Soo Eagles home rink is located in the Pullar Community Building.
The Pullar Stadium was completed in December of 1939, at a cost of $181,000.00. The stadium was considered “state of the art”at that time. The project was made possible by a bequest of $70,000.00 in the will of Sophie Nolte Pullar.
The Pullar Stadium contains 1,190,000 cubic feet of space. Embedded in the 5 ½ inch arena floor, which lays directly on the grounds without insulation, is 51,000 feet (9.6 miles) of one inch pipe with an additional mile of pipe in the machine room. The original refrigeration system required 36,000 pounds of calcium chloride to change the brine system.
The Pullar Stadium was officially dedicated during the third annual Upper Peninsula Winter Carnival, which was hosted by Sault Ste. Marie in mid February, 1940. The arena’s first show “Under Two Flags” was the centerpiece of the carnival.
The Pullar Stadium was one of the few rinks in the world to have summer ice, and the skating club hosted the many visiting skaters who attended the first summer skating session.
The Pullar Community Building has served the needs of many participants involved in figure skating, ice hockey, Toughman - Toughwoman competitions. The Pullar Stadium has been used for teen dances, a “roller rink”, graduation ceremonies, “water follies” in the late 60’s large dances and “big bands” and is still being used as a site for visiting circuses.
The Detroit Red Wings greats such as Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Able and Alex Delvechio skated at the Pullar Stadium. Also skating there were the Lake Superior State University “Lakers”, and the “Soo Indians”. Currently organizations who use the arena are the Soo Eagles, Hiawatha Skating Club, and the Sault Michigan Hockey Association along with various local men’s hockey leagues.
The Pullar is well known throughout Michigan for the “good” ice and takes pride in maintaining this tradition.
