Re “O’Leary to the Rescue of Doomed Ice Arena? Mmmm, Maybe”
[img]1305|right|Andy Weissman||no_popup[/img]Asserting that an excessively sunny prospect for the Culver City Ice Arena was cast in an earlier story today, City Councilman Andy Weissman said this morning that when his colleagues discuss the doomed rink on Jan. 27, “the focus will be on what it takes to decommission an ice rink.”
Not on restoring the early 1960s Ice Arena, whose lease ends on Feb. 2 when the building will be turned over to a different company.
At the next Council meeting, said Mr., Weissman, “we will be talking about remediating hazardous or other substances that may be there, how one goes about dissembling the piping and the equipment.
“That is all we will be talking about. We will not be talking about saving the ice rink.”
Mr. Weissman said that fellow Councilman Mehaul O’Leary, a self-labeled “eternal optimist” who introduced the notion of a further discussion about the arena, has a separate take. “He is hoping the process is so daunting and expensive that the new lessee is going to decide to walk away,” Mr. Weissman said. “But that has nothing to do with our discussion on the 27th.”
Does Mr. Weissman share Mr. O’Leary’s concerns about negative findings in the ground once the rink’s ice is melted?
“We are all concerned about what the process is, and to make sure when the ice is removed that it is done properly and safely,” he said. “As I understand, there already are protocols in place to do that. This is far from the first ice rink that has gone out of business.
“I am sure the protocols will be followed. Either the lessee (Planet Granite, a Bay Area enterprise) or the landlord (based in the same area) will have to get a demolition permit,” Mr. Weissman said.
“What I don’t know today is whether there is any requirement to maintain the utilities after the ice rink ceases operation until there is a demolition.”
