Like Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid, the Berkeley Iceland gave a swift Crane kick to anyone looking to tear it down.

On Tuesday, the Berkeley City Council voted 5-4 to keep the Iceland’s landmark status, which puts up road blocks for the proposed housing units that may go on the site if the developer wishes to continue to pursue that route.

“When a building is landmarked, the cost of renovating is often prohibitive,” said Ali Kashani, who entered an agreement with rink owners last week to purchase the property. “We’re going to study that and decide whether we want to do it at this point.”

Of course, the Save Berkeley Iceland people are enthused. We weren’t at the meeting Tuesday, but we’re sure, spinning inside their heads, was this montage from The Karate Kid with Joe Esposito’s “You’re the Best” playing in the background.

“I was pleased that we’ve gotten this far and that that building is protected for the moment. It’s a big step,” said Tom Killilea, the group’s executive director.

Happiness is one thing, but can this group really save the Berkeley Iceland?

Killilea said the group has raised approximately $600,000 so far and that it believes as a nonprofit organization it could run the rink. However, the former rink managers have said it was not financially feasible.

Damn. We guess you were only the best around for just one night.

Image Source: Ted Kwong, Daily Cal
Iceland to Keep Landmark Status [Daily Cal]

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Tags:Berkeley City Council, Berkeley Iceland, Save Berkeley Iceland
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We thought the whole Berkeley Iceland thing was done, especially after it closed its doors in late March. But alas, it rears its ugly head again.

First, some local developer bought the Berkeley Iceland right before the Berkeley City Council was supposed to vote on whether or not to give the Iceland landmark status. This is an important detail because that developer wants to tear down the Iceland and build townhouses or something like that.

If the City Council made the Iceland a landmark, then that developer would have to go through all that bureaucratic red tape.

So, the council actually postponed its vote until next week, thus giving the Save the Berkeley Iceland folk another week to raise the money to try to outbid the developer.

It’s a classic underdog story for sure. It should be mentioned in the same breath as Rocky and Seabiscuit, except that Rocky lost to Apollo Creed in the first movie and Seabiscuit broke his leg and wasn’t able to race after that.

But it looks like the Save the Iceland folk have their stuff down.

Tom Killilea, president of Save Berkeley Iceland, said his group already has raised $100,000 from grants, private donations and neighborhood fundraisers.

“We’ve also contracted with a professional skating rink management firm to operate the facility if we buy it,” Killilea said.

They also had a bake sale through the Cheese Board co-op in North Berkeley. Hmm … bake sales for a just cause. Sounds kind of high school-ish to us. But hey, if it works, it works.

Image Source: Blaire Baily, Daily Cal
Berkeley’s Iceland finds a buyer [Inside Bay Area]

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Tags:Berkeley City Council, Berkeley Iceland, Save Berkeley Iceland
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