SACRAMENTO —
Less than a year to go until the Kings move into the new downtown arena.
And as the team gets ready to leave Natomas, loyal fans are also preparing for the change.
Ken Cirac and others who came to buy game tickets Tuesday are already a bit sentimental about saying goodbye to Sleep Train.
“There’s so many great memories here. We can criticize it, we can say it was inadequate, but it was ours,” Cirac said.
While there is nostalgia, there is also excitement about new beginnings once the team moves.
“Well there’s sadness for that, but there’s also the anticipation for the new arena so that could be cool,” said Kings fan Lavina Grobe.
The Kings are generating plans to redevelop the 185-acre site where Sleep Train currently sits. The team says they’re looking for something that benefits the entire region, and they’re not willing to settle.
“They’ve been given lots of offers, and they’ve rejected them,” said Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby.
The goal for both the city and the Kings is for the development to boost the economy,
“What we really want is an urban job core, we want an economic engine for our region — the Kings share that vision, I think that will be very clear tonight,” Ashby said.
As for these loyal fans, they hope in the future this site continues to be something they can be proud of.
“I would like to see it be developed into something that the community will benefit from, I think the Kings owe that to the community,” Cirac said.
