On Monday, the newly renovated Valencia Ice Station, known as “The Cube – Ice and Entertainment Center,” held a grand opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting, with almost a hundred attendees and several prominent figures including Santa Clarita Mayor Bill Miranda and LA Kings President Luc Robitaille.

Over a hundred attendees as well as several prominent local officials participated in the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the newly renovated The Cube ice rink on Monday.

“We would not be here if it wasn’t for the passion and commitment and the grassroots movement of all the people here, and more beyond here, that said ‘we can’t let this stand,’” said Miranda on the movement to keep the station open. “We can’t let this ice station go away. We have to do everything we can to save it, and make it, and keep it a great place for all families to come over here and enjoy.”

Many attendees at the ceremony, including plenty of Santa Clarita’s younger hockey players, clamored to get a view of the ribbon cutting and the speakers, including the mayor, LA Kings President Robitaille, and even Congressman Mike Garcia, R-Santa Clarita.

“There were many of you involved, thousands of you if you can believe that, involved in contacting city council and saying ‘please, please, please save this rink. Too many of us use it,’” Miranda told the audience. “You know this is the second most used venue in all of Santa Clarita.”

See Related: City Sets Opening Date For Newly Renovated The Cube Ice And Entertainment Center

“We did a study, we did some research, and found out we gotta save this. And we did. But we only did it because it was a grassroots movement and it was the right thing to do to respond to our citizens,” Miranda said. “So for that, I thank all of you who were involved in making this happen.”

After COVID-19 shutdowns, the Ice Station was bought by the City of Santa Clarita for $14.2 million in August 2020. On March 5, the city announced the location’s name had been changed to “The Cube” over social media.

The 93,000 square foot space can hold up to 2,400 people, and is set to host sports like hockey and ice skating in addition to events like conventions, conferences, sports competitions and concerts.

Improvements of the facility include a brand new LED screen over the entrance and installation of new ice on the rinks. Renovations started in December 2020 with a budget of $720,000, according to Frank Oviedo, Assistant City Manager for the City of Santa Clarita.

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City officials said they have received positive feedback from members of the community who are excited about The Cube opening up to the public.

“Every day towards the end of the day, we have folks that stop by,” said City of Santa Clarita General Service Manager Cruz Caldera in a previous KHTS story. “They’ll show up at the end of the day and they’ll take pictures and they’ll post something on social media… just because they’re so excited about it. So just being a part of that is just rewarding in itself.”

To learn more about The Cube, visit the website here.

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