Pickwick Rink in Burbank to Be Closed

Burbank’s Pickwick Ice Arena, cradle of Olympic figure skaters, will close Sept. 30 because of mounting financial difficulties, the manager announced Monday night.

But unhappy local skaters and coaches vowed to preserve the arena, home of one of the most prestigious figure-skating clubs in the country and a popular practice arena for many local hockey clubs.

Manager Cary Adams told about 50 skating enthusiasts he summoned to an impromptu meeting Monday afternoon to “clear up all the rumors about the rink” that owners Walter and Edward Stavert decided in January to close the facility.

It would cost an estimated $500,000 to modernize the deteriorating 29-year-old rink, he said, and the mounting cost of liability insurance had become a critical problem.

Twice as large as most ice rinks in the area, Pickwick is home base for the highly competitive Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, which has nurtured such Olympic skaters as Linda Fratianne of Northridge, Tiffany Chin of Toluca Lake and Christopher Bowman of Van Nuys.

“It’s a nationally known training facility,” Adams said. Fratianne won the Silver Medal for women’s figure skating at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Chin came in fourth in figure skating at the games in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, four years later. Bowman was also an Olympic competitor and U.S. men’s figure skating champion.

The rink is also used by speed skating clubs, hockey teams and members of the public who can take lessons or skate for pleasure.

About 15 independent skating instructors will be put out of work by the closure and more than 2,000 regular patrons will have to find alternate arenas, Adams said.

“We have three months and five days to do something,” said Gino Vella, president of the California Amateur Hockey Assn. “This can be stopped.”

During the 40-minute meeting, the skaters and their coaches offered to organize fund-raisers to help save the rink and pay for the repair costs. They also called for the owners to meet with them to talk about the facility’s future.

“We’re desperate now,” said Harley Thayer, 67, of Simi Valley, who plays hockey there two days a week. “I think they are losing a marvelous facility.”

Adams agreed to deliver the message to the owners but said the Staverts are already looking into alternative uses for the rink. He did not elaborate.

Adams said the owners did not announce their decision to close the rink in January because they did not want to undermine the winter skating programs.