I think it the ice rink is great idea. It is a facility that can be used by the whole family, young and old. It is a wonderful way to get folks involved in good physical activity and great way to keep young people off the steets in contructive acttivities.

I absolutely support the ice rinks. The only ice rink in the area (Dublin Iceland) is an embarrasment, with a leaking roof and hockey players and figure skates alike forced to change in the public lobby. There's never enough ice time for all the kids and adults who want to skate, and a facility like this would give everyone a chance to enjoy some healthy exercise in a family-friendly environment.

I support the new San Jose Sharks Rink in Pleasanton.

People, we need facilities like this in the area. If we look at the people we have turned out in the past from the Bay area, such as skaters as Brian Botiano and Kristy Yamaguchi in the figure skating world. Also last year a Bay Area 12 and under team won the USA Hockey National Championship. San Jose State Mens ice hockey team is going to the ACHA National Tournament for the second straight year.

Then you have the USA Hockeys Womens and Girls National Tournament going on the weekends of 3/24-3/25 and 3/31-3/26. Teams from accross the US will being coming to capture a title they play for. Just think, that someday can be in the Pleasanton area with a state of the art facility the Sharks Management Group is willing to build.

I grew up playing at Dublin Iceland, played from the time I was 5 till I was 18. The rink has produced some great teams and we do have some great teams tis year that skate out of the rink, but its time to move forward as a city and look at what the new facility can bring us. The rink use to be the nicest in the area, but now it is far from being acceptable to the area. But it is time to move on and look at what a new facility can bring to the area.

Look in the Dallas Texas or the Phoenix Arizona area, both NHL teams have helped those areas build programs through out the local area. Both areas have built a High School Hockey League, and it rivals high school football right now. How would it look like on a FRiday Night in April going to watch Amador vs Foothill for a battle on the ice.... I think that would be great being a Amador Alum.

Please get behind this great opportunity we have as parents, players and figure skaters a like.

Catch you all on the ice.........

Why is everyone in Pleasanton obsessed with sports fields and centers? If any of you ever leave and experience the real world, as I have by going to college 3000 miles away, you will see how pathetic Pleasanton is in its lack of centers for arts and music. Pleasanton has no culture. Everyone thinks sports will make our children bright and well-cultured. Why not open a world-class museum instead of a world-class ice center? The city has more than enough sports facilities. Apparently, its just that all the rich folks in their SUVs don't want to drive more than a mile to drop off their kids at the park. As a singer I like once said, "lets cross the sea and get some CULTURE."

I absolutely agree that we need more centers for arts and music in Pleasanton, and am thrilled to hear that you have returned from abroad excited at the idea of helping make that happen. I hope you'll lend your passion to the campaign for the Art and Theater complex on Railroad Avenue and the push for a cultural center and outdoor ampitheater on the Bernal property.

In the meantime, I see nothing to prevent us from having a host of alternatives to the soccer-dominated culture of Pleasanton that forces families to drive to Fremont, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Berkeley and beyond to participate both in alternative sports like hockey and figure skating and in fine arts activities such as those you prefer.

I absolutely support an ice rink in Pleasanton. I've been to Logitech Ice a few times and would love to have a rink of that caliber in town, for me and for my family.

Having grown up in Canada I am qualified to speak about the benefits of having ice skating facilities readily available. The biggest impact is on raising children. Canada with a population of only 25 million people has 3000 artificial ice surfaces. The US with 300 million people has only 1200 artificial ice surfaces. Canadians are so indoctrinated with NHL hockey that a very large per centage of kids there grow up playing recreational league or community rep travel team organized hockey until they are 18 years old and in some cases even older. But the mindset stays with them and they continue to play organized hockey in recreational leagues as adults. There is no comparable activity in this country which causes such a large number of people to focus on a participatory sport. The obvious benefit that this has on raising children is that it gives them an activity to focus their energy and interest on. In this country kids seem to be seeking role models that are counter culture figures. In Canada, playing hockey is definitely regarded as cool by everyone, young and old. Crime in Canada registers as a very tiny per centage compared to this country. It seems obvious that the hockey culture in Canada plays a significant role in achieving this outcome. The answer seems obvious build ice rinks.

Build it! Pleasanton should be more than a bunch of excellent schools and expensive houses. Our youth are bored and so was I when I grew up here. I was sad to see the closure of the movie theatre. Why does Dublin get to have all the fun? But please also build the Stoneridge extension. How idiotic will it be to have a part of Pleasanton that was inaccessable to the own town (except for emergency vehicles and possibly busses)? Will my handicapped mother who isn't very mobile have to be driven on 580 and sit in that traffic just to reach the front entrance if she wanted to watch me play?

Its ok for me to cause cut-through traffic in several other cities just to reach the quality ice rink in Redwood City with the quality adult hockey league program (in addition to spending all that gas) once a week but not ok if other people want to cut through our town.

I moved away from Pleasanton to attend school as well. I've traveled the world to know that there is a happy medium. What we take for granted living here in Pleasanton are the open fields, the space to run and to fly a kite. As a child growing up here, I didnt appreciate the open fields and trees. During my studies and travel I realized that we do lack the abundance of museums. But the art inside of them is inspired by the outdoors and human subjects. Including the concrete jungle. But we have the luxury of driving to San Francisco or Oakland to enjoy these things. This is why we live in Pleasanton, not the city. To enjoy the outdoors, the open fields. Giving our children the oportunity to participate in sports or just plain picking flowers.

I am against the "ice rink", herein named Stadium. Why, because cut-through traffic getting worse, dangers of intoxicated drivers after a sharks game, large stadium in a small town, wasted funding, rather than focusing on the traffic issues all around Pleasanton, especially the dowtown area (1st Street). Livermore residents cut through our streets to I-680, and back to Livermore. The funds should be a solution to this, like SR 84, etc. We need to also focus on the downtown area expansion, with a quaint movie theater, water falls, a dog park, additional restuarants other than mexican or Italian, and additional parking just to name a few. We are now competing with Livermore's privately funded make over, that Pleasanton passed on. We need to ensure real estate remains strong here. Pleasanton needs to continue to live up to the high price of living in this town. A stadium for the Sharks will only bring down the prices of homes surrounding this area. People will go to Livermore to get the peaceful atmosphere and beauty they lose if we go forward with this project. Look at San Jose, crowds, noise, vandalizm, lower priced homes in the stadium area. The great thing about Pleasanton, and why people want to live here, are the open spaces, surrounding hills and views, matured trees, wildlife preservation. We have enough sports fields, and keep in mind, adults live here too, we should not focus on just kid projects.
If I wanted to see large concrete structures or buildings, I will take advantage of the luxury of a short travel to San Francisco, or San Jose. This is why we live in Pleasanton, not the city.

I'm 100% for this ice center. Ice skating is great exercise for all ages. Ice time is not easy to come by. Building this facility will help make ice skating and hockey more available and affordable for all.

I can't believe there would be any hesitation to allow a NHL franchise to build a program in Pleasanton. Skating sports great for all ages and the last time I checked they were part of the Olympics!

What I can't believe is the ignorance with regards to what the proposed plan is. And then somehow Pleasanton is supposed to compete with Livermore in terms of high-priced living without adding such luxury facilities as an ice rink. The facility would be located near the freeway and would be consistent with Pleasanton's design. It would not detract from any peacefulness downtown considering it is about as far from downtown northwards as one could go.

Why do so many of us see a huge meadow like Staples Ranch and think, "Man, we have go to do something with this...it is going to waste."?

Carving up Staples Ranch, paving it over, and squeezing every possible economic benefit out of it is a mistake. It is one small part of a dysfunctional relationship we have with the environment - think global warming, pollution, endangered species.

Why not find an abandoned commercial parcel in Oakland or elsewhere that needs to be redeveloped?

I built rink #4 and the lounge for the Sharks two years ago at Logitech. They are a first class organization and will only be a positive development for this area. We should jump on the opprutunity for this complex to be built in our town before they decide to build it in Livermore instead... Our kids deserve this facility...

Having attended all of the council meetings and workshops on this topic, it is my understanding that this particular parcel of land will stay vacant for many years due to budget restraints. The auto dealerships and the senior living facility will be built, so Staples Ranch is not going to remain in it's present state. In the 9 years that my son has skated at Dublin Iceland there have not been any significant improvements made to meet the demand of those who pursue their love of ice sports. Iceland is a 30+ year old facility that has no nearby competition. This is a chance to get a first class facility at virtually no cost to the taxpayer and it will require no watering, mowing or fertilizing. Granted, it will be another box surrounded by pavement, but why not put in a facility that promotes physical fitness rather than another place to shop. There is the added benefit to the other sports communites in Pleasanton who will see the future constuction of needed sports and activity fields. This facility will give residents one more reason to be proud that they call Pleasanton their home.

I fully support the building of this ice center. It will be a fantastic facility that will enhance the sense of community by allowing for families with common interests to gather.

It appears there is some confusion, the proposed ice center is NOT a stadium for the San Jose Sharks to play in as suggested by Gregory Appler on April 21st. It is a 4-rink complex supported by the San Jose Sharks organization. There will be NO dangers of intoxicated drivers after Sharks games because there will be no Sharks games. The Sharks play at in San Jose at the HP Pavillion. The ice center will NOT bring down the prices of homes surrounding this area and in fact will increase their values. For those unfamiliar with a 4-rinks complex, 4 ice surfaces are built under the same roof with modest seating (not 17000 people like HP Pavillion) to allow for simultaneous ice hockey games and/or figure skating use - a very effective approach for fostering a sense of community.

Also note that ice arenas are not 'kid projects'. Ice hockey may be new to many adults in the Bay Area because the Sharks only arrived in 1991 (although some of you may remember the Oakland Seals in the 70's). Demand for adult hockey leagues is going to grow as the kids who started playing because of the Sharks reach adulthood. The limited ice and lack of dressing rooms at the aging Dublin Iceland cannot support a full adult ice hockey league. A 4-rinks will enable this and make Pleasanton an even better place to live.

The ice center is a facility for families in Pleasanton and the Tri-valley to use and enjoy, not a 'stadium' for the San Jose Sharks. I support it 100%.

To Gregory Appler:

They aren't proposing to build a stadium. They want to duplicate what they have in San Jose. A four surface ice arena for recreational, figure skating, hockey, curling and speed skating purposes.

The Sharks play at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Get the facts straight first.

People don't get it. They want to build a rink in Pleasanton. Then people say that have to build soccer fields, basket ball courts, etc. They wouldn't want to build a rink if there were a hundred in the area. However, there are a hundred soccer fields and basketball courts in the area.

**Posted by Gregory Appler, a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Apr 21, 2007 at 3:42 pm

"I am against the "ice rink", herein named Stadium. Why, because cut-through traffic getting worse, dangers of intoxicated drivers after a sharks game, large stadium in a small town, wasted funding, rather than focusing on the traffic issues all around Pleasanton, especially the dowtown area (1st Street)."***

Its not a stadium... there will not be sharks games here. Just kids playing hockey, parents watching, little ones skating for the first time and great memories for everyone who takes part in a great place like this will be.
I have a permanent shoulder injury because of the lack of maintenance at dublin iceland. It is a dangerous place to play hockey and i cant wait for a safe place for my kids to play hockey and skate.