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Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter

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Coordinates: 41°41′28″N 83°42′48″W / 41.6911111°N 83.7133333°W / 41.6911111; -83.7133333
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Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter
Rink 2 at Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter
Former namesTam-O-Shanter Sports Complex
LocationSylvania, Ohio
Coordinates41°41′28″N 83°42′48″W / 41.6911111°N 83.7133333°W / 41.6911111; -83.7133333
Main venueSylvania Tam-O-Shanter
Capacity:
  • Ice Rink 1: 700
  • Ice Rink 2: 1100
Other sports facilitiesSylvania Sports and Exhibition Center
OperatorSylvania Joint Area Recreational District
Construction
Built1972
Renovated
  • December 1980
  • September 2007
Expanded
  • June 1993
  • November 2001
Tenants
  • Jo-Jo's Pizzeria
  • The Loft[1]
Website
https://sylvaniatamoshanter.com/

Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter and the Sylvania Sports and Exhibition Center are a combined, multi-purpose athletics complex and convention center located in Sylvania, Ohio. The original Tam-O-Shanter complex consisted of a single ice rink built in 1972, was expanded upon in 1993 and 2001, and as of 2019 is operated by the Sylvania Joint Area Recreational District.

The Tam-O-Shanter facilities include two ice rinks, two restaurants, an ice skating equipment shop, and a senior center in a neighboring building. The Sports and Exhibition Center contains a 36,000 square foot fieldhouse, used for conventions, trade shows, and sporting events.

Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter road sign in 2019

History

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Construction and city purchase

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In December 1972, the then-named Tam-O-Shanter Sports ice rink was built under the development of a private organization, Tam-O-Shanter Sports, Inc.[2][3] In January 1980, the city of Sylvania began investigating options for purchasing the facility, at the request of John Crandall, the president of the Sylvania Metropolitan Area Hockey League. He argued that the city could likely purchase the property at less than the $1.1 million being asked. In July of the same year, the chairman of the Board of Sylvania Savings Bank announced that it had acquired the property.[4]

In August 1980, the city announced that it had leased the facility for a period of two years and that it would be run by a commission of nine volunteers. In December that same year, the center held a grand reopening after being remodeled, with the ceremony presided over by Mayor James E. Seney.[4]

In August 1982, the city officially purchased the four acres of land where the property stood from the Sylvania Savings Bank.[5] In June 1993, the Sylvania Area Join Recreation District broke ground on a new expansion to the complex for a second ice rink and a lobby area to join the old and new buildings.[4]

Sylvania Sports and Exhibition Center

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In June 2000, city officials hired architects to prepare plans for third, "dry rink" in the Tam-O-Shanter complex that could be used for indoor soccer, basketball, or other indoor sports, as well as a senior center.[6] The city sold bonds in order to finance the construction of a field house expansion to the main building, while the senior center would be a new building.[7] Construction on the new facilities was completed in 2001,[8] and the expansion was named the Sylvania Sports and Exhibition Center at Tam-O-Shanter.[4][3] The Blade reported in 2002, approximately one year after the expansion, that nearly 1,000 children and more than 125 adults were regularly using the new facilities for a variety of activities.[9]

In September 2007, renovations were made to the Exhibition Center fieldhouse and Tam-O-Shanter ice rinks, which included new bleachers, a new ceiling to improve energy efficiency, and 27,000 square feet of artificial turf.[10]

Children's Wonderland

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Children's Wonderland is a Christmas-themed exhibit that has been presented annually for 60 years since it premiered on December 6, 1963 at the Lucas County Recreation Center.[11][12] It features a walk-through collection of Christmas displays, many of which are original to the exhibit and feature simple animatronic figures.[13][14] It was sold to the Sylvania Recreation District in December 2010, and since then has been displayed each year at Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter in the Exhibition Center fieldhouse.[4][15][16] The exhibit was cancelled for the 2020 holiday season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]

References

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  1. ^ Kremer, William. "On the Trail of Mozzarella and Pepperoni in Sylvania". ToledoMetropolitan Magazine. No. September 1988.
  2. ^ "Tam-O-Shanter ice arena nearing completion". Sylvania Sentinel. 1972-12-13.
  3. ^ a b "History - Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter". Sylvania Tam-O-Shanter. Archived from the original on 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gindy, Gayleen (2014-04-10). "Public Parks and Recreation". Sylvania, Lucas County, Ohio;: From Footpaths to Expressways and Beyond. Vol. Four. AuthorHouse. pp. 367–369. ISBN 9781496900210.
  5. ^ "Tam-O-Shanter purchase approved by city council". Sylvania Herald. 1982-09-08.
  6. ^ "Architect hired for Sylvania Avenue senior center, ice rink projects". The Blade. 2000-06-15. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  7. ^ Jones, Mike (2002-03-14). "Sylvania Senior Center offers lots of room for lots of activities". The Blade. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  8. ^ "Tam O'Shanter addition slated for opening". The Blade. 2001-11-07. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  9. ^ Jones, Mike (2002-01-23). "Addition to Tam O'Shanter gets long, heavy use". The Blade. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  10. ^ Romaker, Janet (2007-09-19). "Upgrades nearly done at Sylvania's Tam-O-Shanter sports center". The Blade.
  11. ^ "1,200 Attend Premiere of Recreation Center Show". The Blade. 1963-12-06. p. 21. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  12. ^ "Children's Wonderland Gets Boost From Commissioners". The Blade. 1963-12-04. p. 37. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  13. ^ "Celebrating 40 Years of Wonder". Lucas County, Ohio. 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-12-12. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  14. ^ "Welcome to Children's Wonderland!". Lucas County, Ohio. Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
  15. ^ Peters, Allison (2017-12-18). "Take a Walk through the Children's Wonderland, Sylvania". NBC 24 Toledo. Archived from the original on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2019-04-20.
  16. ^ "Children's Wonderland Set to Sparkle Once More". Toledo.com. 2010-12-13. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  17. ^ "Children's Wonderland Update". Sylvania Recreation District. Archived from the original on 2020-12-16.
  18. ^ "Children's Wonderland canceled for 2020". WTOL 11. 2020-11-19. Archived from the original on 2020-12-01. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
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