I am sure most everyone misses the recreational use of the Culver Ice Arena.
A couple of years ago, John Jackson, executive director of the rink, and the rink staff gave a fun and informative presentation to the Culver City Historical Society. They engaged a packed house with stories of the rink’s proud history.
In the last couple weeks of January 2014, prior to the rink’s closing, my family and I were fortunate enough to make it there for one last afternoon of skating. In the days just before the rink closed, my wife and her friends brought back high school memories as they laced up their skates and spent one last evening on ice.
As a parent and community member, I would have liked nothing more than to have seen the landlord and tenant work out a new lease to stay, or for a new operator to skate in. I’d heard that by the end, they were paying Edison more for electricity to keep the ice cold than they were for rent.
It is sad that wear and tear continued to diminish some of the experience for the past years.
Given the uncertain forecast for the property as the lease ran into its last years, it was understandable that the tenant may have put off cosmetic and capital improvements.
City staff reported that even members of the City Council tried, in vain, to help find an economically viable way to bring an operator to the rink.
Despite the passion that many feel for ice-skating, the economics are not there to support it.
It seems, in general, ice rinks, roller rinks, drive-in and single-screen movie theatres continue to disappear.
Presumptively, the land use economics, particularly given the parking requirements, of these recreational uses, make them difficult to sustain, given what alternative developments or tenants can afford to pay for the same land.
While I know to those who miss the rink most, it will be very little consolation, the history of the property and its culture will be preserved based upon the historical designation (Significant) over the past year.
The landlord and tenant will be repurposing the ticket booth into a retrospective display of the rink’s heyday and restoring the building’s condition, including the ice skater figure and now historic “Ice Skating” sign, a reslurry and restriping of the parking lot, and the addition of landscaping and bike racks
Mr. Lachoff, who is chair of the Chamber of Commerce as well as chair of the Planning Commission, may be contacted at klachoff@ngkf.com
