Peninsula Hockey, Skating Rink on Thin Ice

A well-known San Mateo ice rink appears doomed.

They're going to pave figure skating and hockey paradise, and put up some more shopping malls.

That's the plan in San Mateo, where the owners of the ice skating rink where Olympic champion Kristi Yamaguchi want to close up shop, tear down the rink and put up "more lucrative retail stores," according to the San Mateo County Times.

The Ice Center was informed in May that the Bridgepointe Shopping Center's owners would not renew its lease, according to the newspaper.

That means the "600 to 700" hockey players who rely on the rink for practice and play are fighting mad -- there's no other place on the Peninsula with the capacity, the newspaper reported.

"Demand at the rink is so high that some youth teams arrive at 4:30 a.m. to practice," youth coach Mario Morrissette told the newspaper, "while adult sessions can go past midnight."

Company SPI, which owns the rink, has sought amendments to the San Mateo master plan in order to close the rink. The master plan calls for an ice rink or "similar recreational facility" at the shopping center, but cannot be forced to keep it open, City Councilman Jack Matthews told the newspaper.

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