For four years now, the Sleep Train Arena has sat dormant in Natomas California. The former home of the Sacramento Kings has seen various use through out the years but nothing permanent. Lots of ideas have been proposed to the Kings and the city of Sacramento and they are yet to reach a conclusion. They have been hoping to do so for a very long time. It is a very unique building and any sort of way to change would involve tearing it down completely. That is unnecessary and the arena could still have lots of use as an arena to the people of Sacramento. 

It was agreed upon that Sleep Train Arena could not be used to hold concerts or big events to try and draw away attention from the Golden 1 Center and use it to it's max potential. This makes sense as why would people want to go to the old crumby arena when they could go to the new one? However, schedules are never perfect. What happens if a group wants to plan an event at Golden 1 the same time as a basketball game for the Kings. They have to reschedule possibly rearrange other dates? Sleep Train could be used to hold said event while the basketball game is going on at the Golden 1. Golden 1 would still obviously hold concerts and Sleep Train would not conflict that schedule. Also some events that are held at Golden 1 could be better done out in Natomas. Events that involve monster trucks and other such vehicles would operate much better at Sleep Train Arena. Not only does it fit the aesthetic with it being out in the old barn, it also would allow for the trucks to be in the parking lots allowing people seeing the event to perhaps meet the driver and their vehicle. 

Now of course, one huge thing to address is the huge parking lot that surrounds the Arco shaped square. It is a very large parking lot with room for plenty cars. The top bowl seats are now the only thing that is parked out in Sleep Trains parking lot. The parking lots were very nice as it was very vast and not too difficult to find a space to park your car. At the Golden 1 Center, you always either have to find a spot to be dropped off or you need to pay for somewhere to park like a spot on the street or a parking garage. Parking at Sleep Train wasn't free by any means, but once you got in it was much easier to navigate. Having to park streets away just so you can get to the arena is frustrating and a mess at it's best. Also the parking lot at the Natomas Arena allowed for many events. Car shows and RV gatherings come to mind. Very notable about the Sleep Train Arena parking lot is that it was also able to hold running events such as 5ks, marathons/half marathons and races. Even outside the building, the arena still has so much potential to still be useful.

"That arena is absolutely disgusting! Why would I want to go back there?" Lets face it, Sleep Train changes it's moods with the seasons. It is either dry and filled with patchy yellow grass, or it is being overflown with vegetation. If it was tended to and actually given the proper care it deserves, it would not look this way. Wild life lays in the pond of what was supposed to be a baseball diamond, and jack rabbits now roam the parking lot and area surrounding it. The wild life at Sleep Train needs to be saved in order for the arena to be put back into it's arena shape. The arena inside was last renovated in 2013 for the upcoming basketball season. Updates would need to be done to make the arena pristine and ready to entertain the lovely people of Sacramento. It would not be too difficult to put the arena back in a state that would suit it. 

At the current moment, many people are making pushes for what they could use the site for. Most of these involve tearing down the building or blowing it up. Some interesting points were brought up in an article from Sacratomatovillepost in 2017. The article points out that older arenas on the west coast are still functioning fine, renovations have been made to arenas in places like Fresno and Seattle, and that upgrading Sleep Train Arena would cost less than most venues downtown (https://sacratomatovillepost.com/2019/05/16/do-not-tear-down-arco-sleep-train-arena/ Another interesting thing to note is that plenty of cities in the United States have more than one arena working for entertainment. Our neighbors in Fresno have the Save Mart Center and the Selland Arena working at the same time. Phoenix Arizona has three arenas that are all in use to them and working fine. Sacramento should be able to do the same thing. The city would still get more jobs from the arena being open than it being torn down to nothing. 

 It is very clear to many people that the Sacramento Zoo is looking to move locations and the old arena site is a possibility. It would be better for the economy if they were to move somewhere like North Natomas Regional Park. This would offer jobs to people willing to work at the zoo but would also leave Sleep Train Arena open for more jobs and more ways to utilize the arena and the large parking lot and spaces around it. If the zoo moves to the Sleep Train site, it is only knocking out more jobs for people who need them for a zoo that is a little bit bigger than it would be at North Natomas Regional Park.

It's impossible not to mention the way Sleep Train Arena has been used to host conventions for Jehovah's Witnesses. They used the arena to hold conventions and if you look in the reviews of Sleep Train Arena on google, they had mostly positive things to say. Bumping up the arenas score to a 4.1 stars out of 5. One review stated that "it was easy to park and exit. The seating sections are well marked and it’s easy to navigate around the arena. The arena is old and could use a little TLC" which are some things I stated above. Another person wrote a review of the arena begging the question that a lot of people have been wondering "I don't know why they aren't going to keep using it. In it's 'heyday' it seemed a good venue. No complaints except it's not kept up.". This is a very good question. It was an amazing venue in it's heyday and it is pathetic and sad to see how little they care about how the arena looks. Almost a shame that they still rent it out to people like this.

"Well what exactly do you need from this petition and why do you need the state of the arena to change?" We need the Sacramento Kings and Vivek Ranadivé to listen to our points and why we think the arena still has a brighter future of being a use of an entertainment venue than being sold to someone. We need to show resilience and that we won't back down until we get a clear answer of what we wan't. We want to prove to the people that they are wrong and that the arena in Natomas is still of great use and should not be forgotten or just torn down to nothing. We will fight for the Natomas Arena. Join us, and save the Sleep Train Arena.