| Stadium Name: | Patinoire Michel-Raffoux |
| Address: | Route du Quai Freycinet 3 Môle 1 |
| Location: | Dunkirk, Pas-de-Calais, France |
| Broke Ground: | 27 January 2018[1] |
| Opened: | 1 August 2019 [2] [3] 6 September 2019 [4] |
| Owner: | Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque |
| Operator: | Vert Marine[5] |
| Suites: | 6[6] |
| Capacity: | 1400 1700 |
| Dimensions: | 60 × 30-metre 42 × 20-metre |
| Surface: | 7890 m2 |
| Construction Cost: | €21 million[7] |
| Architect: | Chabanne et Partenaires |
| General Contractor: | Ramery[8] |
| Tenants: | Corsaires de Dunkerque (2019–present) |
| Publictransit: | Môle 1 |
Patinoire Michel-Raffoux (English: Michel Raffoux Ice Rink) is an ice rink located in the harbor of Dunkirk, Pas-de-Calais, France. It is the second venue to bear that name after another located in the beach district of Malo-les-Bains, which it replaced.[9] Like its predecessor, it serves as the home venue for ice hockey team Corsaires de Dunkerque.
The new building replaces its older namesake, a 56 × 26-metre facility inaugurated on 7 November 1970[10] and demolished in late 2019. Beyond the name, there is no connection between the two, as the old Patinoire Michel-Raffoux sat near the city's casino and congress center, two kilometers to the northeast of the new one.[9] Both were named in honor of Michel Raffoux (1934–1990), a former president of the Corsaires and the French Ice Sports Federation's Northern Minor Hockey League.[11]
Negotiations to replace the aging rink had been ongoing for years when,[12] during a 1 November 2014 game against Reims, an errand puck flew into the unprotected stands and hit 8-year-old fan Hugo Vermeersh in the temple, mortally injuring him.[13] [14] The child's death and resulting national media attention lent added gravitas to calls for an up-to-date venue, which received funding from the Communauté urbaine de Dunkerque in late 2015.[15]
The current version was inaugurated in the summer of 2019. It is located on a disused mole in Dunkirk harbor, half a mile west of Dunkirk city centre.[16]
The new Patinoire Michel-Raffoux represented the second phase of the mole's rehabilitation project, following architect 's remodel of the Halle aux Sucres, a late 19th-century warehouse built by, into an information commons.[16] Patinoire Michel-Raffoux stands next to it, and its proportions are meant to echo those of Faloci's work.[17] [1] As a further nod to the area's industrial background, three of the rink's sides have been covered with aluminum panels that simulate a rusted look. The remaining short side is a 45 × 10-metre wall of glass. Its northerly orientation allows a view on the Halle aux Sucres' central aisle while protecting the recreational rink, which it borders, from excess sun glare.[1]
The building consists of an Olympic-sized track and a smaller recreational track. The main hall is equipped with six VIP boxes, and a restaurant with a row of club-level seats above the home goal. It was designed by Chabanne et Partenaires, who also created ice arenas for the agglomerations of Angers, Cergy-Pontoise and Marseille.[18]