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The LA Kings hockey team will be giving some new shine to an old ice rink as part of a deal signed this month with Burbank entertainment complex Pickwick Gardens.
The professional hockey team and sports facility operator American Sports Entertainment Co. signed a 10-year lease with Pickwick Gardens to renovate and manage the aging ice rink, according to LA Kings spokesman Jeff Moeller.
The new operators plan to spend $1 million upgrading the rink, which will be renamed LA Kings Ice at Pickwick Gardens, although the team doesn’t plan on playing at the facility, Moeller said.
“We are excited to acquire the Pickwick ice facility business as we continue to invest in growing the game of hockey in Southern California,” said Kings President Luc Robitaille in a statement.
Pickwick Gardens’ owner Ron Staevert had considered converting the complex into housing as revenues have lagged since at least 2016, but neighbors protested the idea. It sits on 8.5 acres, and includes a bowling lane, 25,000 square feet of meeting space, and two-and-a-half acres of gardens.
Staevert told the LA Times, which first reported the news, that rehabilitating the ice rink made the most sense given the property’s current zoning.
The rink will shut down in June as it undergoes a renovation, which will include adding LA Kings branding to the interior and exterior.
The LA Kings and American Sports Entertainment Company, which manages practice facilities for the Kings and Lakers, have two five-year options to extend the lease, Moeller said.
Source: The Real Deal Los Angeles