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Sandy Springs Reporter
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Think big
Nonprofits discuss city’s vision COMMUNITY 2
Overcoming hatred
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Churches respond to S.C. shootings FAITH 15
JUNE 26 — JULY 9, 2015 • VOL. 9 — NO. 13
PAGES 7-11
Residents applaud new City Center plans BY JOHN RUCH After scoring public applause and a City Council thumbs-up in recent meetings, construction on the $220 million Sandy Springs City Center will begin early next month. More water, more trees, and bigger apartments are the main tweaks to the green and glittery plan. The massive public-private City Center development targets the intersection of Roswell, Mount Vernon and Johnson Ferry roads for a new City Hall, apartments, commercial space, and concert and theater halls. More than a year of planning has the various pieces in place, but the public recently weighed in on the look and feel of the final product. “I don’t know of anything we have done in the city where we have got more public input,” said Mayor Rusty Paul at a June 16 City Council meeting where construction funding was approved. Paul praised the architect and design team for processing comments from more than 1,000 resSEE WATER, PAGE 20
ABOVE, PHIL MOSIER; RIGHT, CITY OF SANDY SPRINGS
Above, Sandy Springs City Councilman Andy Bauman, right, talks to residents Chuck and Bonnie Berk about the City Center’s final design plans during a presentation at Heritage Sandy Springs on June 18. Right, the city released a rendering of what the performing arts center will look like. See more images on page 20.
New Atlanta Capitals hockey team checking into Center Ice Arena BY ELLEN ELDRIDGE
elleneldridge@reporternewspapers.net
Sandy Springs has its own ice hockey team. The Atlanta Capitals of the North American Tier III Hockey League plan to play their upcoming season at the Center Ice Arena on Roswell Road. On June 17, team owner Don Stone, Coach Anthony Bohn and assistant coaches Vinny Bohn and Ryan Terrana gathered at the arena to make draft selections for the fall season. They drafted 11 players onto a protected list.
Stone said he bought his first hockey team, a Tier II team, in Topeka, Kan., six years ago. He started a Tier III team, the Topeka Capitals, two years ago. An active member of the hockey community, Stone said he talked with Center Ice Arena owners during construction about bringing a junior hockey team to his hometown. “Originally, I was going to have two Tier III teams,” Stone said, describing how an ending lease agreement led
him to bring his Topeka Capitals to Atlanta. “We’ll probably start a new team in Topeka next year.” The Atlanta Capitals is a junior hockey team where players aged 17 to 20 pay $8,000 per 22-game season. The cost includes coaching, ice time and travel. “Tier III is what they call ‘pay-to-play,’ so kids pay me to play on the team,” Stone said. For the draft, Bohn started in January to pull together a list of potential players for the team. These players agreed to play for the Atlanta Capitals if they didn’t make SEE JUNIOR, PAGE 5
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