WORLD-CLASS RINK ICE STATION VALENCIA TO SERVE COMMUNITY.

Byline: Sharon Cotal Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Ice skaters who now travel out of the area to rinks will get a local facility in May when Ice Station Valencia opens on Smyth Drive across from Valencia High School.

The long-awaited ice skating family entertainment center will offer a wide range of programs and activities such as hockey leagues, figure skating clubs, skating schools and public skating sessions.

That's good news for parents who have been driving their young Gretzkys and Lipinskis nearly 20 miles to the nearest rink, located in North Hills.

Roger Perez, president of Ice Station Valencia, said that surveys conducted by the Newhall Land and Farming Company concluded that the community wants an ice rink. Perez had wanted to build a world-class skating facility for some time and decided to choose the Valencia location.

``I just had a feeling for this community,'' Perez said. ``I was impressed with the friendliness of the people and the growth this area is producing, and I felt that the rink would be very well received here.''

Perez, who lives in Sherman Oaks, grew up in Montreal where ``every community had a community center, and every community center had an ice rink.

``It was a safe place for families to go and for people to get together. What we're building is something much more modern, but my goal is to re-create that feeling - to make the community feel that the rink is theirs,'' he said.

Perez has been involved with hockey all his life, and now his son also plays so he admits that it is one of his passions.

``I've always wanted to do this,'' he said. ``I've been in hundreds of rinks across North America over the years and I wanted to take the best of everything I saw to create the ideal facility.''

The result of his dream will be a 92,000-square-foot sports complex with three ice surfaces, full menu restaurant, pro shop, fitness center, arcade and a banquet room with an adjoining outdoor patio featuring a panoramic view of the Santa Clarita Valley.

Perez has highly credentialed personnel coming in to act as instructors and hopes to host regional and national hockey tournaments and world-class figure skating events.

``We will invite people from all over the world both to compete and to teach at the facility,'' he said.

Even though the facility is still under construction, a phone line has been set up and people interested in signing up for teams or classes can call [phone].

``Even when we didn't have the phones set up, people would still come by the site to see when the rink would be ready. It's all part of the excitement that's circulating throughout the community,'' Perez said.

COLD FACTS

Keeping an ice rink surface frozen in Southern California is no easy feat. Here's what it will take to keep the skaters cool and the floor frozen at the new Ice Station Valencia skating facility:

--Under the surface, 224,000 feet of floor pipe will be used to freeze the three rinks. That would make about 42 miles of pipe - enough, when connected end to end, to stretch from the new ice arena in Valencia to the Los Angeles International Airport.

--The ice plant compressors will generate 350 horsepower of cooling. That is equal to more than 1,000 refrigerators or to having enough cooling to air-condition more than 75 homes.

--There will be approximately 23,000 pounds of calcium salt used in the system or approximately 11,500 gallons of salt water or brine circulating through the floors to cool them enough to maintain the ice.

--The actual thickness of the ice that the skaters skate on is no more than 1.5 inches.

--There will be about one acre of ice all together - an Olympic-size rink, a National Hockey League rink and a studio rink.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: (color) Ice Station Valencia President Roger Perez, stands at the site of the future complex, which will also host a fitness center.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News

Box: Cold Facts (see text)