Plans to include a pavilion and ice skating rink outside a new civic building in downtown Silver Spring have slipped off the table, and some community members aren't happy with the decision to remove it.

"I think people have a widespread opposition to it because I think it was pretty clear that a skating rink was part of the design plan," said Gail Gugel, a vice president of Seven Oaks/Evanswood's civic association. "I think people are surprised and disappointed to know it was eliminated from the design plan."

The rink/pavilion was one of the main features for the building that will serve as a town center and meeting place for Silver Spring residents. However, money for the project has already been designated and designers and officials have been asked to stay within the $12 million construction budget.

"In working on the design for the civic building and veterans plaza, we came up with pretty high numbers on cost," said Gary Stith, director of the Silver Spring Regional Center.

Money was appropriated by the County Council several years ago in the capital budget for Silver Spring's civic building and veterans plaza, to be located at Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street, Stith said. However, the project is about $4 million over budget and officials had to look at where they could cut costs.

A revised design cuts about 4,000 square feet from the building, which was originally to be about 45,000 square feet, Stith said. That will save about $2.5 million.

"It'll look basically the same and the functions are all still in there," he said.

Inside, the civic building will boast an atrium, offices for the Silver Spring Regional Center, classrooms for the Round House Theatre School, several courtyards, a full-service kitchen, a great hall and community spaces. The community spaces will be used for everything from an art gallery and multimedia space to rooms for exercise and meetings. Construction should begin in 2006.

However, plans for the outside, which were to include a plaza and pavilion, have changed. Removing the pavilion, which could have held an ice rink in the winter and provided a venue for concerts in the summer, will save about $1.5 million, Stith said.

"The only way this could change is if more money was added to the budget," he said. "We can't ask for more money."

But some residents say the ice rink is worth the price.

"The skating rink would get a lot of use," Gugel said, adding many children and families were looking forward to the facility.

Many residents also are disappointed that the pavilion, which was also supposed to act as a concert venue, is being removed.

The removal of the pavilion and ice rink was discussed briefly at a Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board Commercial and Economic Development Committee meeting, said Silver Spring resident Philip Olivetti, chairman of the committee. Residents were unhappy, he said.

"It was very surprising," Olivetti said of the decision to remove the rink from the plans. He thinks many residents don't know about the changes.

However, based on feedback he's received, Olivetti said he suspects as residents become aware, they'll lobby elected officials for money to complete the project as envisioned.

"Certainly we recognize it's an election next year," he said.

Gugel agreed there should have been a forum for community members to voice opinions and concerns. "It's frustrating that we never had any community input."

"At least have a meeting," she said. "If you can't afford a skating rink, what are you going to do? People don't want a plain brown plaza when it was important to us that that would generate more foot traffic and be a community resource."

Stith said he knows the ice rink was a popular project component and knows residents aren't happy about losing it. But removing the rink and pavilion from the current plan doesn't preclude adding them later. The design changes were the easiest thing to do that didn't affect the veterans plaza, which will include monuments and statues honoring the military, Stith said.

The likelihood of obtaining private money to fund the elements being removed from the project isn't great, Stith said, pointing out that it took an entire summer to raise $30,000 to refurbish a mural in the downtown. "A million-and-a-half is a lot of money."

The idea for the civic building began with the redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring. In 1998, county officials tore down the Silver Spring Armory, which had served as a community meeting place for 71 years, because it occupied a prime commercial site at the corner of Fenton Street and Wayne Avenue. County officials and developers said they needed that space for redevelopment plans.

At the time, the county promised to replace it with a new, modern facility that could also accommodate a variety of civic uses, including special events, exhibitions, festivals and diverse cultural activities and outdoor events.

The Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board will be briefed on new plans for the civic building and plaza 7 p.m. June 13 at Long Branch Library, 8800 Garland Ave.