Artful or Rinky-Dink? : Disney’s Hockey Practice Facility Will Be Different --From Its Exterior tothe Ice-on-Sand Concept

Some say it resembles a duck coming in for a landing. For others, it brings to mind the grace of ice skating. Then there are those who think it’s just plain weird.

The new community ice rink being built in downtown Anaheim by Walt Disney Co. has been drawing crowds of onlookers and some critics since its eye-catching frame began to rise from the construction site last week.

“We have a lot of sidewalk superintendents,” joked Jerry Sheeran, the contractor who is supervising construction. “They tell us it’s neat. Once those beams went up, traffic around here got real busy.”

The building, designed by renowned architect Frank O. Gehry, will be the new practice facility for The Mighty Ducks and will also be available for public skating and community programs.

Construction crews have been working since October on the project, which at completion will cover 85,000 square feet of space and include both a figure-skating and a hockey rink, as well as locker rooms, exercise rooms, a restaurant and meeting rooms.

“So many rinks just look like pancakes,” said Michael Maltzan, project designer for Frank Gehry & Associates. “They are like flat boxes with a really flat feeling. We wanted to create something that was going to be real exciting inside.”

To that end, the rink’s interior will be exposed laminated wood beams, Maltzan said, “giving it a warmer feeling. Most rinks make you feel like you are in the inside of a refrigerator, and they don’t have to feel that way.”

The exterior will be corrugated aluminum.

Architect Gehry, known for his philosophy that buildings can be works of sculpture, has earned an international reputation with his unusual designs. Among his works are the Aerospace Museum in Exposition Park, Frances Howard Goldwyn Library in Hollywood and Loyola Law School near downtown Los Angeles.

In Orange County, his designs include the University Park Apartments in Irvine, and, on the UC Irvine campus, the Rockwell Engineering Center and the neighboring Information and Computer Sciences-Engineering Research facility.

Gehry, who recently visited the Anaheim construction site at Lincoln Avenue and Clementine Street, was in Europe this week and could not be reached for comment on the building’s progress.

His design for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles drew criticism because the intricacies of the structure caused costs to soar far above initial projection of $210 million. The hall, still not completed, has already surpassed that by at least $50 million.

There have been no such problems yet with the ice rink, insiders said. “I think this project is a much more manageable scale,” Maltzan said. “It’s moving faster from initial design to construction than any project I’ve been involved with.”

Disney, which is bankrolling the project, would not reveal its cost.

Heavy winter rains canceled 25 days of construction, contractor Sheeran said, but the facility is still expected to open on schedule this fall.

Its Olympic-size figure-skating rink will include seating for about 300 spectators, and its hockey rink, built to NHL specifications, will accommodate as many as 1,000 fans.

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Special attention is being given to the ice itself, partly because of complaints from Duck players that the skating surface at The Pond, where they play their home games, is not smooth, cutting down on their speed.

Pond spokesman John Nicoletti said the ventilation system at the arena has been adjusted, and “we haven’t had any complaints in the last six games. The referees say the ice is fine.”

At the practice rink, Maltzan said, “a lot of work went in at the beginning in choosing the right system. . . . It should be an excellent ice surface.”

Rather than using concrete as a base, Maltzan said, the practice rink will consist of a thin layer of ice over a bed of sand.

The Ducks, who now practice at Glacial Garden Ice Arena in Anaheim, will use the new rink about 200 hours a year. That will leave a large block of time to schedule public events, Disney officials said.

The rink also will be the home of Disney’s nonprofit program called GOALS: Growth Opportunities Through Athletics, Learning and Service. GOALS, modeled after a highly touted hockey program in Harlem, offers organized athletics, education and community service to underprivileged youths.

All of the activity for the moment, though, is at the construction site, where the building’s unusual curves and angles have put extra demands on construction crews.

“This is a wild design,” said Ray Kennedy, superintendent of subcontractor Western Wood Structures. “When I saw the concept, I just shook my head and said, ‘This isn’t possible.’ ”

But Kennedy’s partner, Bill Payne, said he is enjoying the challenge. “I don’t care for those straight buildings,” he said. “Anyone can do them. It’s the curved ones and the circular ones that are more interesting.”

Onlookers are impressed, though a few admit to being puzzled.

“I think it’s beautiful,” said Maggie Smith, who stopped by on her way to lunch one day this week. “It’s fascinating to watch it all take shape.”

Downtown resident Ray Voisine said he is glad to see that something is finally being built on what had long been a dusty vacant lot. “The rink is a great idea because it’s going to give the kids something to do,” Voisine said.

But he is reserving judgment about the final outcome. “I’ll have to wait until it’s finished,” Voisine said, “but right now it looks kind of ugly.”

Another resident was more critical. “It looks like a monstrosity right now,” said Morris Whittaker, who has been checking on the building’s progress every day.

“When I found out it was going to be an ice rink, I was very surprised,” Whittaker said. “I think it belongs next to Disneyland, not City Hall.”