Berkeley Iceland may soon be put on ice. As in the wrecking ball.
The Berkeley City Council will on Tuesday decide if the Art Deco ice-skating rink -- which has played host to Olympic champions like Kristi Yamaguchi and Brian Boitano -- should be rezoned to a big-box retailer, the Bay Area News Group reported.
Saddened skaters and parents have formed a group called Save Berkeley Iceland dedicated to keeping the rink where it is, the newspaper reported. But "it's been a long, long struggle" for the skaters, who in 2007 had to deal with a rink closed due to an ammonia leak, the newspaper reported.
Iceland was designated a historic landmark, but has seen better days since it opened in 1940, the newspaper reported. It's now a "crumbling white elephant," and not the "revenue-producing retail establishment" a new big-box store would be, the newspaper reported.
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Save Berkeley Iceland has raised $100,000 to buy the rink and restore it, but they will need millions more, the newspaper warned.
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