THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 10, 1996 TAG: 9604100367
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Starship Ice, a portable skating rink that has been anchored to an Oceanfront parking lot since late November, won city permission Tuesday to remain moored on the site for another year.
The City Council unanimously approved a one-year use permit to continue operating the surfside facility, complete with skate rental and snack bar operations, until next April.
Owner Allan B. Harvie Jr., a Richmond entrepreneur who recently announced plans to open a skating rink-entertainment complex in the Greenbrier section of Chesapeake and who has broken ground for a major Newport News ice rink, says he plans to move the Oceanfront operation to a Caribbean island next spring.
Harvie told council members Tuesday that he is eyeing property near the city-owned Lake Ridge tract on Princess Anne Road or in the Hilltop area as a location for a third permanent ice rink-entertainment complex.
The temporary rink on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront occupies a city-owned parking lot on Atlantic Avenue at 31st Street. It was erected last November in connection with the Holiday Lights at the Beach display on the Boardwalk. It proved to be so popular with locals that city resort officials asked Harvie to extend the rink's stay for at least a year.
Harvie's use permit application came to the City Council on Tuesday by way of the Planning Commission, which recommended its approval, but attached several requirements that had to be met to remain in place for another 12 months.
Among them were demands for landscaping the lot, providing adequate parking, removing a trailer-office from the site and making off-site restroom arrangements for customers. The rink is adjacent to two city restrooms at 30th Street.
All that remains to be done is for Harvie and city officials to sign a one-year lease for the lot.
Until the plastic-covered rink moved onto the tract last fall, the property had been used as a municipal parking lot.
The rink is open seven days a week, with hours from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to midnight Fridays and Saturdays. It can be reserved for special events such as birthdays, class parties and skating lessons.
Admission is $5.50 per person; skate rentals are $2.50. Rates for skating lessons and groups vary, said Harvie, who is also the former owner of the Richmond Renegades ice hockey team. by CNB