It took three visits to Ice in Paradise before my seven-year-old made it onto the ice. It’s easy to understand her hesitation. On a normal day in town, temperatures peak at 70 degrees with bright blue skies and a cool, subtle ocean breeze. It’s rather unsettling to walk into the Santa Felicia Drive facility on a clear, sunny day and feel a cold chill run up your spine.
But that’s the beauty of an ice rink in a surf town, where just two miles away the beaches of Isla Vista are a calling card for UCSB. It’s a juxtaposition that poses a wonderful experience for families around the county. And for those who recall the historic ice rink on the Mesa that shuttered in the ‘80s, a fine-tuned replacement. It wasn’t until 1997 that the origins of an ice rink in Goleta began.
A group called “asking for ice” helped to secure approval from the City of Santa Barbara (Goleta wasn’t incorporated at the time) during the Camino Real Marketplace development plan. But four years later, a rink was nowhere in sight. So a handful of ice skating fans—names like Jack Norqual, a lifelong hockey player and former board member of the U.S.A. Hockey Foundation, and Ed Snider, founder and owner of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers–proposed turning the venture into a nonprofit, which gained traction then approval.
And yet the uphill battle had just begun as the group looked to raise funds. “That was the biggest challenge of all,” says John Ewasiuk, co-president of the nonprofit Greater Santa Barbara Ice Skating Association, which helps to operate the facility. “People only really saw ice in their glasses–they didn’t understand what an ice rink meant to the community.”
It took 14 years to break ground, but in 2015, Ice in Paradise was finally unveiled. The facility is 46,500 square feet and includes two rinks: an NHL-size rink and a studio rink, along with six team locker rooms, a figure skating room, a specially equipped adaptive sports locker room, and a restaurant. “This is a story of 'Build it, and they will come,’” says Ewasiuk, who has been part of the organization since its inception.
In time, the ice rink has become one of the most popular recreational activities in our community. The nonprofit hosts public skating sessions, adult and youth hockey, figure skating clubs, birthday parties, tournaments, curling, broomball, skate camps, parents' night out, teen night, you name it. The state-of-the-art facility has even hosted the sled hockey Paralympic team as they prepared for the World Para Ice Hockey Championships in South Korea.
“We give the opportunity for kids and families to do something different,” says Ewasiuk. “It’s a great, healthy environment where they learn self-esteem.”
Now a decade old, the organization continues to expand its offerings with the introduction of a STEM Field trip and events celebrating international moments, such as the 2026 Winter Olympics. The expansion of programs might seem exhaustive, but they aren’t close to being done planning. The Goleta organization’s mission to offer affordable ice recreation year-round has been met, but there’s still so much more it can offer.
“It’s a special place,” Ewasiuk says. “I can’t encourage enough people to come see it and get involved.”
iceinparadise.org