Tag Archives: Sports Basement
Sports Basement to take over historic Berkeley ice rink
Mayor Tom Bates fell on his butt there. Susan Wengraf and Gordon Wozniak fondly recalled children’s parties there. There was a wave of nostalgia for Berkeley Iceland at last night’s City Council meeting, from both council members and residents providing public comment. But the passionate efforts of Save Berkeley Iceland, the campaign that hoped to resurrect a skating rink at the landmarked building, failed after a 7-0 vote to affirm the Zoning Adjustment Board’s decision to allow retailer Sports Basement to adapt the structure at 2727 Milvia for a new store.
“This is in some ways a very sad day, and in some ways something positive,” Bates said. “It would have been great to [bring back] the rink. It would have been fabulous. But there is not a viable way to make it work.”
The only dissenting voice on the council was Darryl Moore, who abstained in the vote. His motion to call for a public hearing on the project, which would have created another two months’ delay, failed for lack of a second. … Continue reading »
Berkeley Iceland is more than a building: it’s a sanctuary
Tuesday will be a big day for the city of Berkeley and especially for a little neighborhood in south Berkeley. Tuesday at 7pm the Berkeley City Council will hold a hearing on whether to allow Berkeley Iceland’s use permit to be changed from recreational to retail in order to usher in the city’s first big-box store to replace the historic ice rink which is located there, and has been closed since 2007.
While this may seem like a simple zoning … Continue reading »
Op/Ed: Clean Berkeley Iceland building, whatever its fate
It’s been five years since Berkeley Iceland closed for the last time, and the historic property on Milvia Street has largely been left to deteriorate since then. It has been defaced by graffiti and trash piles up around the building. In an Opinionator piece published today, Tom Killilea, president of Save Berkeley Iceland, says his group has worked to clean up around the perimeter of the building and is open to doing more volunteer work. But, he argues, it is time for Berkeley Iceland’s owners, as well as the City of Berkeley, to step up and take responsibility for maintaining the building while its ultimate fate is being decided. … Continue reading »
Group circulates ballot measure to preserve ice rink
A group that worked to place Berkeley Iceland on a city list of historic places is circulating a ballot measure that calls for the city to consider including a recreation space in any future development.
Members of Save Berkeley Iceland started collecting signatures on the measure on March 31 and hope to gather 3,000 signatures by May 10. If they are successful, the measure would go on the November ballot.
The measure would set city policy so that when any plans for the property come before the City Council or any commission, policy makers would have to consider the need for community recreation in their decisions, said Tom Killilea, the president of Save Berkeley Iceland. … Continue reading »
