Snowboard Park Would Make Anaheim a Hot Spot

In what would be the first-of-its-kind attraction in the United States, a group that includes Gotcha Sportswear plans to build a giant indoor snowboarding park at the proposed Sportstown complex near Edison International Field of Anaheim.

The $40-million, four-story structure would be known as the Gotcha Glacier and also contain a skateboard park, roller hockey rink and a gallery of shops and restaurants.

Currently, the world’s only indoor snow mountain is in Japan.

The Contrarian Group, a Newport Beach company owned by former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, is helping arrange financing for the project, which would take about two years to build.

Glacier Sports Center of America, a San Juan Capistrano company headed by Brad Kinney, is in the final stages of negotiations with Forest City Development, the Cleveland-based company that is overseeing the development of Sportstown.

As currently proposed, the Gotcha Glacier would contain a 100-foot mountain and two 250-yard half-tube snowboard runs built to meet the competitive requirements of the International Snowboarding Federal and the Olympics. A 1,500-seat spectator area also is planned, with the hope of making the project a stop on the professional snowboarding tour.

The 275,000-square-foot project would hold 4,700 people, including 450 on the indoor mountain. It also would have areas set aside for snowboard jumping and sledding.

“We got into the snowboarding business at the grass-roots level and bring a real authenticity to this project,” said Marvin Winkler, chairman and chief executive of Gotcha, the Irvine sportswear designer. “The future of retailing is moving toward entertainment and event-driven venues, and this is the direction we want to go as a company.”

Winkler said Forest City has submitted a draft letter of intent and that he and Kinney hoped to sign it this week. Kinney, who came up with the idea for the project four years ago and has been its main proponent, couldn’t be reached for comment late Wednesday.

Victor Grgas, Forest City’s planning director, confirmed that Forest City had submitted a proposal “but it is one step short of a binding agreement.”

“The concept is definitely unique and we are interested in pursuing this,” he said. “We know what they want, they know what we want. It’s just a matter of time before we hammer out a final agreement, if that’s where this is headed.”

Winkler said Gotcha, whose apparel lines include snowboard gear, will own an as-yet unspecified minority stake in the venture. He said $10 million has been committed to the project so far, but he declined to name the investors.

Sportstown Anaheim is a proposed shopping and entertainment complex on 40 acres of city-owned land near Edison International Field. The project came about after the city refused to build a football stadium for the Rams, which sent the NFL team packing for St. Louis.

The city hired Forest City a year ago, and the developer’s initial proposal called for 250,00 square feet of office space in three or more towers, a 500-room hotel and 750,000 square feet devoted to retail stores, theaters and amusements.

One attraction that has been announced is Tinseltown Studios, a $15-million, 700-seat themed dinner-theater proposed by a group that includes former Disneyland President Jack B. Lindquist and Ogden Entertainment.