Burlingame: New plan offers hope for Peninsula ice skaters, hockey players – The Mercury News

BURLINGAME — After several lean years for Peninsula ice skaters and hockey players, the move to build one or more new facilities is gaining momentum, particularly in Burlingame, where a nonprofit group has proposed constructing a rink on the site of a driving range.

With the closure of a San Mateo ice rink in 2013 and Belmont Iceland in April, there is now only one rink in Redwood City to serve thousands of youths and adults between San Francisco and Cupertino. The shortage has disrupted hockey leagues and forced skaters to make early-morning or late-night treks to Alameda County and the South Bay in search of ice time.

That could change soon if Burlingame approves a plan to construct two ice sheets on the site of the Burlingame Golf Center, located next to the city’s hotel district along San Francisco Bay. Meanwhile, a separate campaign to reopen Belmont Iceland or build a new facility in the downtown Belmont area is also making gains.

The Mid-Peninsula Ice Rink Foundation recently submitted a proposal to the Burlingame Parks and Recreation Department, which is considering two other bids. The department is expected to wrap up its review early in 2017 and report to the City Council.

But there’s an unusual catch. To make the project viable, the foundation claims it would need to secure several million dollars from neighboring San Mateo. Council members there will soon debate whether to accept $8 million from the owner of Bridgepointe Shopping Center in exchange for permission to tear down its shuttered rink and build new retail stores and possibly residential units.

Giving half that money or more to Burlingame could be a tough sell in San Mateo, but proponents of building a new rink say the facility would serve the entire mid-Peninsula. San Mateo Councilman Joe Goethals, who has worked with the foundation and others to find a suitable site for a new rink, said that if the council were to approve Bridgepointe owner SPI Holdings’ latest plan, he would consider allocating some of the $8 million to Burlingame’s project.

“I think it’s in the best interests of San Mateo to do whatever we can and whatever it takes to make sure there’s an ice rink on the mid-Peninsula that serves San Mateo residents,” he said.

It’s very hard to find land on the Peninsula that’s zoned for recreation, publicly owned, and doesn’t come with a host of traffic congestion and parking issues, said Goethals.

“All of my eggs are in the Burlingame basket,” he said. “I’ve never seen a better situation, a better opportunity, and I don’t think there is one.”

Michael Strambi, president of the Mid-Peninsula Ice Rink Foundation, estimates it would cost up to $20 million to build a new rink at the Burlingame driving range. Using funds from San Mateo as seed money, the nonprofit would seek private and public investors.

The rink proposal faces stiff competition, however, from Top Golf, a Dallas-based company that wants to build a golf-themed entertainment complex.

Burlingame Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg said it’s too early to comment on the proposals, though he has heard “loud and clear” that the region needs a new rink. The council, he said, will need to decide on the best and highest use for “a premier site on the Peninsula with beautiful views of the bay” that is currently underutilized.

In Belmont, five miles to the south, the Silicon Valley Ice Skating Association last month persuaded the planning commission to tweak the language of the city’s emerging plan for new downtown development, specifying an ice rink as a possible future use.

While pressing for a permanent rink, the association also is seeking a temporary reopening of Belmont Iceland while the property’s long-term fate is decided. The property is reportedly now owned by a private real estate developer.

There’s more than enough demand on the Peninsula to support two new rinks, said Sarah Feldman, founder of the association and a Tesla business analyst.

“Regardless of what happens in Burlingame,” she said, “there will be a need for another rink in Belmont, and that’s definitely what we’re working toward.”