Hockey was first played in Litomyšl in the early 1930s. In those days “Accomplished skaters” applied their hockey sticks to the surface of frozen ponds. In 1938, the “Hockey division” of Litomyšl Sports Club built an ice rink with barriers and electric lighting.
The ice rink is situated in the south-east of the town in a quiet area called Černá hora where several sports grounds have been established over the years. In 1999, the architects Ladislav Syrový and Vladimír Krátký commenced the reconstruction of the original skating rink. At that time, an agreeable Post-Modernist variation on a local theme – wooden facilities sheltered by pitched roof and featuring white, square windows – formed the backdrop for the reconstruction.
Not soon after however, in 2001, the architects from the Brno team, Aleě Burian and Gustav Křivinka, were given the task of designing a new grandstand and roofing construction. The judicious leadership of the town council based their trust in this team as a result of previous, positive experience. As well as their design for the Town Stadium (03-1061a), these architects had also designed the new building of the primary school and gym hall which also serves as the Municipal Sports Hall (04-1145b). The Litomyšl architecture of the Burian – Křivinka team is rational, sophisticated and civilian. Rational in its construction, sophisticated in detail and in concept, and civilian in the sense of being purposeful and aimed at citizens. The civilian character of their architecture is at odds with the extravagance of many sports buildings today. This civilian aspect seems to suggest that sport at an amateur level does not suffer from the ills of its top-level counterpart. The stadium is neither a lone player nor a monstrosity allocated for seasonal sporting heroes and quarter-final fans. As is the case with other new sports buildings in its surroundings, the ice rink links up naturally to the built-up area of the town and contributes to cultivating it as a whole.
The architects fitted an unexceptional ice rink with a bonnet. The space below it has a clean and bright aspect. The quality of the sports experience is equal to that of the aesthetical experience of the architecture. One can gaze with wonder at the sophisticated method of illuminating the hall with natural light, the delicacy of the concrete columns with openings for light between them, and the atypical construction of the roof which made it all possible. One can appreciate the amiability of the materials used, mainly extensively applied wood. Many ice skaters subconsciously also welcome the ice effect, a result of the polycarbonate outer skin. The architects interrupted this skin only on the north side of the building, with an aperture framing the silhouette of old Litomyšl. This optical link with the historical panorama of the town enables fans to participate in its sporting and cultural identity. In this approach, sport does not challenge the culture of town but becomes part of it.
