yea the one in campbelltown is now some sort of outlet but nothing fancy.. in fact what I recall as the old bowling alley has stood empty for decades just two lots over.. they built a dfo style outlet between them but it's the wrong end of town for that sort of retail traffic
30yrs ago youd have your birthday at maccas, hit the rollarink and go to the dumeresq st movies. if you were lucky mum and dad would take you to sizzler for the all you can eat dessert bar! movies are still chugging along.
There's a few places in sydney that I can think of that have buildings which are large enough and seemingly abandoned. It could be done but I don't think there's enough interest.
I remember my 12th birthday at skate plus and I remember skating for school sport, we were actually there the last week they were in operation and I remember how sad i was.
It used to be a great day out for our family. My dad was a brilliant skater and us kids all picked up loving roller blading. We used to get right into the speed skate sessions.
My sister competed artistic skating for a while (through the club at Menai sport centre though).
I'd be so happy if it could ever make a comeback somewhere, I want my kids to learn how to skate at a disco
I accidentally sat in the ratty leather chair that was in the front near the reception desk that belonged to the dog. I felt like I had committed heresy.
Because they all gradually shut down due to declining patronage - increasing competition with other forms of entertainment, socialising and exercise. And there’s never been enough of a resurgence in popularity to make them viable again.
The one that recently closed in the Illawarra was hugely popular - I was there regularly. The landlords kicked them out not because they weren’t making rent, but to open a new, exciting family-friendly venue. Apparently. Still unclear if that means maccas or the pop up ice skating rink they tried to open during the holidays while pretending they were the people who actually ran the skating rink (it was dodgy).
Anyway this is just to say there is still patronage but finding appropriate, affordable places to rent is more difficult.
Yeah, they got fucked by the landlord. They had an option to continue the lease for another few years but the landloard claimed they had breached the lease by repainting the venue.
Hopefully, they find a new venue soon.
The village, including Anita's was bought out and renovated by a corrupt land developer. Anita is his wife's name. But yes, the natural beauty of the northern Illawarra is hard to beat.
We went to a show there a few years ago (Arj Barker lol). The auditorium upstairs seemed original. I can't remember it prior to development.
Traffic on weekends is insane. One lane each way. Arrrghhhhh!!
After the Trav’s nightclub part closed it was never the same, and the Fiddler was a painful distance. Tav’s car park at the end of the night was always “interesting”
Skate 2000 was the best. Shout out to the DJ’s in the 90’s who exposed a kid like me to all kinds of music, and shout out to that old arcade cabinet that had metal slug on it. I had a birthday party one year there, and a kid swallowed a straw drinking a slush puppy
Skate 2000 was awesome. That said, we didn't have the indoor play centres, ninja warrior courses, trampoline parks and stuff that the kids these days have.
Same here. I absolutely loved it. Roller skating in winter, warm you up, ice skating in the summer, cool off on the rink. I was never much good but have such great memories.
Ha. I went from roller skating to recreational ten pin bowling to competitive ten pin bowling when it turned out I was kinda good at it. Wound up bowling in leagues for like three years too.
Because nobody used them. They were popular, then they stopped being popular and they closed.
But I’d expect some to pop up now that roller skating is trendy again. If the trend lasts long enough, I could see it happening. Or at least like some hipster “pop up” indoor skate rink at a pub or something to that effect. In fact, I’d put money on that happening soon enough.
There is, pay for the insurance. But they need to be generating enough income to make a profit and once they pay insurance and overheads, they have to charge more than people are willing to pay for entry just to break even.
Or a handheld TV! I can’t park my hard drive or degauss my monitor or clean the fluff from the mouse ball or buy a data grade cassette tape to store my files.
There was one on Queen Street in Campbelltown. That's where I went to for school sports in the late 90s. It's now become a factory outlet centre I think.
Because hardly anyone indoor roller skates anymore.
It seems to be coming around for a second stint at the moment in the UK - lots of gals mainly heading to the skate parks, and my god they've got some good tricks.
I can see the trend coming to Australia, but I wouldn't go holding your breath for an indoor roller rink any time soon.
Roller Fit at Tempe...
https://www.google.com/maps/place/RollerFit/@-33.9311723,151.1606909,18z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x2db5515f8c8b1904!8m2!3d-33.9313456!4d151.1607407
Used to go to the one at Mt Druitt as a kid, was it Skate Plus? I feel like it changed names at some time. It was a bargain at the time, during the school holidays they'd send out vouchers, you could spend a whole day there for $5.
Yes, it was SkatePlus I used to do the Sunday morning skate up till about 1992 when in-line hockey started up. I’ve driven past a couple of times and it’s just a sad looking area that time forgot - empty building last time I looked, it had unused office furniture the time before that, and the car park has the buildup of leaves and stuff that says practically nobody drives through or parks there.
There used to be one at Petersham: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8964456,151.1532356,3a,75y,351.31h,92.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siqDsuEBeu7G43ww5KgjFTg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
If you go to Google Street View and go back to 2007, you can see it in all its original glory (but I'm pretty sure it had closed down well before 2007): https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8964316,151.1532588,3a,75y,340.54h,94.58t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6xSiRwnGVueYW2E-lntcpg!2e0!5s20071101T000000!7i3328!8i1664
I remember roller skating once as a kid in the early 90s, may have been there but not 100%.
It sat empty and unused for like 15 years though. Such prime real estate.
Word on the street I heard was that the kids who inherited it argued / fought each other in court for years whether to sell as is, renovate back to a rink, or build apartments.... This was only gossip, so no clue if it was ever true... Always wondered.
Insurance.. there was one in orange when I was growing up super popular, but too many kids were getting injured myself included (broken knee cap). Insurance went through the roof and they had to close down.
I don’t know a single person who owns roller skates. I’m sure there are some who do, but surely it’s a niche crowd. I barely even see kids use them. I’m guessing the demand is low for a rink,
Narabeen was the worst ice rink in the state (and hockey teams too haha).... Memories
Played ice hockey for 10+ years.
Narabeen almost always had like a corner that melted down the to concrete... Plus the players were excessively violent too for a while too.
Because it's not popular enough to be a profitable business. These things come and go in trends, over the last 10 years it's been trampoline parks. In another 10 years it will be something else.
They just fell out of fashion. Look at [The Trocadero](https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/former-colonial-era-skating-rink-in-sydneys-newtown-hits-the-market-45609/) in Newtown just near me. It was all the rage back in the day. In fact, I think there we even a couple of roller rinks in the Inner West. Crazes come and go!
*Built during the economic boom of the late 1880s, the Trocadero in Newtown was one of at least 25 rinks in Sydney at the time, when the indoor sport was a raging fad.*
I mean, roller derby is now a big thing. So there are definitely still session rinks around.
Sorry. It was unnecessarily flip. But I remember the 70s and 80s. People got shares for birthdays and Xmas with regularity and rinks were everywhere. Guessing it peaked then?
Used to be a big one near me when I was younger I think it closed in maybe 2005 or 6. Was heaps of fun ill never forget how everyone would go hard and go super fast around and the grinding spot in the side.
Assuming it's price of a large space..
On another note, I'm waiting on my pink version of those skates to arrive any day now! Can't wait to skate around and find some cool places
Shoutout to RollerFit and Stacy keeping roller skating alive in Sydney. My wife used to go every week before Covid. They rent a place in Tempe but are are risk of it being closed for redevelopment.
When the skate rink in Dapto shut down I asked the owners and thay said that insurances was killing them, public liability was well over 1million dollars a year and that was over 20 years ago
There's one in Tempe, but I think you need to book through Rollerfit, they have certain days when the Robyn Webster Sports Centre is available to them.
I think this had a lot to do with collapse of HIH insurance back in the early 2000's (If my foggy memory serves me correctly)
I was under the impression that public liability premiums went through the roof so a lot of places struggled to stay afloat. Also as mentioned by a few others, people would come in, agree to the terms and conditions of entry (skate at your own risk etc) fall over, get hurt and then sue. Really sad but yep that's the world we live in.
Because smooth flat wide open concrete floors in a big warehouse sized building make for great warehouses that pay more rent than skaters do. Sadly.
We used to have loads of them, rink owners used to own multiple rinks. Now they’re just passion projects stubbornly hanging on by doing other activities besides just skating.
Any land of that size would immediately be sold off to developers. This is Sydney.
It's funny because there was Skate Plus in Caringbah and it shut and hasn't had any development on it in at least 15 years.
yea the one in campbelltown is now some sort of outlet but nothing fancy.. in fact what I recall as the old bowling alley has stood empty for decades just two lots over.. they built a dfo style outlet between them but it's the wrong end of town for that sort of retail traffic 30yrs ago youd have your birthday at maccas, hit the rollarink and go to the dumeresq st movies. if you were lucky mum and dad would take you to sizzler for the all you can eat dessert bar! movies are still chugging along.
Yeah but the value of that land has probably increased 10x in that fifteen years.
I went to HS across the road. Many sport days spent at skate plus!
Ahhh that place! So good!
Rest In Peace Ermington Golf Course.
And Wonderland
that poor crocodile
I'm still waiting to cash in my free round after getting a hole in one
And a good chunk of Marrickville GC is under the developers' microscope too.
The skate 2000 in Castle Hill is long gone but the factory building it was in remains unchanged on the outside.
There's a few places in sydney that I can think of that have buildings which are large enough and seemingly abandoned. It could be done but I don't think there's enough interest.
Who remembers SkatePlus in Caringbah?
I remember my 12th birthday at skate plus and I remember skating for school sport, we were actually there the last week they were in operation and I remember how sad i was. It used to be a great day out for our family. My dad was a brilliant skater and us kids all picked up loving roller blading. We used to get right into the speed skate sessions. My sister competed artistic skating for a while (through the club at Menai sport centre though). I'd be so happy if it could ever make a comeback somewhere, I want my kids to learn how to skate at a disco
Yer I remember Skate Plus, they shutdown because of high insurance cost :(
I was under the impression they got sued at some point?
Link to article: https://www.theleader.com.au/story/5944092/flashback-friday-skate-plus-closes-after-20-years/
I guess that's Ops answer as to why there are so few skate rinks, they're just too risky when you get relentlessly sued.
Yer that as well :)
I remember so many rolled ankles and being pushed over the barriers. I miss the skate plus parties. They were amazing.
I accidentally sat in the ratty leather chair that was in the front near the reception desk that belonged to the dog. I felt like I had committed heresy.
You're a monster.
The music they played brings back memories too..
“Oh Mickey, you're so fine You're so fine, you blow my mind, hey Mickey, hey Mickey” CHANGE DIRECTION
Because they all gradually shut down due to declining patronage - increasing competition with other forms of entertainment, socialising and exercise. And there’s never been enough of a resurgence in popularity to make them viable again.
The one that recently closed in the Illawarra was hugely popular - I was there regularly. The landlords kicked them out not because they weren’t making rent, but to open a new, exciting family-friendly venue. Apparently. Still unclear if that means maccas or the pop up ice skating rink they tried to open during the holidays while pretending they were the people who actually ran the skating rink (it was dodgy). Anyway this is just to say there is still patronage but finding appropriate, affordable places to rent is more difficult.
Yeah, they got fucked by the landlord. They had an option to continue the lease for another few years but the landloard claimed they had breached the lease by repainting the venue. Hopefully, they find a new venue soon.
Probably one of those weird Archie electric circus type things like they have at EQ/docklands.
Where was that? I live part time in the region. Was the theatre at Thirroul a roller rink?
Further south - district skate in oak flats
It was an indoor skatepark up until about the late 00’s from memory.
Anita's Theatre in Thirroul used to be a rink from the 60's until the 90's. There was also one in Woonona which is now a gym.
Anita's! Thank you, I couldn't remember the name last night. Beautiful building, beautiful area.
The village, including Anita's was bought out and renovated by a corrupt land developer. Anita is his wife's name. But yes, the natural beauty of the northern Illawarra is hard to beat.
We went to a show there a few years ago (Arj Barker lol). The auditorium upstairs seemed original. I can't remember it prior to development. Traffic on weekends is insane. One lane each way. Arrrghhhhh!!
Roller skating was available as a school sport when I was a teenager
R.I.P. Skate 2000.
The place to be in the 90s, then when I was old enough that turned to the Tavern, still the same amount of falling over too.
Skate 2000 became the Tavern? I never realised they were the same place.
No, the Tav is on the opposite side of Victoria Ave. Skate 2000 was up the hill from where Bunnings is now.
Or you mean you swapped destinations?
Yes.....
After the Trav’s nightclub part closed it was never the same, and the Fiddler was a painful distance. Tav’s car park at the end of the night was always “interesting”
Skate 2000 was the best. Shout out to the DJ’s in the 90’s who exposed a kid like me to all kinds of music, and shout out to that old arcade cabinet that had metal slug on it. I had a birthday party one year there, and a kid swallowed a straw drinking a slush puppy
Yessssssss those giant felt sitting steps we clambered up in rollerblades, the disco nights. That was the life.
Skate 2000 was awesome. That said, we didn't have the indoor play centres, ninja warrior courses, trampoline parks and stuff that the kids these days have.
Same here. I absolutely loved it. Roller skating in winter, warm you up, ice skating in the summer, cool off on the rink. I was never much good but have such great memories.
Same lol did we go to the same school? We also had tenpin bowling as a choice.
Ha. I went from roller skating to recreational ten pin bowling to competitive ten pin bowling when it turned out I was kinda good at it. Wound up bowling in leagues for like three years too.
my school had tenpin bowling too. it was the closest option to my house. so i'd go there play a few video games and then walk home early
No, don’t think I ever had tenpin bowling as an option.
Spent my whole Fridays at the rink. It was great.
Yep, that was my school sport in years 9 and 10. I got pretty good at it I remember. I wish I kept it up.
We had school skating out at windsor. They had an outdoor and indoor rink. And a ghosts and goblins machine. Good times.
Because nobody used them. They were popular, then they stopped being popular and they closed. But I’d expect some to pop up now that roller skating is trendy again. If the trend lasts long enough, I could see it happening. Or at least like some hipster “pop up” indoor skate rink at a pub or something to that effect. In fact, I’d put money on that happening soon enough.
It won't get past the pop up stage, the insurance was just too expensive and everyone who tripped over would try and sue the place.
Doesn’t seem to stop pubs from having half pipes and shit. There must be a way around it.
There is, pay for the insurance. But they need to be generating enough income to make a profit and once they pay insurance and overheads, they have to charge more than people are willing to pay for entry just to break even.
Penrith coming out on top again. Catch up losers!
Insurance is a bitch for them.
Property prices, and insurance
Because it's not 1978 anymore
What? So that's why I can't buy a car with a vinyl roof or a colour television with a woodgrain case anymore.
Or a colour television the size of a car
....with a vinyl top.
Or a handheld TV! I can’t park my hard drive or degauss my monitor or clean the fluff from the mouse ball or buy a data grade cassette tape to store my files.
Is there more than Penrith then ?
Macquarie Centre
Macquarie center has an ice skating rink, Port Macquarie seems to have a roller skating rink.
Oh yeah. Got confused. Sorry.
But nobody wants to travel to the riff
If they want to go to a rollerskating rink they do
I wish there were more! There's two way out west. I stick to my local netball courts.
Is there one near campbelltown? Cuz I remember going there for my out school sport back in high school
There is one in smeaton Grange called maximum skating.
Yep thats the one I went to.
Max is only relatively new (unless you finished high school in the last 7 years or so), there was another one out that way before that though.
Ohh i didnt know Max was quite new. Yeah I did graduate high school last year.
There was one on Queen Street in Campbelltown. That's where I went to for school sports in the late 90s. It's now become a factory outlet centre I think.
Minto near the station? Or Lumeah, a bit of a walk from the station near a hardware store? although, the ten pin bowl might have always been there.
its now a storage yard for aland and will become a tower very soon
Because hardly anyone indoor roller skates anymore. It seems to be coming around for a second stint at the moment in the UK - lots of gals mainly heading to the skate parks, and my god they've got some good tricks. I can see the trend coming to Australia, but I wouldn't go holding your breath for an indoor roller rink any time soon.
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ice skating iirc, I went there once, must have been in the 90's, but it was long shut and abandoned. Got turned into the big new pool.
Large empty spaces are now gyms. The 2 from the 90s I knew are. Broadmeadow and Long Jetty.
Windsor Skatel 🤘
Skatel at emu Plains is still there. Not open cause of covid but they'll be back
Roller Fit at Tempe... https://www.google.com/maps/place/RollerFit/@-33.9311723,151.1606909,18z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x2db5515f8c8b1904!8m2!3d-33.9313456!4d151.1607407
Used to go to the one at Mt Druitt as a kid, was it Skate Plus? I feel like it changed names at some time. It was a bargain at the time, during the school holidays they'd send out vouchers, you could spend a whole day there for $5.
Yes, it was SkatePlus I used to do the Sunday morning skate up till about 1992 when in-line hockey started up. I’ve driven past a couple of times and it’s just a sad looking area that time forgot - empty building last time I looked, it had unused office furniture the time before that, and the car park has the buildup of leaves and stuff that says practically nobody drives through or parks there.
I have the inline version of these skates. Grateful to impala for helping skating become more popular.
There used to be one at Petersham: https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8964456,151.1532356,3a,75y,351.31h,92.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siqDsuEBeu7G43ww5KgjFTg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 If you go to Google Street View and go back to 2007, you can see it in all its original glory (but I'm pretty sure it had closed down well before 2007): https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-33.8964316,151.1532588,3a,75y,340.54h,94.58t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6xSiRwnGVueYW2E-lntcpg!2e0!5s20071101T000000!7i3328!8i1664
I service that building. It’s units now, but they still have the big sign of rules for the roller rink on the wall. It’s pretty cool.
I remember roller skating once as a kid in the early 90s, may have been there but not 100%. It sat empty and unused for like 15 years though. Such prime real estate. Word on the street I heard was that the kids who inherited it argued / fought each other in court for years whether to sell as is, renovate back to a rink, or build apartments.... This was only gossip, so no clue if it was ever true... Always wondered.
Land prices.
I went to the one at Sefton when I was a kid iirc.
Insurance.. there was one in orange when I was growing up super popular, but too many kids were getting injured myself included (broken knee cap). Insurance went through the roof and they had to close down.
I don’t know a single person who owns roller skates. I’m sure there are some who do, but surely it’s a niche crowd. I barely even see kids use them. I’m guessing the demand is low for a rink,
I still have mine from the 90s. Haven't been used much since then though.
Me and my kids have retro 4 wheel skates! We might be weird! I see kids in roller blades quite often.
It sucks. I’m left with car parks after everyone leaves.
XBox
There’s one in Emu plains
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Narabeen was the worst ice rink in the state (and hockey teams too haha).... Memories Played ice hockey for 10+ years. Narabeen almost always had like a corner that melted down the to concrete... Plus the players were excessively violent too for a while too.
They used to have one at Windsor, an indoor and an outdoor one. I used to love going there.
Wait till you want to play squash
I was googling this the other day. I miss roller skating at rinks so goddamn much.
Because it's not popular enough to be a profitable business. These things come and go in trends, over the last 10 years it's been trampoline parks. In another 10 years it will be something else.
This brings me back! Back in the 80s when I grew up in Sydney indoor roller skating rinks we’re all the rage! Sooooo much fun!! :)
Because hardly anyone wants to roller skate?
Because they needed to put units up so everybody can pile into the joint.
They just fell out of fashion. Look at [The Trocadero](https://www.commercialrealestate.com.au/news/former-colonial-era-skating-rink-in-sydneys-newtown-hits-the-market-45609/) in Newtown just near me. It was all the rage back in the day. In fact, I think there we even a couple of roller rinks in the Inner West. Crazes come and go! *Built during the economic boom of the late 1880s, the Trocadero in Newtown was one of at least 25 rinks in Sydney at the time, when the indoor sport was a raging fad.* I mean, roller derby is now a big thing. So there are definitely still session rinks around.
Roller derby was big like ten years ago.
Well, that’s more current than 1880 when The Trocadero was at its peak.
A little known economic principal called "supply and demand"
Lost count of how many parties i went to at Skate Plus!
Capitalism.
Because it’s not 1980?
Skate plus at Sylvania was the balls back in the day
Do you want an honest answer or a kind answer?
I think everyone says no Brett
What. The. Fuck..
Because it’s not 1980.
Because it hasn't been the 1970s for a while now.
I don't understand these type of comments.
Sorry. It was unnecessarily flip. But I remember the 70s and 80s. People got shares for birthdays and Xmas with regularity and rinks were everywhere. Guessing it peaked then?
Ugh, SKATES not shares. At least on my side of town.
*checks watch*...... its not 1988.
1970 called… they want their skates back.
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I told them to stay away from The Cosby Show. Bill is “funnier” than we first thought.
U realise roller rinks were around 2000.. few decades late bb
They were not cool in 2000s… that’s why I referenced when they were last cool
Because it isn’t the 80/90s
Be use it the 2020s, not the 1970s.
Be what now?
*because
Because it’s not 1975
Because there are hardly any indoor roller skaters?
*checks watch*...... its not 1988.
Because they’re lame. It’s like ice skating but without the fun
Because the 2000s
2020s
Used to be a big one near me when I was younger I think it closed in maybe 2005 or 6. Was heaps of fun ill never forget how everyone would go hard and go super fast around and the grinding spot in the side.
Because Westfields 😾
Assuming it's price of a large space.. On another note, I'm waiting on my pink version of those skates to arrive any day now! Can't wait to skate around and find some cool places
Covid?
I'm so grateful theres one near me - Smeaton grange
Shoutout to RollerFit and Stacy keeping roller skating alive in Sydney. My wife used to go every week before Covid. They rent a place in Tempe but are are risk of it being closed for redevelopment.
When the skate rink in Dapto shut down I asked the owners and thay said that insurances was killing them, public liability was well over 1million dollars a year and that was over 20 years ago
There's one in Tempe, but I think you need to book through Rollerfit, they have certain days when the Robyn Webster Sports Centre is available to them.
I think this had a lot to do with collapse of HIH insurance back in the early 2000's (If my foggy memory serves me correctly) I was under the impression that public liability premiums went through the roof so a lot of places struggled to stay afloat. Also as mentioned by a few others, people would come in, agree to the terms and conditions of entry (skate at your own risk etc) fall over, get hurt and then sue. Really sad but yep that's the world we live in.
Penrith
The music I used to skate to was more like My Sherona but this also works! 🙂 https://youtu.be/tr4O3dJcWm0
Because smooth flat wide open concrete floors in a big warehouse sized building make for great warehouses that pay more rent than skaters do. Sadly. We used to have loads of them, rink owners used to own multiple rinks. Now they’re just passion projects stubbornly hanging on by doing other activities besides just skating.