Solent Arena
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
 Interactive map of Solent Arena | |
| Location | Fareham, Hampshire, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 50°51′43.15″N 1°10′10.99″W / 50.8619861°N 1.1697194°W |
| Owner | Salmiakki CIC |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 2013 |
| Tenants | |
| British Rink Hockey Association | |
Solent Arena (/ˈsoʊlənt/ SOH-lənt) was an indoor arena, in Fareham, Hampshire. It was located alongside River Wallington by the M27 motorway.
The Solent Arena project was launched by Salmiakki CIC, a non-profit community sports organisation, in July 2012 with a view to build a purpose-built arena for non-mainstream and disabled sports on the English south coast.[1] Location search included a wide area along the M27 corridor from Portsmouth to Southampton. The Fareham Borough Council was keen to attract the stadium into the borough due to the documented shortfall[2] in indoor sports provision in the area and agreed to finance the project with a 50% capital cost contribution.[3][4] Inline hockey was first played in the building in July 2013 by members of the Fareham Wildcats Roller Hockey Club, although the building was still unfinished.
The rink closed in October 2015 after falling into financial difficulty, when the rink was dismantled and relocated to its new home as the Bordon Roller Rink.[citation needed]
Sporting events
The main tenant of Solent Arena was the British Rink Hockey Association, Britain's oldest inline hockey league founded in 1983.[5] BRHA team training and game slots took up approximately half of the arena's operational hours.
The arena was also home to Lemon Hockey tournaments[6] and there was a Guinness Book of World Records attempt at the longest inline hockey game in the world on 26–27 October 2013. In addition to inline hockey, the arena was home to floorball, box lacrosse and roller derby.