Roller skating to return
Tuesday, August 10th, 1999

A decade since the last one closed, new rink will open
Owning and operating roller rinks is a real family affair with the Englund family.
Three generations of the family have played a role in the development of a roller rink slated to open in Burlington next month.
“We have always wanted to have a (skating) center in Skagit County,” said Gary Englund, who along with his wife, Karen, owns and operates a roller rink in Centralia. “There are a number of skaters in the area, and several of them have asked us when we’re opening.”
Skagit Skate, which is located behind Fred Meyer on Sluth Spruce Street, will open in mid- to late September, Englund said. The 20,500-square-foot skating center is only a few blocks from the site of Roller Frolic, Burlington’s last skating center, which closed 10 years ago. Since then, Skagit County skating aficionados have had to go to rinks in Marysville or Lynden.

All in the family
Roller skating has been a part of the Englund family for 40 years.
Gary Englund’s grandfather opened a roller rink at Redondo Beach near Federal Way in the late 1950s. Englund’s father, Eric, has owned and operated a rink in Everett for 30 years. Other family members run rinks in Spokane, Federal Way, Puyallup and Spanaway.
“When I was a kid, my mom told me never to go near the roller rink (in Everett) because of the bad element there,” Karen Englund said.
But curiosity got the better of her, and she walked into the rink.
For the past nine years Gary and Karen Englund have owned and operated a turn-of-the-century roller rink and former dance hall in downtown Centralia.
The Englunds’ three sons – Alex, 21, Adam, 19 and Josh, 17 – began skating shortly after they took their first steps. The three have been active with roller hockey, and josh has been invited to join a Team USA (corrected) team, Gary said.
They put the Centralia Rollerdrome up for sale last October in preparation of opening a new rink in Burlington. The couple will own and operate Skagit Skate after closing the sale of their rink in Centralia, Gary said.
“We have a prospective buyer who is working on the financing of the deal,” he said. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed.”
Last week, Alex, Adam and their grandfather were working on the interior of the skating center. The elder Englund has served as general contractor on the construction project.
“This is going to be a nice rink with a hardwood maple floor,” he said.
Skagit Skate will conform with the American’s Disabilities Act by having built in ramps for wheelchair access, Eric said.
“We’re probably the only rink I know of with a step-down floor that is handicap accessible,” he said.

The New world of skating
The days of placing a mirrored ball over the maple hardwood and calling it a good are over. This is not your parents’ (or grandparents’) roller rinks. Modern skating centers have additional lighting, special effects, larger arcade rooms and in-line skaters.
“The popularity of in-line skates has revolutionized the skating industry,” Eric said.
“Ninety percent of kids have in-line skates and that’s really boosted business.”
The first roller skates were an adaptation of ice skates and were used for transportation rather than sport.
The first recognized inventor of roller skates was a Belgian manufacturer named Joseph Merlin. He produced the first roller skates with metal wheels in 1760.
Merlin presented his invention in London at a formal ball and roller across the floor playing and expensive violin. The story is told that because his skates were unable to be turned or stopped, he glided gracefully into a huge mirror.
A century later, in 1863, James Plimpton solved the problem of controlling skates. Plimpton’s skates used a rubber cushion to anchor the axles. This cushion would compress when the body was leaned, enabling the wheels of the skates to turn slightly when the skater shifted his weight. His design is considered the basis for the modern roller skate.
He opened a number of rinks across the United Skates and Europe, Plimpton envisioned roller skating as a pastime for the rich alone. But soon after his patents expired, cheaper imitations flooded the market and skating became popular with all classes.
Organized roller skating sports developed as the popularity of roller skating increased in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first World Speed Championships were held in Italy in 1937. The same year the first U.S. Roller Skating Championships were held in Detroit.

Looking forward to rink
Nola Bowdridge, 62, of Burlington recently won in the 55-and-older category in the U.S. Roller Skating Championships in Syracuse, N.Y.
For 20 years, until it closed, Bowdridge worked at Roller Frolic. Since then, she travels three times a week to a roller rink in Marysville.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said of the opening of Skagit Skate. “Now I won’t have to drive so far to practice.