Perhaps the largest turnout ever at the City Council grouped hockey players and figure skaters in a huge parade and yet at a subsequent meeting the Mayor supported tearing down the Rink and replacing it with housing. The Council voted him down and the Mayor said old skaters could put up a plaque. He was booed!!
The details here included a petition to "Landmark" Iceland which passed despite the Mayor and his cronies telling lies about the neighborhood and trying to eliminate an iconic Berkeley institution. It was our existing Landmark Preservation Ordinance that saved Iceland, an ordinance that the Mayor had tried to replace.
Today the Mayor is on the Rink's fund raising committee (clever politician that he is, switching sides when he lost) but there is no record of his producing the millions in funding that he continually produces for buildings that no one wants. It is possible for the Housing Advisory Commission (HAC), an advisory committee to the Council, to allocate several million dollars to Iceland, but I guess that the Mayor just "forgot" to push this button. When this was pointed out to the Iceland preservation people they were rather astounded.
The details here included a petition to "Landmark" Iceland which passed despite the Mayor and his cronies telling lies about the neighborhood and trying to eliminate an iconic Berkeley institution. It was our existing Landmark Preservation Ordinance that saved Iceland, an ordinance that the Mayor had tried to replace.
Today the Mayor is on the Rink's fund raising committee (clever politician that he is, switching sides when he lost) but there is no record of his producing the millions in funding that he continually produces for buildings that no one wants. It is possible for the Housing Advisory Commission (HAC), an advisory committee to the Council, to allocate several million dollars to Iceland, but I guess that the Mayor just "forgot" to push this button. When this was pointed out to the Iceland preservation people they were rather astounded.
The real question here is why the city closed it down in the first place (a put up job if I ever heard one) and why the city just didn't contribute the few hundred thousand dollars that the owners needed to replace the cooling plant and keep the rink open.
Hundreds of Berkeley figure skaters, hockey players (many kids), and recreational skaters have had to go out of town to find ice time. Iceland was and can again be the best community center for athletics that we have. I note that the new baseball field adjacent is locked to community use. Absurd decisions by nutty politicians.
