Fircrest’s roller-skating rink is back in business.
The new operators, four skaters and longtime rink users, will celebrate the grand opening of Rollin’ 253 Skate and Community Center on Friday, about six weeks after the last rink closed. Rollin’ 253 has been unofficially open for a week as the new operators work out the kinks.
Property owner Bruce Bodine said he turned down four other potential tenants for the former Wheelz space at 2101 S. Mildred. All were regional or national businesses, he said. But four people with strong ties to the rink persuaded him to take a chance.
Shauna Fossum, Gary Gandee, Rebecca McCarthy and Kelly Smith had ties to the rink through roller derby. When Wheelz closed, they wrote a 35-page proposal in the space of a few days. Though this is a first attempt at running a business for most of them, they knew they could do it.
Pitching the idea to Bodine “was nerve-wracking but exciting,” Fossum said. “This was our chance. It was interviewing for your dream job.”
Fossum, McCarthy and Smith are associated with Toxic 253, the roller derby league that practices at the facility. Gandee is an in-line skating coach who has worked with Olympic-caliber athletes, including Federal Way’s J.R. Celski.
“The easy button would be to go down a different path. Forget the local group. Go with a regional or national organization,” Bodine said. But the local group presented “a phenomenal business plan. They had researched down to the cost of a cubic foot of water.”
Bodine gave them the go. He’s the rink owner right now, but his goal is to see the business get going, then “hand it over,” he said. That’s expected to happen within a year, but the group didn’t want to disclose other provisions.
Bodine hired Frank Washburn, a sports business consultant and former principal of Cascade Christian Schools, to help manage the transition.
“The name (of the rink) is important,” Washburn said, referring to the term community center. “It’s not just a rink. It’s a gathering place.”
Fossum said they chose the name to reflect the outpouring of support to re-open the rink.
People just showed up, she said. Families, kids who had been skating after school – “this was their safety net” – and derby players all came and asked, what can I do? Fossum said.
Washburn estimated at least 1,500 volunteer hours of work had been done to the space. People cleaned, painted, resurfaced the floor, added curtains to cover exposed pipe, and restocked the snack bar.
Bodine spent about $30,000 for 300 new pairs of skates. “You can go out there and paint the walls and add some air freshener, but 300 new skates says you’re serious,” he said.
As business improves, they’ll order more.
Kathleen Cooper: 253-597-8546
kathleen.cooper@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/business
Twitter: @KCooperTNT
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