Features

Architect Chosen For Iceland Project

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 15, 2008 - 09:45:00 AM

A non-profit group fundraising to buy Berkeley Iceland picked Page & Turnbull as architects to restore the landmarked site. 

The group, Save Berkeley Iceland, signed a contract with East Bay Iceland, which owns Iceland, in March, agreeing to purchase the 67-year-old ice skating rink for $6.25 million.  

The contract, which comes with a one-year deadline for Save Berkeley Iceland to purchase the historic property, launched the organization’s fundraising campaign.  

“We have come into an agreement with Page & Turnbull,” said Save Berkeley Iceland President Tom Killilea. “They are going to help us with some of the fundraising. We won’t be hiring them until we have a bit more cash.” 

The restoration of the ice rink comes with a $12 million price tag. Killilea worked with other community members to raise money for the down payment over the last year.  

The group is in the “quiet phase” of its fundraising, which calls for raising $500,000 in funding, he said. 

Killilea said he did not want to disclose how much the group had raised so far, but said the targeted reopening date for the rink was 2010. 

Page & Turnbull have been the restoration architects for the San Francisco Ferry Building and the Berkeley Public Library. 

“They have had a lot of experience in restoring commercial buildings,” Killilea said. “We have a number of ideas about what we want to do and are evaluating which ones would be within historic mod-ifications.” 

Restoration would include replacing the rink’s chiller with a more energy efficient one, which could cost around $1 million. 

W.A. Bechtel constructed Iceland in 1939.