Every question,
answered honestly.

The Rinks Foundation — a philanthropic organization founded by Henry and Susan Samueli, owners of the San Diego Gulls and Anaheim Ducks — will fund, design, construct, and operate the facility entirely at their own expense. The City of Escondido contributes the land only. No city budget funds, bonds, or taxpayer money are involved.

The City's contribution is a long-term land lease at Kit Carson Regional Park. The Foundation pays for everything else: design, construction, equipment, staffing, and operations. In return, the City receives $237,302 in recurring annual revenue once the facility opens — plus all the economic benefits from construction jobs, visitor spending, and operational employment.

No. The Rinks Foundation assumes all financial risk. The City of Escondido is a landlord, not an investor or guarantor. The Foundation has operated eight Southern California facilities since 2009, including the $115 million Great Park Ice in Irvine, which serves over 1 million participants annually. This is not a speculative startup — it is a proven organization with deep capitalization and operational track record.

The $4 million for softball field relocation comes entirely from The Rinks Foundation — not the city, not the softball community. This is a direct financial contribution from the Foundation to make the transition fair for existing park users. The City is leading the relocation process and has already engaged a design firm for the new facilities at Francis Ryan Park.

On June 3, 2026, the Escondido City Council unanimously voted to approve a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Rinks Foundation. The MOU authorizes formal feasibility review and community engagement — it is not a lease, not a construction approval, and not a final commitment. It is the first formal step in a multi-stage public process.

The vote was 5–0. All council members in attendance voted in favor.

The project must go through the following steps in order:

1. Community engagement (currently underway)

2. City Council approval of a formal lease agreement

3. Full CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) environmental review — an estimated 12–18 months — including public comment periods, traffic studies, and environmental impact assessments

4. Construction, only after all approvals are in place

Nothing is being rushed. This follows the standard city process for public-private land use agreements in California.

Yes. Multiple times. Community input opportunities include: (1) the current community engagement phase — which is why your voice matters right now; (2) the formal lease agreement public hearing before the City Council; and (3) public comment periods during the CEQA environmental review process, which by law must include documented public input.

You can also submit your thoughts directly to the City of Escondido at yourescondido.com/IceSportsProposal.

Yes. The project will go through a complete California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review process before any lease is approved and before any construction begins. This is legally required and is not optional. The CEQA process is expected to take 12–18 months and includes traffic analysis, environmental impact assessment, wildlife review, and multiple public comment periods.

Traffic impact will be formally studied as part of the CEQA process. The site at Kit Carson Regional Park has been identified partly because of its freeway access proximity and nearby retail corridors, which provide natural traffic distribution. Tournament events at comparable facilities are typically concentrated on weekends, when local traffic volumes are already lower.

Traffic management plans will be required as a condition of any lease approval — this is standard for any facility of this scale.

Modern ice facilities use advanced refrigeration systems that are significantly more energy-efficient than those of even a decade ago. Great Park Ice and other Rinks Foundation facilities are built to current California energy standards, which are among the strictest in the world. The environmental study required under CEQA will assess energy usage, water use, stormwater runoff, and any wildlife impacts specific to the Kit Carson Park site.

The Rinks Foundation identified Kit Carson Regional Park based on several key site advantages: freeway access proximity (critical for tournament traffic and regional visitors), adjacency to retail and shopping corridors, complementary existing recreational uses, and the availability of a section of the park where a facility can be sited without impacting the park's trails, open space, or natural areas.

Escondido previously hosted Ice-Plex Escondido, a private facility that operated for many years before closing in 2020. The community demonstrated consistent demand for ice sports over that time.

The adult softball fields will be relocated to Francis Ryan Park, identified by the City of Escondido as the appropriate relocation site. The Rinks Foundation is contributing $4 million to fund this relocation — meaning the softball community receives new, professionally designed facilities at no cost to them or the city.

The City has already engaged a design firm to begin planning the new softball facilities. The softball community is not losing — they are gaining new facilities paid for by the Foundation.

The ice facility is being planned to occupy a defined portion of the park — primarily the area currently used by adult softball — while leaving the park's trails, natural areas, and open recreational space intact. The CEQA process will formally assess and document any impacts to other park uses.

The local mall has been raised as an alternative — but the City of Escondido does not control it. The mall has multiple active commercial leases that run through 2053. The City has no unilateral authority to redirect that property for a public facility, and negotiating out of those leases is not a realistic near-term path. The City can only offer land it actually controls.

The City of Escondido does not own the former Ice-Plex property. It is privately held land. Beyond ownership, the site is considered insufficient in both size and location to accommodate a modern three-sheet facility with 2,000–3,000 seat capacity, restaurant, and the parking infrastructure required for tournament events. The Foundation needs a site the City can actually lease — Kit Carson Regional Park qualifies; the old Ice-Plex site does not.

The baseball stadium site and similar parcels involve multiple stakeholders controlling different portions of the land — the City cannot commit those parcels independently. Additionally, some city-owned surplus land is subject to the California Surplus Lands Act, which imposes housing-priority requirements on how the land may be used. Kit Carson Regional Park is a designated park, not surplus land, which avoids those complications.

California's Surplus Lands Act generally requires that when a city makes surplus public land available for development, affordable housing must be prioritized. Critics have asked whether this law would block the ice rink project.

The answer is no. City staff confirmed directly with California's Department of Housing and Community Development that this project is legally exempt from the Surplus Lands Act. Kit Carson Regional Park is an active recreational park — not surplus land — and the proposed use is a community recreation facility, not a sale or disposal of city property. The exemption has been verified with the state agency that administers the law.

The Rinks Foundation has an explicit mission of expanding ice sports access for all ages and ability levels — not just elite athletes. Their facilities offer daily public skating, free First Strides introductory lessons, subsidized youth hockey programming, and Learn to Skate programs at accessible price points. Great Park Ice — their model facility — serves over 1 million participants annually, the vast majority of whom are recreational skaters and families.

A facility designed around elite access only would not draw 1 million visitors per year. The community model works because it is genuinely inclusive.

As a taxpayer, you receive: $237,302 per year in new city revenue (that's money available for roads, parks, and city services), 150 local construction jobs, and $10.9 million in annual economic output flowing through Escondido's economy — all at zero cost to you. Your local hotels, restaurants, and businesses benefit from tournament visitors. And a facility this size often becomes a community landmark that raises the profile of the entire neighborhood. You don't have to skate to benefit.

Great Park Ice hosts the #1 largest Learn to Skate program in the United States. Its adult hockey program is the largest in Southern California. Its club hockey program is the largest in California. Every person in Irvine and the surrounding region can walk in off the street and skate — no membership, no elite status, no affiliation required. That is the model for Escondido Ice.

Yes. The Rinks Foundation operates sled hockey programs and adaptive ice sports at Great Park Ice, which has hosted the NHL Sled Hockey Classic and Disabled Hockey Jamboree. Escondido Ice will offer the same inclusive programming. Ice facilities also operate curling and broomball — sports that do not require skating ability at all. The facility will be fully ADA compliant and designed for universal access.

The Rinks Foundation is a philanthropic organization founded in 2009 by Henry and Susan Samueli. Henry Samueli is the co-founder of Broadcom Corporation and serves as majority owner of the Anaheim Ducks (NHL) and the San Diego Gulls (AHL). The Foundation operates eight ice and inline facilities across Southern California with a mission of expanding access to ice and inline sports for all ages, abilities, and backgrounds.

The Foundation's model: all proceeds from facility operations are reinvested in growing ice sports locally — no profits are taken out.

Yes — the Great Park Ice public-private partnership with the City of Irvine is the exact same model. The Foundation privately funded a $115 million facility on city-owned land, opening in 2019. It now serves over 1 million participants per year, hosts national championship tournaments, and has produced two Olympic gold medalists trained at the facility. The City of Irvine receives revenue. The community receives world-class programming. The Foundation reinvests profits locally. Everyone wins.