Originally called the Calgary Auditorium Rink, the Sherman Rink was converted in 1906 by William B. Sherman into a roller-skating auditorium, a very popular pastime of the era. During the coldest winter months the rink was used for ice-skating and ice hockey, spring and autumn saw the arena featured as a roller-skating rink and, in the summer, the complex transformed into an indoor garden. The structure was immense, covered ten city lots, and as many as 5000 people could be accommodated in the building. Without an interior supporting post in the entire structure, the rink measured 15 x 30 metres and its curved roof towered 18 metres above street level. A sturdy raised stage constructed of concrete blocks covered with maple hardwood was highly polished for public dancing. Beneath the stage a large banquet room for 500 people was served by a fully equipped, adjoining kitchen. The building was known to have hosted all types of traveling theatrical troupes, dramatic stars and vaudevillians as well as local special events such as society and association balls, birthday celebrations, receptions and small conventions. In 1915, the Sherman Rink surrendered to a spectacular fire. Today the site is used as a children's playground and is maintained by the City of Calgary. Born in Ohio in 1908, William B. Sherman joined the circus at age 17 and worked with such well known shows as the Ringling Brothers. By age 34, he owned several entertainment venues in Ontario, all of which he lost to fire. In January 1905, Sherman arrived in Calgary as head of the Sherman Summer Stock Company, a theatrical troupe playing the Lyric Theatre on 8th Avenue, then owned by Calgary lawyer James Lougheed. Ambitious and highly skilled, the flamboyant entrepreneur's holdings eventually came to also include the Hull Opera House, the Sherman Grand Theatre and the Lyric Theatre none of which exist today.