BENDIGO'S troubled Ice Skating Stadium has closed its doors - perhaps for good.Bendigo Ice Skating Association vice-president Luke Guimond yesterday confirmed the decision to shut the Hattam Street stadium was made at a committee meeting on Thursday night. The stadium will now go into liquidation.Mr Guimond said the stadium was unable to maintain its financial viability, but would not comment on whether a $100,000 loan from the City of Greater Bendigo provided in early 2008 would be honoured.Mr Guimond told The Advertiser a statement would be issued on Monday and that the status of the arena, the outstanding loan and what the future held for the premises would all be considered in the statement.Yesterday a sign at the stadium read "Sorry Closed", while the Bendigo Ice Skating Arena website showed the standard sessions at the rink applied for yesterday.The Advertiser was contacted by several distraught parents and ice-skaters yesterday who were devastated by news of the closure.The rink was built in 1986 and is the last ice-skating rink in regional Victoria.The closure means ice-skaters, hockey players and curling enthusiasts will now be forced to travel to Melbourne to train and compete.The ice-skating rink has endured a chequered history, having been bailed out of earlier financial problems by the City of Greater Bendigo in March 2008.The Council provided a $100,000 interest-free loan on the condition the centre met requirements to upgrade and maintain the facility, met a financial plan, increased the level of volunteers and continued with a council representation on its management team.The council voted unanimously to support the rescue package at its March 5, 2008 meeting.Afterwards, Cr Rod Fyffe, who is also the council’s representative on the Bendigo Ice Skating Stadium committee, told The Advertiser the rink was a valuable community asset that the council needed to keep alive.Yesterday, Cr Fyffe said he was unable to comment on the outcome of Thursday night’s meeting and referred The Advertiser to Mr Guimond.Perhaps as a pointer to yesterday’s news of the rink closure, a message posted on the Ice Skating Club of Bendigo’s website on Thursday advised members to stay tuned, promising to provide important web updates shortly.