Snowboards in Snowbird Land

The renaissance of the area bordered by State College Boulevard, Orangewood Avenue, the Orange Freeway and the Metrolink rail line in Anaheim has been a key component of the city’s plans to foster its identity as an entertainment center. This is in addition to the Arrowhead Pond, growth plans for Disneyland and improvements in the theme park’s environs. What was known as Anaheim Stadium is already being transformed into the reconstructed Edison International Field of Anaheim for the coming baseball season.

Now comes a proposal for the Anaheim Sportstown complex, which Mayor Tom Daly and others have envisioned as “sports-themed entertainment and shopping and restaurants.” It was not too long ago that the idea of a $40-million, four-story snowboarding and skate park would have seemed incongruous in sunny Southern California, which for so long was a haven for snowbirds escaping winter.

While people in Southern California always have sought winter recreation elsewhere, the signing of Wayne Gretzky by the Los Angeles Kings in 1988 signaled a transformation in the area and interest in winter sports. The subsequent arrival of the Mighty Ducks brought big-time sports to Orange County, and now it is home to many ice sports rinks. Irvine is the latest to open an ice skating park to add to those in Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Westminster and Huntington Beach. A number of communities have or plan to have roller rinks. While Orange County lacks high school hockey, the area has become a recruiting ground for Eastern prep schools.

The Olympics in Nagano has brought snowboarding, along with a touch of controversy involving a gold medal, into local living rooms. It also has given viewers such treats as the gold medal for the United States women’s hockey team.

Whether the growth in these facilities locally eventually will reach a saturation is a reasonable concern, but the popularity of these activities makes this an interesting choice for the Anaheim project. The hope is that a gigantic attraction not only will provide stimulus for the local economy, but will provide a range of activities for local youngsters to have fun and stay out of trouble. Todd Ament, director of the Anaheim YMCA, sees potential in the Sportstown development to provide positive programs for youngsters.

The Gotcha Glacier will have to get city approval, and negotiations are still in the final stages. But the facility as imagined fits the city’s interest in special attractions; it would be the first indoor snowboarding park in the United States. This could be an incentive to keep people staying in Orange County an additional night after visits to Disneyland. While there is much to work out, it is an intriguing proposal that merits consideration while interest in winter-related activities is growing.