Vaudoise Aréna, a new 9,600-seat ice hockey facility in the Swiss city of Lausanne, has officially opened its doors with the hosting of its first event.
The arena was sold out for Lausanne HC’s first home game of the 2019-20 National League season, a 5-3 defeat against Geneve.
Vaudoise Aréna, which was built at a cost of CHF220m (£180m/€202m/$222m), will be operated by AEG Facilities.
A Cirque du Soleil event had initially been planned to open the arena last weekend but delays led to this being cancelled.
In a statement issued on its website, Lausanne HC thanked fans for their attendance at the game. The club also admitted that certain parts of the arena were not working until a few hours before supporters arrived, adding that this caused “some inconvenience” but overall the event went ahead without any major issues.
The club said: “This inaugural evening, as you also know, was for us, the main operator of the Vaudoise Aréna, a life-size test. We naturally took a myriad of notes and remarks on the points to improve, in all the fields concerning your experience.
“From today we started to work. We are determined to address all these issues and will do so thoroughly. We will find some quick answers that will be visible next Saturday, September 28, at the reception of HC Davos. Other solutions will naturally take longer. Finally, we remain dependent on the construction schedule for the receipt of essential items, starting with the main restaurant, which will not be available until October 10.”
The arena is also pencilled in to stage events during next year’s Youth Olympic Games and the IIHF World Championship.
Image: Lausanne HC
