"Oakland City Council Members came to believe an ice sports center was just what they needed to revitalize a struggling downtown. The eight other ice sports facilities in the Bay Area were over-booked with youth and adult hockey leagues as well as figure skaters of all ages training, twirling and competing."
"Projections came in that a new ice center would bring in 500,000 visitors annually to downtown Oakland, generating nearly $5 million a year in retail, food and lodging revenue. So in April 1995, Oakland's Redevelopment Agency signed a ground lease with a private developer team to build and operate the facility, which the agency financed with $11 million in tax-exempt bonds."
"The Bay Area was a hot spot for ice sports in the early 1990s. Mountain View's Brian Boitano had won a figure skating gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics. Fremont's Kristi Yamaguchi was on her way to figure skating gold in the 1992 Winter Olympics."
In 1991, Oakland's Redevelopment Agency acquired a vacant parcel in downtown Oakland for $1.8 million. Capitalizing on the Bay Area's ice sports popularity following Olympic successes by local athletes and the arrival of the San Jose Sharks, city officials decided an ice center would revitalize struggling downtown. Projections estimated 500,000 annual visitors generating $5 million in revenue. In 1995, the agency financed an $11 million facility through tax-exempt bonds with a private developer team. The facility became home to Olympic gold-medalist figure skater Alysa Liu and other elite athletes, though initial visitor projections proved inaccurate.
#oakland-ice-center #urban-revitalization #ice-sports-infrastructure #economic-development #figure-skating
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