Hurricane Sandy and Skating

[judiz]

McKayIce Rink in Englewood, NJ closed due to structural damage, entire rink was redone and set for grand reopening next week after long debate over funding for renovations. Part of roof torn off in storm, building declared unsafe.

[RD]

Just found out through IFS Magazine on FB that the Family Skating Tribute has been relocated to Phoenix, AZ 11/11. While I am glad the show wasn't cancelled, I think this is extremely unfair to the sk8 fans in the Mid Atlantic Region who bought tickets to this event. Why couldn't TPTB have considered other venues in the mid Atlantic (Wells Fargo Center - Phila., PA), Sovereign Center, Reading, PA, The Giant Center (Hershey, PA), The Sun Bank Arena (Trenton, NJ), or the IZOD Center in Northern NJ? I realize that venues have their schedule of other sporting events booked, but couldn't they have at least tried to relocate the show in a venue within a reasonable traveling distance for fans in the mid Atlantic?

The NBC air date for the show was (and still is, I assume) scheduled for 11/18. I'm guessing they wanted to try to make it available in time for NBC to show it in that time slot, and even an additional week may not have been enough time to get things back to normal in AC so I guess they decided to move it elsewhere. It's possible they may have tried other mid-Atlantic locations and they were booked, so they went out to Phoenix, which BTW is where the next show is.

I agree, it's a bit disappointing since I was planning to go as well. But at least they made the decision far enough in advance that I was able to cancel hotel bookings for a full refund. And they'll refund our ticket purchases as well. On one hand, I'm glad they were able to do the show in the end; on the other, disappointed that it's no longer accessible from my location.