Mayor Says Ice Hockey Facility Planned at Roswell Road/I-285

Plans are in the works for a ice hockey facility in Sandy Springs.

Mayor Eva Galambos said sometimes serendipity plays a part in things. She was guest speaker during a Rotary Club of Sandy Springs luncheon at Hilton Perimeter Suites, on Monday.

"At the entrance of Northwood as you come off 285 and turn south, it used to be the Days Inn, we are getting a first class ice hockey facility," the Mayor said. "And it will be attracting ice hockey teams that compete with each other."

One the partners in the venture coached the Mayor's grandson in ice hockey and she was interested in helping him find a location in Sandy Springs. Galambos had also been talking to Mike Aldredge, whose company owns the former Days Inn property, about ideas for redevelopment, she said. 

“I took my ice hockey friend to see Mike Aldredge. Well guess what, he had also coached [his son]...,” she said.

The Days Inn closed around 2007, according to Aldredge.

“It wasn’t really a good hotel site anymore,” he said. “In the meantime with the widening of Roswell Road and the median, it really is no longer good as a  retail site either. In that case it needed to be a destination site.”

Aldredge is selling the land but will be in a partnership with the facility owners and operators, he said.

Patch has learned they hope to break ground in August and open by early spring.

Tell us what you think of a hockey rink in Sandy Springs? Is it a cool idea?