Report on Ice Chalet expected

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- Former customers of the closed Ice Chalet plan to report

to the City Council tonight on the progress they have made in their

effort to get a new ice skating rink in the city.

The rink, which had been a community fixture and training ground for

Olympic ice skaters for almost 30 years, closed last month.

“There’s so many irons in the fire right now that my head is

spinning,” said David Martinez last week.

Martinez and other members of the movement are considering many

options, including trying to reopen the closed rink temporarily and run

it themselves, he said.

“We’re going to try to do a temporary fix, but there are many issues

to be considered,” Martinez said. “There is some money, but do we want to

throw good money after an old rink that’s going to get ripped out

eventually anyway? And it also depends on how much [C.J. Segerstrom &

Sons, the landowner,] is willing to accommodate us as well. We’re

talking, but there’s just nothing concrete at this juncture.”

The group may reach an agreement with the landowner within the next

few weeks, Martinez said.

Many Ice Chalet parents said they were upset at the way they were

treated at a City Council meeting Jan. 15, when they asked council

members to help them save the Ice Chalet.

Dozens of Ice Chalet skaters and parents intended to speak at the

meeting, but the issue was not on the agenda. Mayor Libby Cowan, who said

she was not sure the council could do anything about the closing of a

business, allowed three representatives to speak for three minutes each.

After the meeting, some parents said they were so upset they have

considered trying to recall Cowan. So far, no recall paperwork has been

filed.

FYI

WHAT: Costa Mesa City Council meeting

WHERE: Costa Mesa City Hall, 77 Fair Drive

WHEN: 6:30 p.m. today

INFO: (714) 754-5300