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The one that has had the biggest impact on rinks such as Snoopy's Home Ice is the San Jose Sharks due to the team's geographic proximity to the rink, just shy of two hours away. Since the Sharks' entrance into the area in 1991, the rink has seen more attention paid to the sport with the franchise investing in countless rinks in the area, including Snoopy's Home Ice. "The Sharks do a great job of having an affiliation around here," McCool said. "This is the first place the team alumni played after some of the bad forest fires." Fixing Up the Joint Snoopy's Home Ice had been using the same rink f loor that was built during the facility's inception in 1969. However, the ice f loor began to show its age. The rink was very close to where the Tubbs fire hit northern California in 2017. The fire at one point caused the facility to lose electricity for 60 hours. At the same time, the facility began suffering more leaks in the rink f loor. As the frequency increased, it came time to remodel the facility. In the summer of 2019, the first replacement of the rink f loor went into effect. It was closed down for a number of months. During that time, new full- length dasher boards were installed. While the ice was closed until November 2019, people such as McCool feared people would f lee the rink and go elsewhere, lowering the participation numbers. However, it ended up being the opposite. "We had 60 new people trying to get into our adult hockey league," McCool said. "This new renovation may propel us into getting more ice because we might have to play hockey 24 hours per day to keep up with demand." Along with the increase of Bay Area residents wanting to lace up and play in this facility, the upgrades to Snoopy's Home Ice helped attract the Santa Rosa Growlers, a Senior A team which plays in the Mountain West Hockey League and is helping fill its 500 spectator seats. "There's a need for sports entertain- ment where we are located," Huntsinger said. "So there's plenty of people around here finding that in the Growlers." Keeping the Legacy Alive With a new rink f loor and upgraded facilities, Snoopy's Home Ice contin- ues to be a tribute to Schulz's historic career and a home for those in northern California looking for a place to hit the ice. While new facilities continue to pop up across the country, Snoopy's Home Ice remains committed to be the unique facility it has always been. "Even though we have made some modern advancements to keep the rink alive, this place still has that charm it always had," McCool said. "This place has good feelings. We've taken a lot of time and effort to make this place not be like everyone else's home rink." J USICERINKS.COM MARCH.APRIL.2020 / 17 "IT'S NOT LIKE ANY RINKS THEY BUILD ANYMORE. THERE WAS A SPECIAL DETAIL TO THE AESTHETIC." The Santa Rosa Growlers fill the rink with fans hungry for sports entertainment. , Peanuts creator Charles Shulz created Snoopy's Home Ice as an entertaining getaway for his family (top right) and for others to constantly enjoy. BACK IN THE DAY