Colorful beach balls hang from a net on the ceiling for a New Year’s Eve party that never was as roller rink owner Jeff Warrenburg stands ready with sump pumps and vacuums to suck up any more rain that might creep into his Antioch business.
The Paradise Skate owner and his staff were caught off-guard by the all-day New Year’s Eve rain that pummeled the region, having no time to add sandbags and spray foam in the cracks to fortify the business before water poured in, flooding the building and effectively shutting it down the only roller rink in eastern Contra Costa County for months to come.
“There was lots of water everywhere and it penetrated the building and came through the drains that normally shouldn’t have anything in them,” manager Bob Bruce said. “And once it gets in, the wood will soak it up.”
Warrenburg, who was away at the time, said the building had six inches of water surrounding it.
“The problem was when it came so fast like it did, we did not get time to seal all the doors like we normally do,” he said.
Warrenburg’s staff later added some 200 sandbags around the building and was able to seal the doors to prevent more water from seeping into the rink and are now standing by to pump it out if needed when the next storm hits.
“It comes in very minimal and you just take a shop vac and suck it up and then you pour the water out … and we can keep the damage minimal if we can do that,” he said.
In the meantime, his 16 employees – some just hired – are out of work until the rain stops, the fixes are made and they can reopen. It’s a timeframe Warrenburg is unsure of at this point while he waits for estimates to replace the rink’s 9,300-square-foot maplewood floating floor and the surrounding carpet among other items.
He’s also had to cancel dozens of parties, classes and other events that were scheduled, the rink owner said.
“I’m giving refunds like crazy,” he said.
Michelle Higby of Concord coaches an artistic roller skating club and runs classes four times a week at the Antioch rink and was disheartened to hear of the water damage and temporary closure.
“We’ve worked really hard to build the club,” she said. “And, it’s mostly heartbreaking for those kids since this was going to be our first full season since before COVID.
“It’s pretty hard on some of the kids because they’re getting old enough to be committed on their own (to the sport),” Higby added. “It’s not just fun; they’ve got goals that they’re trying to meet.”
Bruce suggested that it would be eight to 12 weeks before the rink can reopen, and that also depends on the supply chain, and how fast materials can be shipped.
“It’s a major guess,” he said, noting they’d keep customers aware of progress on their Facebook page.
Warrenburg, who bought the business – formerly called Roller Haven – in 2008 and leases the building from the state, is no stranger to flooding. Operating as a roller rink since 1969, the structure is located at the county fairgrounds, near a creek that flows to the San Joaquin River and is prone to flooding during high tides and torrential rain storms.
In 2009, more than a quarter of the rink’s wooden floors were damaged when 18 inches of rain surrounded his building, but even so, there was less damage because they were able to protect the building with sandbags and foam before the deluge hit.
“We’re not flooded around our building at this point – the water comes and goes – so water comes up and floods us and then after the tide goes down and the water goes out, the water goes away from our buildings,” he said. “ When the water is up against our building, whether it’s one inch, two inches or six inches, we have water coming through some of the cracks, and we use shop vacuums and sump pumps to get the water out.”
Bruce said he’s hoping the rain will stop long enough to dry things out and get back in the building and make some repair estimates.
“Mother Nature needs to stop raining right now,” he said. “We’ve got (the building) sealed and barricaded and sandbagged just to keep everything else from getting ruined.”
Rainwater causes seasonal flooding around the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds area. The county’s flood control district made improvements to the stormwater system in 1993, but a gap was left near the area of 10th and O streets because of a lack of funding. Additional culverts were added in 2012, paid for from a Department of Water Resources fund for flood prevention.
Now Warrenburg is hoping there will be federal or state disaster relief funding to help him renovate the flooded-out center, which he estimates will cost somewhere uo to $400,000 in repairs. Unfortunately, his flood insurance lapsed while he was changing insurance companies, he said.
“We don’t know when it’s gonna flood again. … We’re just kind of watching the news. We keep watching the creek, so we stay on top of it.”
Despite the challenges, the hardy business owner has no intention of leaving because he said he really enjoys running a family entertainment business.
“Yeah, we do have to put up with this flooding, and usually, it’s a lot of work every winter, especially when there’s wet winters, but it’s worth it,” Warrenburg said. “It’s been like 15 years (since significant rain damage); however, this time the rain got us.”
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