In a last-ditch effort to save a beloved venue from extinction where amateur skaters and Olympians have shared space, supporters of keeping the Culver Ice Arena operational staged a rally outside City Hall on Jan. 13 to draw attention to their cause.
The Sepulveda Boulevard ice rink, the only one on the Westside since Ice Capades Chalet in Santa Monica closed 30 years ago, will have a new tenant as of Feb. 2. The property, Mike Karagozian, has decided to lease the space to Planet Granite, a Northern California–based rock climbing and fitness gym.
More than 50 protesters staged a rally outside Culver City Hall two hours before the city council met for its first meeting of the year. Families, members of various local hockey teams and employees of the ice rink presented the council with more than 11, 000 signatures from an online petition of supporters of the local ice arena.
Tai Babilonia, a former Olympic skater who teamed with Randy Gardner to win five world championships, recalled her early days at the ice arena.
“[The Culver Ice Arena] was the rink where I spent more time than I did at home,” she told the council and the standing room only audience. “It was the perfect babysitter for many young skaters.”
Damara Powell, 8, also learned to skate at the Culver City rink. “I don’t want this rink to close because I have a lot of fun doing tricks with my friends,” she said.
John Nachbar, Culver City’s city manager, said because the transaction is between two private entities, the city has no recourse in preventing it from going forward.
“While I deeply appreciate the passion that everyone this evening brings to this issue, I think it’s important that I point out a few things,” Nachbar said. “Realistically, there is virtually nothing the city council can do to ensure that this stays an ice rink.”
Gardner, a Marina del Rey resident who did not attend the meeting, said the ice arena was more than just a place to skate for him.
“I grew up that rink,” Gardner said. “It’s a legendary rink and a lot of great coaches have also taught there.
“I formed life-long friendships at that rink,” he added. “And of course that’s where I began my partnership with Tai.”
Babilonia called the ice arena her “frozen playground” and implored the council to do what it could to keep the ice arena in Culver City.
Some have inquired if the city could buy the property and therefore keep the ice arena operational.
Nachbar said purchasing the ice arena would cost Culver City “millions of dollars.” “The city is not in a financial position to do that,” he explained.
Councilman Jim Clarke agreed, telling the News before the meeting “the owner has a lease for a legal commercial activity with Planet Granite [and] the city is in no position to purchase the property.”
Councilman Micheál O’Leary asked for and received support to have a formal discussion in the form of an agenda item at the Jan. 27 meeting. He appeared to express hope that the rink could be saved due to potential environmental concerns and urged its supporters to remain hopeful that it could be, despite repeated assurances that Culver City has no authority over the sale or the financial wherewithal to purchase the rink or prevent its owner from selling the building.
With time running out on the demise of the ice arena, Clarke said city officials could explore potential environmental concerns at the site. Because an ice rink as been at the site for half a century, the soil underneath it has become frozen and could make construction upon this type of soil difficult.
“The site has been there for 52 years and as a result there the ground underneath has permafrost,” Clarke said. “The city could ask for an evaluation of what would be the impact on the structural integrity of the building and the environmental issues once the ground thaws out.”
According to the Permafrost Research Institute, using stilts extending approximately 50 feet down into the foundation can prevent large buildings from sinking into the ground.
Historic preservation of the building that houses the ice arena was discussed as well, but Nachbar said that would not have any effect on the transaction between Karagozian and Planet Granite.
Karagozian did not return calls for comment.