Mayor Says Planned Skate Center Headed to Monrovia

A development group has halted plans for an in-line skating center in Arcadia’s downtown and turned to neighboring Monrovia as a site for the facility.

Arcadia Mayor Robert Harbicht said Inline Development did not want to deal with the complexities of the Arcadia site, which involved the city relocating a massive water tank to make way for the center and parking lot. Officials from the company could not be reached for comment.

“This in-line skating facility wasn’t going to be a revenue-producer,” Harbicht said, adding that although officials believed the facility would be good for the city’s children, “Frankly, if it is just over the border in Monrovia it will be an amenity available to them.”

Harbicht said the project’s loss to Monrovia opens the way for other city plans for the site on Second Avenue. He said a plan to build a four-story office building on the site, which has been on hold for eight years, may again be considered.

Monrovia officials said they are working on a deal that would bring the skating facility to the site of what is now a mobile home park on Fifth Avenue, near the city’s border with Arcadia.