‘We’re not an ice sports town.’ Escondido residents oppose ice rink plans at Kit Carson Park

Melissa Petri walks Kit Carson Park as much as she can. It’s therapy for her. 

She and fellow Escondido resident Brenda Townsend agree: The regional park in Escondido is more than just a park. 

It’s a place that gives people a break from the bustling city. It’s a place where kids and adults have long played sports that are popular and accessible to Escondido’s diverse residents.

That’s why they felt blindsided when she learned Escondido had entered into an agreement to build a private ice rink where the softball fields currently sit. 

“We’re a soccer town and a baseball town and a softball town,” Townsend said. “We’re not an ice sports town, and we don’t frankly have the capacity to create ice and maintain ice in a desert, which is where we live, so it seems environmentally irresponsible.”

The two are part of a grassroots group of residents who formed “Save Kit Carson Park” to fight against what they call a surprise City Council decision to place an ice rink in their beloved park.

Now what city leaders had considered an exciting move to bring ice skating and economic activity to the city has become a lightning rod for many longtime residents who worry it replaces part of a park taxpayers pay for with an activity that can be too expensive for many residents. 

“We all have history here in the community, and we all just share a common goal of preserving the existing communities that use these spaces, preserving the green space and keeping the characterization of our park,” Petri said. 

None of Escondido’s councilmembers or the mayor responded to inewsource’s questions about where they stood on the proposal.

An agreement years in the making

The City Council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with the Irvine-based Rinks Foundation, a nonprofit that operates eight hockey and skating facilities in Southern California, on June 3. 

The non-binding memorandum gives the city and the foundation time to explore building an arena with three rinks, one surrounded by 2,000-3,000 seats. The city could consider approving a lease this summer. 

The Rinks Foundation, founded by San Diego Gulls and Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli, would fund the construction, operation and maintenance of the Escondido complex. The San Diego Gulls team would practice there, and it would be the home rink for the youth hockey club, the San Diego Jr. Gulls, and used for some high school hockey games. 

In a May press release, Rinks Foundation President Aaron Teats expressed excitement about the prospect of the new rinks. 

“This facility would assist in the growing needs for youth, high school, adult hockey and skating in San Diego, and north county in particular, and provide a community asset for a million visitors annually,” Teats said. 

The council has not finalized a specific lease, but the proposal allows for a 25-year lease following construction, with five options to extend the term for 5-year periods, totaling 50 years. The facility would revert to city ownership at the end of the lease. 

The Rinks Foundation would pay the city up to $187,500 per year of the lease. 

It would also give the city $4 million to help it relocate the softball fields. The city did not provide more information on the total cost of the relocation.

Over a dozen people, including figure skaters and hockey players, spoke in favor of the rink at the June 3 council meeting.

Jessie Chen, a teenager who skates on Team USA, said she was excited that the city might get an ice rink again after Ice-Plex Escondido closed in 2020, causing her and her family to drive to Los Angeles each weekend to skate.

“I hope that this local rink can create an opportunity for recreation, youth programs, fitness and a community gathering,” Chen said. “Econdido is a great place to do this because it is close for many, and this facility would allow many young talents, either in hockey or figure skating, to begin their journey. I hope that we can give San Diego skaters their home, as many have more than earned it.”

Other speakers said they liked the idea of a rink but were opposed to it coming at the expense of park space.

Several City Council members raised concerns even as they voted to approve it. They said they supported the proposal but worried about issues of equity and accessibility. 

“This is maybe one of the most significant recreational investments discussed by this council or any council in years,” Councilmember Joe Garcia said. “It begins a conversation about a potential new sports facility, economic activity, youth recreation opportunities, but it also brings a lot of changes to the park.”

Accessibility issues 

Escondido bought what is now the 285-acre Kit Carson Park from the city of San Diego in 1967. One hundred acres of it have been developed and 185 have been preserved as natural habitat. The park is now home to an amphitheater, a sculpture garden, a sports center and a disc golf course. 

Don Anderson, who formerly served as Escondido’s director of parks and recreation, said in an interview that he was surprised to see the city entertaining the idea of an ice rink. 

Anderson worked full time for the city for 38 years, starting in 1969 as a recreation supervisor. He became director of parks and recreation in 1988 and retired in 2007. At the request of Save Kit Carson Park, he recently gave two tours of the park to teach people about its history. 

He said it was part of his goal to get more parkland in Escondido when he worked for the city but that over the last 20 years or so, no new park space has been acquired. 

During Anderson’s tenure, the city’s parks and recreation commission rejected several proposals for Kit Carson Park, including one to replace the softball fields with a restaurant, while saying that the existing uses were preferable.

“I just know there’s more of a demand for those kinds of activities on parkland than there is for a private roller or ice hockey rink,” he said in an interview.

He added that putting an ice rink in would not just disrupt the softball fields but would also disturb “the entire ecosystem of the park.” 

Escondido has a median household income of under $92,000 and a poverty rate of 12%, according to U.S. Census data. Critics of the ice complex argue that hockey and skating are not affordable activities for members of that demographic. 

In a statement to inewsource, Deputy City Manager Joanna Axelrod said it is fair to recognize that ice sports — with costs for travel, coaching, equipment and tournaments – can be expensive but added that the facility would host many community skating programs.  

She said those would include public skating sessions, programs for beginners, various school and city recreation partnerships, and additional community access.

“Those types of opportunities can make ice sports accessible to families who might otherwise never have the chance to participate,” Axelrod said. 

Looking forward

The debate over the ice rink will be of critical importance moving forward as residents expect a conditional lease to go before the City Council this summer. 

In the June 3 meeting, Axelrod said the city was still in the exploratory stage and welcomed feedback. 

“This is a conceptual project with a proposed location at Kit Carson, so we anticipate and we welcome these comments, these concerns,” she said. 

The proposal may get more scrutiny ahead of November, when the mayor and one of four other council member positions will be up for reelection.

Petri said residents have felt a lack of transparency in the process thus far, given the city had been in talks with the foundation since 2023, and the public only learned at the June 3 meeting. The city did have two community meetings after the June 3 meeting to hear from residents. 

She said she hoped moving forward, the City Council would listen to the residents’ concerns. 

Members of Save Kit Carson Park said they don’t object to the ice rinks, just their proposed location. The group’s goal is to have the rink at another location.

In the June 3 meeting, City Attorney Mike McGuinness said there were several constraints with other locations in the city. He said state law requires any surplus land to be used for housing if possible, and the Escondido Mall — a frequently mentioned alternative — is controlled by a lessee until 2053 and subject to another agreement governing common areas. 

Still, the residents are hopeful that they can work with their City Council members. 

“Why can’t we come up with a solution to put this in a place that there’s nothing already existing?” Petri asked. “Why do we have to displace people that actually can afford and use these current facilities?”