The first-ever Indoor Soccer Rink in Glendale opened on June 8 in the upper level of the Glendale Civic Auditorium across from GCC on Verdugo Road.
Soccer fans are coming from as far as Burbank, Hollywood, Pasadena and Van Nuys to use this new arena.
Glendale had only three outdoor soccer fields available before this summer, but the new indoor soccer rink is now available for organizations and private parties to rent. The cost to rent the facility is $75 per hour and the rink is available Monday through Thursday, and on weekends based on availability.
The city hopes to increase revenue to the facility to replace lost funding from the Glendale Gun Show which has been banned from city-owned property and will no longer have its three shows a year. The gun show will relocate to a private facility.
Community Services Manager Onnig Bulanikian said, “Since the Civic Auditorium is an enterprise operation, the city has funded the the remodeling and construction of this indoor soccer rink. The money from the recreation fund that was made last year was reinvested into this project. Bulanikian said the entire project cost $32,000 including the cost of portable glass walls.”
The upper level of the auditorium was specially remodeled for this project. That level is 11,000 square feet and the rink itself is 6,000 square feet and accommodates smaller teams of six or seven instead of the usual 11 per side of traditional soccer.
The arena is fully booked on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until the end of the year. Bulanikian thinks the Civic Auditorium is an ideal location for the indoor soccer rink since it is mainly booked on weekends and sits idle during the week.
“Our hope is to get more soccer teams using the facility, so that Mondays will also be booked,” Bulanikian said.
Jack Iskanian, director of the Ishtoyan Soccer Academy, was one of the first people to promote indoor soccer in Glendale at City Hall. He is very excited that the city approved the indoor soccer rink program and remodeled the auditorium’s upper level specially for the rink.
But he thinks the building doesn’t have enough opportunities for the program.
“We want to implement more programs for kids. For instance, if parents work or need to go out somewhere to grocery shopping etc., they could bring their kids here, and we would babysit them by playing different sports, including indoor soccer,” Iskanian said.
Iskanian thinks that Glendale still need a new special building for indoor soccer. The problem with the auditorium is that it is equipped with removable hockey boards. If there are other events in the Civic Auditorium, they cannot use the building for indoor soccer. Every day the boards must be installed since they are portable.
“It is a good thing that the city opened an indoor soccer in Glendale. If I get a chance I would go to the City Hall again, to demand a permanent rink for indoor soccer,” Ishkanian said.
Private groups are coming in as well as organized leagues. There is also a Glendale city league that plays on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Soccer lovers can sign up to play on one of the teams, or create their own team. The cost per team is $490 for a 12-week season.
