Pettit National Ice Center’s Olympic Pride

As the Olympic torchtreks across Canada en route to Vancouver for the 21st Winter Games in February2010, it’s only appropriate to look at Wisconsin’s contribution to the monumentalsporting event. Milwaukee’s own Pettit National Ice Center is one of 11 indoor400-meter speedskating ovals in the world, and is the official trainingfacility of the U.S. Speedskating team. All of the U.S. speedskaters in thelast four Winter Olympics have competed or trained at the center, and as theonly skating oval at sea level in America available to our country’s athletes,it is critical for skaters training for this year’s Olympic Games in Vancouver,British Columbia, also at sea level.

The Pettit Center wasnamed for Jane Bradley Pettit, whose foundation provided the primary privatefunding for the construction and initial operation of the center. The $13million facility was built on the site once occupied by the outdoor WisconsinOlympic Ice Rink, which operated from 1967 until 1991. It was at the outdooroval that Madison’s Eric Heiden, who made Olympic history in 1980 by capturingan unprecedented five gold medals, trained. The new state-of-the-art centeropened on Dec. 31, 1992, just in time for speedskaters to prepare for the 1994Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. One of those skaters, West Allis’ DanJansen, won the first and only Olympic gold medal of his career at the XVIIOlympic Winter Games in 1994, setting a new world record in the process.Wisconsin is well represented in the world of speedskating, in great partbecause of the Pettit Center.

Because of all itsamenities3,000 seats, two Olympic-size ice rinks and a 450-meter, two-lanejogging track, among other thingsthe Pettit Center is a lot of things to a lotof people, even for those without Olympic aspirations. More than a dozen clubscall it home, from figure skating to wheelchair hockey and senior skating. Itoperates one of the largest skating schools in the country and hostsapproximately 500,000 visitors a year. Whether you are hoping to escape theoutside temperatures, have some family time during open skate or simply have apenchant for Olympic athletes, the Pettit National Ice Center is one ofMilwaukee’s greatest assets.