One of last roller skating rinks in the Tacoma area will close its doors in March
Skateworld, one of the last roller skating rinks in the Tacoma area, announced last week it likely will be closing its doors March 31 after its landlord decided not to renew its lease.
Owners of the Fircrest venue, at 2101 Mildred St. W., said they welcome any tips on alternative places to host all-ages skating classes, clubs and events. Formerly Rollin’ 253, the family-owned rink became Skateworld in 2019 and has since become a home base for those looking for fun, exercise and community.
“Despite our best efforts to secure a lease renewal, the abrupt decision was made by the landlord not to extend the lease, citing a desire to reclaim the space for the personal business venture of one of the property owners,” Skateworld said in a news release Jan. 17. “The news of the closure comes as a profound disappointment to the management, staff and loyal patrons who have contributed to the rink’s growth.”
Skateworld strategic manager Rae Walaska told The News Tribune that Skateworld had a strong enough base to survive a six-month closure during the COVID-19 pandemic and remain profitable. Now, its shuttering takes away one of the last remaining roller rinks in the Tacoma area, she said.
“We all grew up skating, all of us,” Walaska said. “Almost everyone who works in this industry has a passion for roller skating. It’s so sad to see multiple rinks get shut down. Tiffany’s [Skate Inn] in the area was shut down; Skate King was shut down … it’s sad that a profitable skating rink is going to shut down due to something that’s not even our fault.”
The news of this closure brought a sense of loss to families and patrons who often drove out of their way to come to Skateworld for birthday parties, weekly skate nights, roller derby, roller hockey and classes. A petition to save Skateworld garnered more than 780 signatures and dozens of supportive comments as of Tuesday morning.
Co-owner Christina Stang told the News Tribune the business had invested more than $100,000 in improvements to Skateworld in the last year not knowing the lease would not be renewed. That included a new arcade that opened last week, new carpeting, new rental skates, new paint and a number of back-end upgrades, she said.
The building owners haven’t told Stang any further details about what might become of the space in the future, “other than they said it would not be a roller skating rink,” she said. The building owner Bodine Enterprises did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The News Tribune.
“It’s been pretty devastating,” Stang said. “Almost every day of the week we have some sort of sports team that’s in there renting our space, using it to grow another community asset.”
Beyond March, people in Tacoma will have to drive to Federal Way or Olympia to roller skate, because there aren’t any other indoor rinks here anymore, she said.
“Finding a [new] location is of the utmost importance,” Stang said. “We’ve had to expand our reach a little beyond Tacoma. Just finding a 20,000 square foot building with no poles in it, it’s actually a pretty hard ask.”
Loss of needed community space
Hundreds of people have taken to social media to lament the closure of Skateworld Tacoma, share fond memories and mourn the loss of family-friendly community space.
Karen Freda, a long-time roller derby player who commutes to Skateworld three times a week from Federal Way, said finding a place to practice now will be even more difficult if Skateworld permanently closes. Freda knows of skaters who commute weekly from Olympia and West Seattle too.
Many buildings that would typically accommodate roller derby have become warehouses and storage facilities to keep up with online shopping demand, said Freda, who has skated with the Dockyard Derby Dames and Puget Sound Outcast Derby. Locations teams can find are usually more expensive and sometimes force players to practice at inconvenient hours, like 9-11 p.m., she said.
“It’s almost numbing, because it’s just hard for me to think of a future without Skateworld. We’ve lost so many spaces already, I just don’t see a clear path forward,” Freda said. “[Derby]’s really given me a place to just have fun and know reliably I’m going to see people, work out. Even if my week’s busy I can always rely on roller derby to be there.”
University Place resident Michelle Brown started the petition to Save Skateworld on Friday. Brown said she rediscovered skating as an adult and looks forward to weekly open skates at Skateworld. Although she doesn’t have kids of her own, Brown said she’s worried about children and others who will likely feel more isolated after the closure of the family-friendly rink.
“I’m kind of prone to depression, especially this time of year. Skating keeps me active,” Brown said. “I think it will probably take me a while to find another place where I feel the same way about going very frequently.”
Stang said there are plans to throw an adult skate night and community skating event in the future as a last hurrah, with details to be announced on Skateworld’s social media, she said.
“The community finding ways to support us, it just reminds us that we really are doing a good thing. We are really, really making that extra effort to find that [new] location,” Stang said. “I can’t thank our patrons enough.”
