lane, each skater starts both distances once in the inner lane and once in the outer lane. The times on those distances are then converted to points using the samalog system, and the skaters are then ranked according to the fewest points. The International Skating Union has organised the World Sprint Championships for Men and
64-530: The rink's first skaters. Opened on December 31, 1992, the Pettit National Ice Center combined private and public sources for its construction funding. A financial restructuring in conjunction with the State of Wisconsin in January 2007 allowed the Pettit Center to be relieved of burdensome lease payments and past-due rent to the State through a negotiated payment of more than $ 5 million funded by bank-sponsored financing and
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