In an attempt to better and beautify Bakersfield, plans are in the works for a new ice rink and aquatics center downtown. The proposed site is the same area that had been designated for the City Center Complex’s baseball stadium. That project fell through.
The proposal raises several questions in Bakersfield residents’ minds. Is this just a new project to superficially improve Bakersfield? What does Bakersfield really need? Is it an ice rink, or is it something else?
Community leaders and teens disagree over the answer. While some leaders and teens are in favor of the project, some wish to improve other Bakersfield problems first.
City councilwoman Sue Benham is in favor of the ice rink and aquatics facility.
“I think that we need an ice rink but we need an aquatics facility more,” she said. Benham, however, was not in favor of the proposed baseball stadium. She said that the recreational needs of the city would be better served by an aquatics center.
“They are two amenities that will complement each other,” Benham said.
Dr. James George, provost of California State University Bakersfield, however, felt differently about the service the facility would provide. George was firmly against the ice rink construction.
“I don’t see any need to have a city-supported ice rink,” he said. “Big ticket items are attractive to attorneys, construction companies and city leaders but provide only a limited opportunity for citizens.”
George was in favor of expanding the parks and bikepath instead, a project that Vice Mayor Mark Salvaggio, though he supports the aquatics center, also supports. Salvaggio hopes to expand the bike path to Lake Ming in the east and renovate several parks. He also wants to rebuild City Hall to accommodate its large number of employees who work in “pretty cramped” conditions.
“It’s just a question of how and when we rebuild City Hall,” Salvaggio said.
Others, though not opposed to more recreational facilities, look for other changes to be made first.
Kern County Sheriff Carl Sparks explained that his aims for improvement are more widespread and include not just Bakersfield, but the county. Sparks suggested that Bakersfield could use light manufacturing plants that give off less pollution and provide jobs. He also hopes that the county’s poor air quality will be improved and that a high-speed rail or “bullet train” will be installed to make the commute to cities like Los Angeles easier.
“If two out of three of those things occur, the ice rink and baseball diamond will happen by themselves,” Sparks said.
Dr. Sandra Serrano, president of BC, also felt that some sort of recreational facility is needed in Bakersfield. Serrano believes that Bakersfield needs a concert hall or music center for orchestra concerts as well as a facility for families or youths.
“I do believe that there is a need for some sort of location for a family excursion,” Serrano said.
Meanwhile, though he wishes the baseball stadium would have happened, District Attorney Ed Jagels is of a similar mind with former Mayor Mary K. Shell.
Both wish transportation in Bakersfield were more convenient.
“We need a continuation of a cross-town freeway,” Jagels said. Shell is looking forward to the end of the expansive road renovation.
“Once they fix the streets, then I think it’s time to think about these other things,” she said. Shell doesn’t see why a new pool is needed when there are pools at Bakersfield College, CSUB, Jastro Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and many others. She hopes that the city does research to see whether an aquatics center is really what Bakersfield needs.
Though some teens agree with most leaders that an ice rink should not be the first priority, most like the idea.
Louis Betty, 20, a student at CSUB, said that an end to road construction should be first priority, but he felt that afterward, there are other things to fix.
“The thing that Bakersfield needs is better public education,” he said.
But Betty is one of few teens who wish for other things before an ice rink. Most viewed the aquatics center would be a plus.
Grace Liu, a junior at Bakersfield High School, wants “more recreational facilities, period.”
“I want a pool with a big diving board,” Liu said.
Maggie Oran, a 15-year-old sophomore at Stockdale High School, looks forward to being able to ice skate in sunny Bakersfield.
“It would add variety to Bakersfield because there’s really not much to do,” she said.
Oran’s friend, John Scott, also 15 and a sophomore at Stockdale, agreed.”Considering I don’t own either one of those (ice rink or pool), I think that’d be really cool,” Scott said.