'Boulogne-Billancourt Pool and Ice Rink') is an administrative ensemble consisting of two neighboring but physically separate sports venues located in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France, just west of Paris.
Ice sports have a long history in the Boulogne-Billancourt area, as the lakes of the Bois de Boulogne were a favorite destination of skaters during the 19th and early 20th century.
[4] The lakes were also a prime source of commercial ice for the food and restaurant industries, much of it extracted by the sector's leading company, the Société des glacières de Paris (lit.
[8] The construction site was selected due to its proximity with the Société des glacières de Paris building, which would act as the rink's ice supplier.
The gig was part of the company's efforts to reposition itself as a general contractor in the industrial and recreational markets, as metal—its speciality—was taking a backseat to concrete in large infrastructure projects.
[14][15] On December 17, 2019, a plaque was unveiled to commemorate ACBB's three wins in the famed Spengler Cup invitational tournament at the turn of the sixties.
[19] The rink was originally connected to the Société des glacières de Paris via an underground tunnel, which carried ice or coolant from the factory to the venue.
The public park that today borders the rink, and occupies the land where the ice factory once stood, bears the name Parc des glacières (lit.
[22] During the renovation, ACBB's men's hockey roster plied its trade in Paray-Vieille-Poste, as part of a joint team formed with the local club.
[24] The Federation's national figure skating school founded by trainer Jacqueline Vaudecrane moved to Boulogne-Billancourt from Sporting Victor-Hugo,[7] and hosted such athletes as Alain Calmat, Alain Giletti, Patrick Péra and Surya Bonaly, most of them registered with the ice sports section of Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt.
[27][28] Prior to the wave of ice rink openings that accompanied 1968's Grenoble Olympics, Boulogne hosted most hockey teams in the Paris Region.
Even though he was one of the driving forces behind the venue, Jacques Lacarrière frowned upon having to share ice time with so many tenants, and opted against bringing back his own club, Français Volants (which was then on hold).
[43][44] In 2014, former Olympic champion swimmer Laure Manaudou hosted the debut fashion show of her swimwear brand LM Design at the venue.
[45] Beginning in 1957, the base concrete design was laid out by architects fr:Henri-Pierre Maillard and Paul Ducamp of Atelier d’architecture MD, who cornered a large segment of the market during France's post World War II swimming pool boom.
In 1960, engineer fr:Stéphane Du Chateau joined the project and added his proprietary Système SDC,[46] a metal arch system previously used at the Grandval Dam.