GARDEN GROVE : Roller Hockey Rink at Pioneer Park OKd

The City Council approved an agreement this week that will allow the California Street Hockey Assn. to operate a lighted outdoor roller hockey rink that the city will build at Pioneer Park.

The enclosed hockey facility will be part of a $200,000 upgrade of the four-acre park and will be financed by state park development funds.

Pioneer Park, at 12722 Chapman Ave., has been a gathering place for homeless people, and neighbors have been reluctant to visit there, officials said.

But city leaders said the park project is not directed against the homeless.

“We’re not trying to drive them out,” Assistant City Manager Mike Fenderson said Friday. “We’re trying to find a way for more residents to use the park.”

In addition to building the new roller hockey facility, the city plans to put in new lighting and irrigation systems, relocate the picnic shelter and build new restrooms, Cal J. Rietzel, Department of Community Services manager, said.

The California Street Hockey Assn. will operate and maintain the hockey facility and pay the city a minimum of $2,000 a month rent.

The company, based in Rowland Heights in Los Angeles County, also operates a hockey rink at a city sports complex at Chapman Avenue and Knott Street.

The hockey rink at Pioneer Park will be designed for teams of five to six members who will compete on roller skates.

The rink will have a concrete surface that will be bounded by a four-foot-high board fence. There will be additional screen on top of the fence and bleachers, Rietzel said.

Construction of the hockey rink and revamping of other park facilities are expected to be completed by this summer, officials said.