This 2,212-seat multi-purpose arena was built in 1951 as a memorial to all the soldiers who served in time of war, and especially to those who did not return. On the east wall of the main entrance is mounted a bronze plaque on which the dedication is stated.
For many years the arena was home to the Penticton Vees ice team, winners of the Allan Cup in 1954, symbolic of senior men's hockey supremacy in Canada. The next year, 1955, the Vees won the World Hockey Championship. The arena offers public skating, hockey camps and clinics for all ages, presented by the Okanagan Hockey School, pickup hockey for all ages, figure skating clinics and is the home of several minor hockey teams. Nearby, in the concourse of the Southern Okanagan Event Centre is the home of the BC hockey hall of fame.
Until the opening of the nearby 5,000 seat South Okanagan Events Centre in 2008, Memorial Arena was the major ice arena and entertainment venue in Penticton. The arena has been incorporated into the South Okanagan Events Centre Complex.
A LIVING MEMORIAL
TO THE MEMORY OF ALL THOSE WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY
AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO DID NOT RETURN
THIS ARENA IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY THE
CITIZENS OF
PENTICTON AND DISTRICT
NOVEMBER 1951
LEST WE FORGET