Owner of Mel’s Rink Launches GoFundMe Page (PHOTOS & VIDEO)
UPDATED Poolesville resident Marc Kohn has launched a GoFundMe page, entitled “Save Mel’s Rink,” as he prepares to fight to keep the play space, which opened in December, in his backyard.
“I built a skating rink on my property in Poolesville, Maryland that I’ve named Mel’s Rink,” writes Kohn on the GoFundMe page. “It’s a memorial to my daughter who was a huge hockey fan and [who] unfortunately passed away last July.”
According to Kohn, Montgomery County officials want to shut down the rink because it was built in the Agricultural Reserve where play areas, such as Mel’s Rink, are not permitted. Kohn said he didn’t know about the permit restriction when he built it.
So far, he has spent $40,000 building the rink and he predicts a legal battle with the county could cost him thousands more.
He set up the GoFundMe page this weekend, he said, to allow those that have the financial means and who want to support Mel’s Rink, an opportunity to do so. His goal is $20,000.
Within just a few days, he has raised over $3,500.
“Your support, whether financial or by other means, is greatly appreciated,” Kohn wrote on the fund’s description page.
So far, many community members have been sharing their support for Mel’s Rink on social media and at the rink.
Diane Schwartz Jones is the director of Montgomery County’s Permitting Services Department. She says the county has not asked Kohn to take down the GoFundMe page although she is interested in learning more about his plans to expand the rink, which he mentioned in a Facebook post. You can learn more from Jones in this MyMCMedia Extra video, below:
The initial funding will help cover the lawyer’s retainer cost. If we don’t have to fight this in court, then leftover money will go toward enlarging the rink (estimated cost $8000).
Posted by Marc Kohn on Saturday, January 2, 2016
Poolesville Ice Rink Plan Moves Forward
While local hockey fans may be cheering on the Capitals tonight, Poolesville residents are hoping to soon hit the ice in their neighborhood. Dozens of residents turned out for a meeting in support of a proposed synthetic ice rink at a Poolesville Town Commissioners meeting on Monday night; where Montgomery County officials presented residents and local […]
County Executive Ike Leggett on Mel's Rink (VIDEO)
In this MyMCMedia Extra video, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett talks about Mel’s Rink, a backyard ice rink in Poolesville, and the options county officials may discuss in a meeting this week. You can find more coverage of Mel’s Rink, below:
The Owner of Mel's Rink Responds to Letter from County Executive (PHOTO)
UPDATED Jan. 8 Mel’s Rink may be moving to a new location. In an email dated Jan. 7th, Poolesville resident Marc Kohn says he appreciates County Executive Ike Leggett’s personal interest in Mel’s Rink, and Kohn says he would like to meet with county officials to discuss relocating the backyard ice rink that was built […]
Owner of Mel's Rink Launches GoFundMe Page (PHOTOS & VIDEO)
UPDATED Poolesville resident Marc Kohn has launched a GoFundMe page, entitled “Save Mel’s Rink,” as he prepares to fight to keep the play space, which opened in December, in his backyard. “I built a skating rink on my property in Poolesville, Maryland that I’ve named Mel’s Rink,” writes Kohn on the GoFundMe page. “It’s a […]
Owner of Mel's Rink Meets with County Officials (VIDEO)
The owner of Mel’s Rink, Marc Kohn, met with county officials this week to discuss his backyard ice rink, which is located in the Agricultural Reserve, in Poolesville. In this MyMCMedia Extra video, Permitting Services Director Diane Schwartz Jones talks about that meeting and the county’s concerns with the rink. County inspectors issued a notice […]
Mel's Rink in Poolesville (PHOTOS)
UPDATED A Poolesville resident, Marc Kohn, has constructed a synthetic ice rink in his Poolesville backyard on Sugarland Road in memory of his stepdaughter, who passed away in July and who loved hockey. In December, he invited the community to skate and play hockey at the rink. But, according to published reports, Montgomery County officials […]
Why not move the rink out of the Agricultural Reserve and put it in the town. Whalen Commons would be a good place. Then you can offer up some local
jobs. I doubt your daughter would be honored by stubborness and jeopardizing the ag preserve, which has been a long fight to keep it from being commercialized.
This seems like a sneaky way of getting townfolk to help you fight permitting laws. Everyone knows you need a permit to build something. Don’t act like it’s a great surprise.