Hanging up his skates; 35 years of memories hit auction block
By Bill Lawson/Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 8:22 AM CDT
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| Owner Kurt Wall is ready to hang up his skating shoes, at least in Sherwood. (Bill Lawson) |
When Skate Connection goes up for auction next week, with it will go nearly 35 years of memories from today’s teens and those who were teens during the past four decades.
Teens from North Little Rock, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot, Maumelle and Little Rock spent a lot of church outings, weekends and birthday parties at the rink, learning how to skate and date. In fact, for some it was the first place they ever held hands rolling around the hardwood floor to their favorite tune of the day.
Many teenagers had their first kiss at this historic site, and maybe their first heartbreak when the apple of their eye skated off with someone else.
A lot of teens spent many hours at the rink, enjoying good, clean fun.
Between the nearby Sherwood Police Department, who kept a close eye on the place, diligent management and prying parents, the skating rink was, for the most part, void of the normal teen alcohol and drug pressures faced by some in those years, owner Kurt Wall said.
As he walked around the rink last week during a day the rink was closed, it was obvious that Wall has mixed emotions about selling something with all that history and that also has been a part of his family’s life.
“It’s just time to sell,” he said.
That’s why he contacted Wilson Auctioneers and scheduled the absolute auction at 10 a.m. Oct. 20, he said.
Absolute means there is no reserve price, Wall said. He said he would sell the building and the land for whatever it brings that day, but with a prime piece of real estate in a growing city, he expects to do well.
But the successful bidders will have first option to buy several of the business’ items, like skates, walkers that double as skate trainers, the floor itself, furniture and some of the items inside, he said. Most of the electronic games that some teenagers spent more time on than skating already have been sold, he said.
He said he has inquiries from other skating facilities around the country who are interested in those items.
A prime piece of real estate located on the north side of the street at 2913 E. Kiehl Ave., the site includes a 17,000-square-foot concrete block building on 1.24 acres zoned C-3, a popular commercial designation in a high-traffic, high-visibility part of one of the state’s fastest-growing cities.
Jones said the business did have a laser tag game, but that’s already been sold. It does have one of the best disc-jockey-style sound systems in the country with disco lighting, four complete sets of skates only a few years old that normally last 30 years he said.
They even let the smaller 3- or 4-year-old kids bring bikes out to ride on the skate floor, Jones said.
For New Year’s Eve skates, the average attendance was around 500 students, as their parents went out to celebrate the new year, Wall said. He said it was sort of like baby-sitting, but he had plenty of adult help.
The rink also has been the reward that many local schools offered to students who made A’s in school, such as Lakewood Junior High School, which recently brought 343 students out for a good-grades party.
During the busy season, the rink handled 31 schools within a 22-day period, he said.
Since 1977, Wall said he estimates that most of today’s parents and teens have spent countless hours hanging out at the facility.
Many also learned how to play their favorite electronic game there, but many more learned about the opposite sex in a good, wholesome atmosphere, he said.
They don’t make skate floors like the one at this rink any more, Wall said. If the purchaser of the building and real estate doesn’t take that first option on the floor, he has someone lined up to come in and saw it up, and ship it to other locations in the New York area.
Skate Connection will be open for the last time on Oct. 29, Wall said. Even though its after the auction, he noted that it normally takes at least 30 days to close a real estate sale.
One of the highlights of that last opportunity for Central Arkansas residents to skate there one last time and relive a few good memories, is a limbo contest. Jones said one of his regular customers, a Sherwood girl, has been coming in practicing her limbo dance.
“She can get down underneath the limbo marker when it’s set at 10 inches,” he said. “She’s pretty much a lock. I’ve never seen anyone else who can get down that low and maneuver underneath the pole.”
It’s OK to feel nostalgic for Wall’s skating rink in Sherwood, but he said no one should feel sorry for him. He said he helped build about 200 similar skate parks around the country.
