Editor,
I support keeping a roller rink in Redwood City. The Redwood City Council and Planning Commission can help by making city coffers funding available to a new roller facility, floating a bond, making land available or connecting the developer with constituents who can further facilitate. The community has spoken, and I hope the commission adheres to this imperative.
The Peninsula has continued to densify, helping the affordable housing crisis, but losing facilities that promote health like Malibu Grand Prix and the roller rink. Even the Redwood City Ice Oasis Rink closed permanently.
In this pandemic age, health has risen as a clear priority. We need to examine how we plan our cities to support physical health and mental health for people of all ages and abilities. Our quarantining and lockdown have shown severe health damage caused by a lack of availability of activities as facilities remain closed.
As a kid on the Peninsula, I frequented the roller rink for birthday parties and regular exercise, leading a healthy lifestyle. I don’t have kids now, but when I do, I hope that they are able to pursue healthy lives on the Peninsula. I worry that will not be possible with the current downward trend for recreation facilities and overall family friendly nature.
I look to the Redwood City Council to do everything within its power to ensure that a roller rink is kept within the borders of Redwood City, so both adults and children can live healthy lives.
I appreciate the city’s time and commitment to this important issue.
Sarah Feldman
Hillsborough
The letter writer is the founder of the Silicon Valley Ice Skating Association.
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(5) comments
What was the roller rink in San Mateo? Rolladium? I had so much fun there.
Hi, Sarah
You make some very good points. However, I remain somewhat ambivalent on this topic. Yes, we certainly need opportunities for healthy activities, but should we ask a city to underwrite a roller rink during a time with such economic uncertainty?
Remember the line from the movie, "Field of Dreams," when we hear the voice over say, "If you build it, he will come"? Will enough skaters use a new rink to make it financially feasible? In other words, what assurance can skaters provide that a roller rink can financially sustain itself? Why isn't the private sector leading the effort to build a rink? I believe the roller rink you envision would probably be routinely used by a relatively small percentage of enthusiastic residents. However, such use is not reason enough to make a rink a recurring item on a city budget.
Painting with broad strokes... we need opportunities for healthy activities. However, the cost for a new rink may be prohibitive.
“Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "Of course, we won't mind if you look around", you'll say, "It's only $20 per person". They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
― James Earl Jones
Just Mike... classic. Thanks.
I love that movie and have a personal story about the filming... a lot of which took place in Illinois across the state line... for another time.
Yes, people did come... in the movie. Baseball has that kind of allure... appeal. Roller skating? Not so much. I understand the skaters' passion, but I disagree with the project being underwritten by a city. Remember, the "Ray" in the movie did not get public funding to build a ballpark.
I'm not saying a city should never assume the cost of projects that can promote healthy activities. Cities provide parks, walking trails and sometimes parcourses. They can be enjoyed by lots of folks... and you don't need skates to use them.
I respect Sarah's point of view. She presents her position in a logical and convincing manner; I just think the roller rink project should not be publicly funded.
Bonus... without going to Google right away... do you know which movie was James Earl Jones' first?
363 North Amphlett, near the DMV
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