Streatham Ice Arena was originally opened on the site on 26 February 1931 by the Mayor of
Wandsworth,
Lt Col. A. Bellamy, and the
Member of Parliament for
Streatham,
Sir William Lane-Mitchell. During the Second World War, the arena was closed to the public and was used as a food storage centre. In 1962 the arena was purchased by the
Mecca entertainments company, who spent almost £350,000 on various improvements including a restaurant and cocktail bar, and renamed the rink as Silver Blades, it being one of several in a chain of Silver Blades ice rinks that the company operated in the UK. A further £1 million was spent refurbishing the rink in 1980. However, by the end of the twentieth century the building was proving very expensive to maintain and it had begun to fall into disrepair. During its last years, the arena was in substandard condition from a safety point of view, and would have required extensive refurbishment, including to the curved ceiling, to remain operative.
Gallery File:Streatham Ice Arena - geograph.org.uk - 1759119.jpg|The original Streatham Ice Arena File:Streatham indoor ice rink.jpg|Streatham Ice Arena indoor ice rink File:Streatham Ice Arena ceiling.jpg|Streatham Ice Arena ceiling ==References==