How About An Off-Season Roller Rink at New Prospect Park Ice Rink?

The idea of creating a swimming pool to go along with the new ice rink at the Lakeside Center in Prospect Park may have gone over like a lead balloon with the Prospect Park Alliance, but the organization says it's considering a seasonal roller on the site. Local officials, including City Council Member Letitia James have been advocating for a new facility since the closing of the Empire Roller Rink. The Lakeside Center would include two ice rinks located in what is the current Wollman Rink's parking lot, and a 38,000 square foot building. While the idea of a pool has been received lukewarmly because of the cost and the space it would require, the Prospect Park Alliance has been looking at possible summer uses of the ice rink space. Alliance President Tupper Thomas, who is spearheading the new Lakeside Center and accompanying renovation of a beloved part of the park that was destroyed by the creation of the Wollman Rink, told the Park Slope Courier that "We would have to look at acoustic issues," but that "nothing is set in stone." Apparently, roller skating in the park in the 1980s created noise issues with neighbors.