What a difference a year makes...

About a year ago I was boarding a plane with my daughter's synchro skating team when I received a call. It was the managers of Berkeley Iceland calling to tell me that the East Bay Iceland board had decided to close the doors on Berkeley Iceland on the last day of March, 2007. That news dampened my enthusiasm for the trip. After a year of watching the rink owners and city of Berkeley try to find a way to save the rink - a year where the rink was also for sale without much interest - the realization hit me that something special and uniquely Berkeley was about to be lost. The week after we returned from the competition the essence of what is Save Berkeley Iceland came together to try and find a way to save our historic ice palace.

As I was boarding the plane this year with another synchro skating team - one that contained many girls who had trained in Berkeley - I was amazed at how things have changed. Berkeley Iceland is closed, but still standing. Save Berkeley Iceland had grown, become part of a nonprofit corporation, built a base of community support, and has been actively negotiating with East Bay Iceland to purchase the building. As I write this, I believe we are only weeks away from having a contract which could lead to SBI purchasing Berkeley Iceland! We have a real chance to save, restore, and develop Berkeley Iceland back into the community asset it always has been.

 

A lot has happened in the past year, some of it frustrating and at times discouraging. But all of our work and support has presented us with an opportunity to return the rink to the community! There is still a lot of hard work and challenges to come - not the least being the amount of money needed to raise both for the property and the effort needed to achieve our ultimate goal - the return of a unique community asset that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages!