The best thing about this roller-skating rink is the wood floor. The sound system is pretty good for the music but the DJ was hard to understand. Taking a break during the skating session for the National Anthem was a nice touch. The air hockey table in the arcade area was fun.
I've been to many different skating rinks but this was the first time that I've encountered one that didn't have carpet at the skate counter, snackbar, arcade and seating areas. When you look at the cement floor you can see the old glue spots where there used to be carpet. It's pretty hard to navigate on the cement, while you're wearing skates. The cement isn't that great for indoor wheels either because it will wear the tread down faster.
The staff doesn't enforce basic safety rules. So many of the kids were skating while looking at their cell phones, instead of looking where they are going. Kids and adults are allowed to sit on the wall with their legs hanging over into the skating area. They swing their legs and arms back and forth out into the traffic area of skaters. Skaters would come to a dead stop on the skating floor, to talk to their friends, who were sitting on the wall. When I pointed out the safety hazard to an adult employee, they refused to move people off of the wall, however, they did have a staff member, who was on their shoes, move the people along who were just standing around. A few minutes later there were people loitering on the skating floor again. The rink needs to have a floorguard on the skating floor, enforcing safety rules, at all times during busy sessions and when there is no floorguard, the DJ needs to perform floorguard duty as well. I used to be a DJ at a skating rink so I know that during slower sessions, it's very feasable for the DJ to perform both functions, with skates on so that they can go out on the floor, when there's not a transition between songs.
The religious propaganda projected onto the walls is not desirable for a public venue and should be saved for church and personal space. There was also a religious song played during the session. It would be better to have a Christian Music Night for that sort of thing and keep the religious themes out of the regular public sessions.
The rink is missing a pro shop. When I inquired about buying some skates, I had to wait a long time for a knowledgeable staff member to come and talk to me, in the seating area.
There was no speed skate and there are some classic games that are missing (Four Corners, Red Light Green Light, Shoot the Duck, Simon Says, The Hokey Pokey, to name a few).
Even though this roller-skating rink is close to me, I will be looking to visit ones that may be a bit out of my way, for a better skating experience. I would prefer to support a local business, but this rink needs to step up their game first. read more