O’Brien ‘‘Icehouse’’

O’Brien Group Arena has been renamed O’Brien Icehouse.

The name change was accompanied an upgrade of the venue’s facilities including solar panels on the roof, two 80,000-litre water tanks and an environmentally-friendly heating system.

Some 1361 solar panels will generate around 400Kw of power, saving around 25 per cent of the stadium’s power bill. A water treatment and recycling program will reduce its consumption by a quarter.

Venue executive director Athol Hodgetts said: “The new name not only recognises the original name from 2010, it more accurately reflects the venue and the facilities, clearly identifying what the venue is.”

“While the previous name, ‘O’Brien Group Arena’ identified the facility as providing more opportunities than ice sports and skating, we believe the new name is more appropriate given the activities on the ice arenas are what the majority of our business is about.”

Since its inception in 2010, the largest ice arena in Australia has attracted more than three million patrons, with most being recreational skaters.

In addition, O’Brien Icehouse sport activities include Olympic training, Olympic Winter Institute of Australia, Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) matches, school groups, corporate functions and product launches.