In Lviv, on the grounds of School No. 84 at 30 Zubrivska Street, construction of the modern Hakyvka ice rink is entering its final stage. This will be the city’s first fully fledged ice rink, designed for children’s and professional sport alike, as well as for training veterans and para ice hockey players.
The main construction work at the site has already been completed and a special three-layer dome has been installed. It comes with a 20-year guarantee, blocks ultraviolet light and will allow the arena to be used in different seasons. Specialists are now finishing the installation of lighting, preparing rubber surfacing around the perimeter, and fitting out changing rooms, showers and toilets. After this, they plan to start laying the ice.
The ice rink will measure 61 by 48 metres. The project provides for full accessibility: the arena is being made accessible for wheelchair users, with ramps and other accessibility features being installed. Six modular containers have already been fitted inside to house changing rooms, showers and toilets, and there will also be stands for spectators.
According to Anton Nikulin, head of the Sports Office of Lviv City Council, the impetus for creating Lviv’s own ice arena was the development of Ukraine’s first para ice hockey team – the adaptive hockey team Nezlamni (The Unbreakable). The team currently trains three times a week at the ice arena in Novoiavorivsk. The city pays for the rink rental, organises transport for participants and covers the coach’s work, but a proper training process requires a dedicated base in Lviv.
«Власне, була колись така історична несправедливість, що у Львові ніколи не було повноцінної льодової арени. Ми цю історичну несправедливість закриваємо, і в нас тепер буде своя арена, де будуть займатися і діти, і дорослі. Але найважливіше — ця арена робиться для наших ветеранів, які будуть проходити активну реабілітацію. Майданчик буде повністю адаптований для людей з інвалідністю і, власне, адаптований для парахокею», — Антон Нікулін
The name of the rink, Hakyvka, comes from a colloquial term for the game of ice hockey. The word is associated with a ‘hook’ – a curved part – as a hockey stick has a distinctively curved shape.
The para ice hockey team Nezlamni, for whom Hakyvka will become a permanent training base, brings together 15 participants – veterans and civilians with disabilities from different regions of Ukraine who are undergoing rehabilitation in Lviv. The initiative to create the team came from Roman Hapachylo, now an unpaid adviser to the Mayor of Lviv on the development of sports infrastructure.
Para ice hockey (sledge hockey) is an inclusive sport that enables people with disabilities to play hockey on special sledges. This sport is part of the programme of the Paralympic Games and World Championships.
A video about the construction of Hakyvka is available at: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ObZO6x0kWGI?feature=oembed