The Boulogne-Billancourt Olympic ice rink is now closed to the 1,200 ice hockey and figure skating licensees who frequented it. Supported by some of them, an association is still fighting against its closure.
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Mathieu Bossu is a hockey player, a former regular at the Boulogne ice rink. A member of the ACBB, the city’s sports club, for more than 30 years, his son has also been around the ice. The rink was part of their lives. Now, with the club no longer existing there, Matthieu has to travel two hours round trip to skate.
“It’s really a shock when you pass in front of the building and you say to yourself that’s it, it’s closed, that we won’t be able to go in there anymore to play hockey.” admits Mathieu Bossu.
Inaugurated in 1955, the Olympic ice rink hosted the ACBB for almost 70 years. Lequipment, renovated in 2004, welcomed the biggest names in ice skating. Today, the structure has aged and the ice rink consumes too much energy according to the City. At the beginning of 2024, an audit was launched. The rehabilitation work on the entire building was estimated at 8.3 million euros. Too expensive for the city of Boulogne.
To fight against the decision to close the ice rink, Yan le Men created the Patiner à Boulogne association which has more than 800 members. “The barriers are there to prevent passage and the ice rink is being emptied of all this equipment. We started by trying to negotiate with the City by asking for a moratorium for a year so that it would give us time to work with them to find a lasting and financially sustainable solution to operate the ice rink.”explains Yan Le Men, president of the Patiner à Boulogne association.
The moratorium was refused. The association also studied and proposed a budget half the price of that of the City, including sponsorship. An unthinkable proposal for the town hall. “Their proposal required, for example, some sponsorship. And just patronage. “For the City to receive a sum of 300,000 euros from a private company, very clearly, it is a proposal which would have put the City in legal danger.”declares Baptise Chappotteau, sports director of Boulogne-Billancourt.
Several dozen members have not found a club since the building closed. The ice rink will soon be transformed into a Padel or Futsal court.
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