New LA Kings ice rink now open in Reseda

Speaking of the LA City Council, I am actually going to be bringing on LA City Council member Bob Blumenfield because it's a very exciting day in Reseda. In fact, I think this is really exciting for the San Fernando Valley as a whole. We are talking about a brand new ice rink opening in Reseda in partnership with the LA Kings and Council member Blumenfield. Thank you so much for joining us here on Fox Local. Oh, I'm thrilled to be here. I'm obviously not down at City Hall giving out candy, but I have a special treat for the community, which is why I'm here in Reseda opening up this amazing new publicly owned ice rink. I love that. That was like the perfect segue. This is a treat for the community for sure. And tell us more about this ice rink and the partnership and how it all came together. Well, it has been many, many years in the making. First, Proposition K, back 30 years ago, had a reference. We're buying an ice rink, but it wasn't enough to build an ice rink. And so when I got into office, I thought, how are we going to make this happen? Long story short, we found almost $30 million over the course of 10 years, overcame a tremendous number of hurdles, partnered with the LA Kings, and ta-da, right behind me is the new LA Kings. A municipally owned King's ice rink where we'll have hockey, curling, figure skating, free skating, you name it. It's it's here to serve the community and it's here to help with economic development as well. I love that. And you've been such a champion for economic development and development in general when it comes to Reseda. Talk about why that's so important to have this in Reseda. I mean, Reseda has been a traditionally underserved community. So I initially started something called Reseda Rising, which is my, it's now over $100 million worth of investment in trying to create catalytic investment and to lean in on some of the issues around art that the community is particularly fond of. We just last weekend had the Reseda Rising Art Walk, and we had thousands of people just in front of me here on Sherman Way. But the cornerstone of the Reseda Rising initiative is this rink. is this rink because this is about economic development, it's about recreation and parks, it's about bringing a sport to folks that may not otherwise be able to afford it kind of a sport. And so it's really, it's all about community and it's part and parcel of this larger Rosita Rising initiative that is really helping this area grow. Yes, and Councilmember, it's saying that your bandwidth is low, but we can hear you really well, so we're just going to ignore that for now that it's saying your bandwidth is low. But Councilmember, if you can talk about, too, the ribbon-cutting ceremony that took place today and when families can expect to start enjoying this. We had a wonderful ribbon cutting. Luke Robitaille of the Kings was here to join us, as was a variety of community groups. The Heat, which is a local hockey team of kids, they were here. Magnolia School, which this rink is right next door to the Magnolia School, so they're going to get a lot of good use out of it. They were all here to help cut the ribbon, hear some speeches, and now they're all inside. A lot of kids are there skating on the ice, so it's really nice. That is really nice. And your message to the community about why it was so important to launch this and what it means to you to be part of this and the partnership with L.A. Kings. It means the world to me that we were able to make this happen after so many years and overcoming so many hurdles. Thank It's important. As I mentioned, it's about community. Bringing people together for something, for sports, is one important part. But it's also about the economic development. Thank This really is something that's going to help jumpstart this area. It already has. We're seeing developments happen. you. Thank But nothing makes me more happy than seeing you the smile on the kids' faces. who are right now skating along the ice very you and enjoying this this rink because this is not only here you may have taken a long time to get here for but this will be here for generations much. and this will serve our community for generations. having I love that it will be there for generations for sure and it's such a benefit to the Reseda community and to the San Fernando Valley as a me. whole. Council member Bob Blumenfield thank you so much for hopping on Fox Local to tell us about this today We appreciate your time.