Edinburgh’s historic Murrayfield ice rink is to reopen after being forced to close during the coronavirus lockdown.

The 84-year-old Olympic-sized rink shut its doors in March 2020 with the ice allowed to melt and drain away.

But work will begin in mid-October to lay another rink at the venue next to Scotland’s national rugby stadium.

Lowering the temperature in the category B-listed building and laying a new sheet of ice could take up to four weeks to complete.

A new operating company, Murrayfield Ice Arena, will take over the facility at the start of October. It intends for the business to “continue primarily as an ice rink”.

A statement from the organization said it was “excited to take stewardship of this historic venue in the capital and will work directly and in partnership with all activities hosted in the rink to help ensure ice sports can thrive over the coming years”.

It said work was already under way to repair damage caused by a major brine leak, which occurred in February 2021.

ln October that year, the future viability of the rink was in doubt with staff members saying “significant funding” was needed to save the facility.

The building, designed in the art deco style, dates back to 1938.

The rink has a 3, 000-seat arena and was previously home to the Murrayfield Racers ice hockey team – which went through several name changes before reverting to its original – from 1952 to the mid-1990s.

The relaunched Edinburgh Capitals have more recently used the facility as their home base.