ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — Escondido's city council voted 5-0 to move forward with a plan to build an ice rink at the softball fields at Kit Carson Park.
According to the city, The Rinks Foundation would fully fund the construction, operation, programming and maintenance of the facility with no financial help from the city of Escondido.
Escondido business owner Adam Wasserman said the rink would be a big draw to the city and boost North County's reputation.
"It'd be great for the city financially, for the public, for the kids, youth sports, hockey. I think it's awesome," Wasserman said.
"Three sheets of ice and a professional, brand new, awesome facility. It'd be huge for Escondido, huge for anyone that plays ice hockey or figure skates, any of that stuff and the local businesses as well," Wasserman said.
Not everyone shares that enthusiasm. Melissa Petri lives next to the park and worries about potential traffic, congestion and parking issues.
"If we were trying to bring in thousands more people into this space, it will cause, I think, a lot of problems in terms of traffic and congestion, and really just alter the space," Petri said.
Petri said she is not against the ice rink but wants the city to consider other locations.
"Creating places for healthy family activities is a wonderful thing. I don't know if this is the right space within to do that," Petri said.
Mayor Dane White said the project will benefit the broader community.
"Part of this will be open to the community for use, but then the schools stand to benefit, sporting stands to benefit and obviously this is going to be a tremendous driver of economic activity," White said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
