Pettit National Ice Center

My go to place for running in bad weather. Which in Wauwatosa means five months out of the year. During those months, the three lane track is a godsend. And I am use myself watching the speedskaters, hockey players, or figure skaters as I run. It makes the time go quickly.
Most people are pretty good about sharing the space on the three lane track. No small feat, considering sometime throughout college students during their speed workouts along with people walking fairly slowly. But it all works out.

If you’re stuck in western Milwaukee in terrible weather, this is a fantastic place to run. It’s only four dollars, less if you buy a package of tickets. The track is slightly more than a quarter of a mile, and while you run you can watch all kinds of interesting things. Two skating ranks in the middle, and a speedskating oval with Olympic athlete training.

Wow what to say about the Pettit. I spent such a huge portion of my childhood and teenage years here as a speed skater. Wisconsin is so lucky to have such an amazing facility. One of only two indoor long track rinks in the nation right and it’s right in our backyard. It’s a truly awesome facility and everyone should check it out at least once. If you get the chance, look up the schedule for speed skating competitions– seeing the elite level in person is a beautiful thing :)

As far as ice rinks go… This middle of the road. If you are skating, you have to walk up and down plastic covered steps, which is never fun when you only have two metal strips to support your ankles. Additionally, this place is also so hot compared to most ice rinks. Always bring a water bottle for a long skate.
If you are bringing small kids here for open skate on the overall, try to come on off hours as it can get relatively crowded. Also don’t expect the workers to know what’s really going on outside of their personal tasks.

This is pro athlete stuff, right here. Olympic style! It used to be outdoors, but now is enclosed, and is a hive of activity on a Saturday. There are speedskating meets going on, people running, classes, lots of stuff for kids. Good, clean, icy fun!
Milwaukee is lucky to have an asset like this.

I went with my friend and my grandchildren (ages 9 & 11) to Pettit for open skate during the winter holidays. This was a great place to skate. We started by keeping to the inside lane, as we were a little slower. However, a couple times around the very large track, we became brave and edged out a little. The only time during our visit I did not like was when the peewee league came out and were terrorizing other skaters by cutting in front of them &/​or falling in front of them.

We came here for the I-​94 Sprints, which is an annual speedskating competition where they hold a short-​track race on a long track. My little guy is a PeeWee skater (age 8), so this was our first time racing in this place. There is no shortage of parking when you get here. It’s a huge lot that borders the expressway. Inside, there’s a small lobby considering the size of the skating venue.
Inside, you are immediately taken by its vastness. There are 2 hockey rinks in the middle, surrounded by a huge oval speedskating track. The ice is pristine, a seemingly thin but glass-​like sheet that is superb to any local skating rink you’ve been to. There is a running track around the ice perimeter and there are indoor joggers in their shorts running laps even while skating is taking place on the ice. A small metal bleacher section of seats is off to the right, but there is no main seating section considering that this is a premier ice rink. You have to bring your own chairs since the bleachers are not a great place to be. Nobody sat in them during the Sprints.
Getting to the skating area means taking a stairway down through a tunnel that goes under the long track and passes by all the hockey locker rooms before you go up some stairs and emerge in the middle of the ice facility. There are benches for the skaters and their gear, but those are not for spectators.
The long track has padded sidewalls since skaters going at full speed can have a serious injury if they hit a wall on a turn. These red pads are the thickest mats I’ve seen at any venue. The ice is beautiful and it made the racing here that much better. Where my Peewee is about 18 seconds for a 100 m lap on the ice back home, he made 100 m in 16.2 seconds on this surface. Though they had 2 resurfacings during the competition, the condition of the ice was good even without the extra Zamboni time.
If there is any complaint, it is not a spectator friendly venue. A grandstand area above the ice would be beneficial since you can’t observe the entire race. You see the skaters coming around the turn, go past the bend and disappear for a while. Then you briefly spot them going by on the opposite side before disappearing again. The track needs an elevated viewing area where you can see the skaters from above. Also, the halls and the tunnel look dingy, considering this is a world-​class facility. Brighter walls and floor would make a huge difference. But when it comes to the skating, there’s probably no place like it in the Midwest.

Food is good we came here on a sat when there were games going on. Lots of sales too! Baked good and the guy who was selling hot dogs was cheering on his sons team for selling hot dogs so they got the community involved since I don’t have any kids In hockey. It was fun to cheer a team on even If it was just for hot dog sales!

Large ice rink, healthy vending machines, helpful employees. I do wish people taking classes has their own area, it does interrupt the flow of the ice rink. Luckily it hasnt been too busy most times I’ve been there, but I do tend to steer away if I see several school buses. Good for family fun, I do wish it was more affordable for those that would like to frequent more.

Where else can you skate on an official Olympic-​trial speedskating track? I got to attend a qualifier here and it was awesome. Although no one should ever have thighs the size of the speed skaters. Ridiculous. It’s like custom made jeans for life.
Great group of times for open skates and such, although I’ve yet to come in for open hockey. Plenty of classes offered for several age groups in both hockey and figure skating (finger painting? — watch the Cutting Edge). Pretty cheap price for the name, and it’s got decent access and plenty of parking. Come Halloween, you can skate and outfit your kids in costumes from the giant pumpkin outside…

For being someone who actively spends a sizable portion of her time on rollerskates, I really don’t do well with the whole ice-​skating thing.
Trust me, it’s not pretty. Not at all.
When I was a kid, though? That was different. I loved ice-​skating… I adored it and I laced-‘em up and hit that frozen patch of water behind the house on the absolute regular. I thought I was Nancy freaking Kerrigan. (I did go as her for Halloween once, but that was wayyyy different. Ask me about it sometime.)
At any rate, were I to want to try to relive the carefree days of my youth by thinking I could still spin and leap on those cursed, evil blades I would head to the Pettit National Ice Center. Turn and leap (then) = smash knee, face on a cruel cold surface (now).
The Pettit is world-​class, make no mistake. People that go to the Olympics train here, or so I’ve heard. The track is all regulation and whatnot, and you’ll catch folks playing hockey and doing triple lutzes and skating absolutely ridiculous circles around you both on the track itself as well as in the two inside arenas/​areas/​rinks.
There’s also a running track that goes round the outside (round the outside) of the ice for those who prefer their cardio chilled, and life off blades.
Kiddies have birthday parties here, folks who love ice-​skating, hockey, and speed skating hang out here, and occasionally, you’ll see someone like me who’s on an adventure and can’t stop falling down and laughing their frozen tuckus off.
The Pettit = something absolutely awesome to hit up in MKE, especially in summer when it’s a bazillion degrees out.
(You folks on that ice may think you bad, but let me put you on rollerskates once. We’ll see what’s up then.)

The Pettit is a total Milwaukee Gem. We went to watch a friend in a speed skating race, and had a great time. We bundled up (it’s cold in there…) on a Saturday morning armed with hot coffee and mittens and found a cozy spot on the bleachers to watch the fun. I was told that the Pettit is the only Olympic training facility for quite a ways, so the race attracted folks from all over the Midwest.
Everyone is super friendly… We met Olympic athletes cheering on their kids, and an 80 year old speed skater who was still tearing up the ice weekly. Overall — a great time!

Wow I really wish I could ice skate. I gave it a try and didn’t fall at all but just wish I could zip around and be as carefree as the skaters I saw. In my defense, this was only my second time on ice skates and I didn’t fall so I guess I did ok. Enough about me!
The Pettit National Ice Center was amazing! I have never been there before and was just blown away at it’s massive size. We attended an open skate on a Friday night to take our Cub Scouts out to learn to skate. All of us were very excited to see where the Olympians train. I was pleasantly surprised at all the different areas and things they offer. I now know that I can walk the outside track vs. skating if I choose to while my son can zip by on the ice. Great for groups, great for families, great for skaters of all ages.
I can’t believe I have never been at the Pettit before but now that I have, I will be back!

The pettit is one of those facilities that if you live in Milwaukee or near it, you must go and do it. 1^st of all, this is an Olympic grade ice rink. There are 2 hockey rinks in the center of the public skating. I love to skate and so does my wife and son Ty. Grant it, I haven’t done it in quite some time and found myself kissing the ice at times, however we found ourselves laughing a lot. Ty when he was 4 took lessons here, so he picked up where he left off and did well. The reason for 4 stars, if you are a beginner, the inner circle which is colored for less experienced skaters has a wall that is soft and slopped, it really doesn’t hold you and you can’t grab on to it without falling over. Overall, this is a great time for a fun date, to take the kids, or just go and get some exercise.

«This is Olympic ice. There are only 11 similar facilities in the world. It is ¼ mile around the track.» These were some of the first words out of the mouth of our ice skating instructor. After our daughter completed the Basic 1 skating class and begged to do the second class, my wife and I figured we should get some ice skills as well. So, here we are standing on the ice in Adult 1 learning how to fall. Yep, you heard right. Before you learn how to skate (not to fall) you have to learn to how to fall. The good news for both of us was that the only times we fell were when we were told to fall. We were able to advance to the next level right away…
What’s great about the place? Well, there is much going on. The outside of the quarter mile speed skating track is a running track. On one visit there was an indoor relay marathon being held. There are two full size ice rinks on the inside of the track. There are usually hockey games or ice dancers playing/​performing.
The lessons are great. There are literally dozens of lessons for virtually every age and skill level. The teachers we’ve encountered are great. They make the time you spend feeling like a completely uncoordinated fool fun.
Once again, another great Milwaukee gem. Take advantage of it!

Very cool place to go and ice skate. The rink is really big and it’s nice being inside. You can watch the hockey games going on if you want to see how it’s really done. Only complaint is the divits that the show off’s are creating with their crazy jumping.

I offically cannot iceskate, but if i could, I would frequent the Petit Center. It’s huge and you can even take classes here (would probably be wise for me to do)