A brass plaque mounted on the large rock at the entrance to Applewood on The Dundas briefly tells where Dixie Arena Gardens once stood. The plaque states that over the years the Dixie Beehive Junior ‘B’ hockey teams won three OHA Junior ‘B’ Ontario Championships and three OHA Junior ‘B’ League Championships. The Junior ‘A’ team also won a league title in 1979-80 and divisional and league titles in 1983-84.
The opening of Dixie Arena Gardens in 1949 hailed a new era in ice hockey and skating rinks in the Township of Toronto. Dixie’s new ice palace was the first to utilize artificial ice in South Peel and, from the moment the ribbon was cut, it signalled the start of the end to the popularity of natural ice surfaces. At the time it opened, Dixie was the largest arena between Toronto and Guelph.
Until that time, hockey games and pleasure skating in the Township of Toronto (now Mississauga) took place on outdoor natural ice rinks. A few examples of the many outdoor rinks utilized by area residents down through the years are outlined in the following paragraphs.
M. Strong, a local entrepreneur, placed an advertisement in the Streetsville paper in 1904 where he announced admission charges being ten cents or 12 skates for $1. A little earlier, around the 1900’s, hockey was played behind the power dam at Erindale. Skating there continued for many years.
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