Host city Milan seeks permanent ice arena post-Games

MILAN, Feb 21 : With the Winter Olympics drawing to an end and its ice rinks due to be removed, joint host city Milan has unveiled plans for a permanent ice arena both to seal the Games' legacy and house a professional local hockey team.   

Facing a clamour from athletes and residents, local authorities announced the project this week for a new 5,000-seater, 30x60m rink inside an exhibition centre area on Milan’s outskirts to be built within three years.

"This is what we had been asking for a long time, and I believe it would truly complete these Olympics, which have been extraordinary,” Andrea Gios, president of the Italian Ice Sports Federation, told Reuters. 

The northern Italian city successfully staged figure skating, speed skating, short track and hockey competitions across three venues. 

All of them — including the newly built Santagiulia arena, which hosted hockey — will now be repurposed for live shows and other sports.

Authorities envisage a temporary new ice arena being set up in October before making it permanent and hopefully becoming home to a professional hockey team competing in the Ice Hockey League alongside Austrian, Slovenian and Italian sides.     

The surprise announcement came after many Italian athletes and Milan residents lamented the prospect of the city being left without a permanent arena for ice sports after the Olympics. 

INVESTMENT NEEDED

Gios said he spoke with some North American investors interested in investing in a professional Milan hockey team, which would cost about 5 million euros ($5.9 million) per year. 

A new facility would also serve as a venue for major figure skating and short-track events, as well as a hub for grassroots activities. 

Despite delivering Italy’s biggest haul of Olympic