Jordal Amfi (1951)

Jordal Amfi was an indoor ice hockey rink in Oslo, Norway, the first bearing that name.

Jordal Amfi was historically significant for Norwegian hockey and was home to 26 national championships of the GET-ligaen side Vålerenga Ishockey.

This was overcome by the architects Frode Rinnan and Olav Tveten by building the venue into the hill as an amphitheater, hence the name, along with a stage at the low end.

[3] Jordal contributed to more than half the total cost overruns for the 1952 Winter Olympic venues.

[10] In the late 1950s Sonja Henie offered to pay the cost of covering the arena with a roof.

[13] Construction was heavily delayed; while it was intended to be completed on 8 October 1998, it was finished only days before the opening of the World Championships in May 1999.

[17] Being located on the site of an old brickyard, the architecture took advantage of the hillside and dug the venue deep into the hill.

This also resulted in the venue having a highly asymmetric shape, with tall spectator stands on the one side and nearly none on the other.

The stands were known to be steep, diminishing accessibility, complicating logistics and hampering even able-bodied spectators.

Jordal was one of five venues used for ice hockey at the 1952 Winter Olympics, along with Dælenenga, Marienlyst, Lillestrøm and Kadettangen.

The tournament was won by Whitby Dunlops, representing Canada, in a decisive match against the Soviet Union, which drew a crowd of 10,000 spectators.

[24] The A-Group 1999 edition, played between 1 and 16 May, was contested jointly with Håkons Hall in Lillehammer and Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.

Talks about building a new arena had been ongoing since the early 2000s, mostly led by the main tenant, Vålerenga Ishockey.

The arena was part of the Oslo bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, intended to be used for curing events.

[33] Other plans proposed that a venue at Jordal either could host curling or serve as the smaller ice hockey arena.

This would allow the north-western corner of the multi-sports complex to serve as a site for an all-new hockey venue.

In addition would come temporary facilities, upgrades to Jordal Amfi and post-Olympic reconstruction, bringing the investment costs to NOK 400 million.

[34] The bid was eventually cancelled, but politicians have since reaffirmed the need for the construction of more hockey halls in Oslo.

1952 aerial view of Jordal Amfi
Spectator seating and the stage in 1952
Match between Vålerenga and Stavanger Oilers on 28 December 2015.
The Youth Rink at Jordal
Roof fastening
Sonja Henie and Rudy Richards performing at Jordal in 1955
Aerial view of Jordal Idrettspark in 1965