Roller Hockey Enthusiasts Join to Save Alpharetta's Union Hill Park

A group of area residents don't like the idea of getting rid of the roller hockey rinks at , but Alpharetta's Recreation and Parks director wonders where they've been for the past several years.

"We had four teams in our adult league. Zero teams in our youth league," said Mike Perry, director of Recreation and Parks. "Part of the frustration is if there is such a groundswell of support, where have they been," Perry said.

The city hasn't had a youth team in the past two seasons. And in the four adult teams, only 12 players are city residents.

"I don't want to cut down a youth program, but right now we don't have one," Perry said.

The proposal being studied is to convert the covered rink into materials storage for the Public Works crews, and create the northernmost trail-head in Alpharetta's greenway system, connecting with the Forsyth greenway at McGinnis Ferry Road.

Perry said he spoke to Paul Bello, the self-appointed organizer of roller hockey support and is depending upon him to reach out to some of the people.

While he said email has come in about local teams practicing at the park, a report from staff showed very few of those are from Alpharetta schools Most are from Forsyth or Gwinnett counties.

"That's not really our mission," he said.

Bello said going back a number of years ago he organized a grassroots group called Friends of Union Hill Park. He's reviving the efforts of that group to save roller hockey at the park.

When he organized the group, the result was improvements at Union Hill, including a new surface for the rink, glass around it, roof repairs and insulation and circulating fans to reduce condensation on the rink.

"And that was a huge improvement," Bello said.

He found out about the city's proposal after the fact, though he does use the facility for Lambert High roller hockey practices.

"What we need to do is revitalize the program, get people recommitted to participate there. And we need to get the crowd out," he said.

Bello said there are enough people to play, but the answer is to get kids at the elementary level to play and seed the future of the program.

"It's going to take a strong, grassroots effort to make this happen," Bello said.

The group has to solicit funds and raise funds to show the city of Alpharetta it can be a viable program.

"And that's what I intend to do," he said.

Perry said he would assume that the Recreation Commission and City Council would have to see enough value to leave the park as it is, rather than converting it to a  Public Works storage facility and greenway trail head.
"There just has to be a return on investment," Perry said.

"We had a strong program when the thing first started 10 to 15 years ago, and it's just gotten progressively lower and lower," he said.

All Alpharetta youth programs have at least 40 percent participation from city residents, and they try for 50 percent, he said.

Perry said Union Hill Park has been costing the city $25,000-$35,000 annually after subtracting the revenue from facility rental and player fees. The city has turf care, maintenance, restroom cleaning and staffing costs.

"It cost money to have staff going by there every day cleaning restrooms," he said.

If people have something that they want to share with the Recreation Commission or City Council they are welcome to do so, Perry said.

Today's problems are different than in past years, Bello said. Rather than point fingers, he wants to identify opportunities to invigorate the program and come up with a viable plan.

"At the end of the day I don't think there's anybody who wholeheartedly wants to see an athletic facility turned into a storage facility," he said.

To contact Bello, he suggests email: paul.bello@att.net.

The group also has an online petition to draw support, and had more than 300 signatures this afternoon.