LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. Source: Time Leader.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. Source: Times Leader.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. Showing the section of former rink. You can see the large open space which was a roller rink. It appeared small. Source: Google.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. This explains where the rink was and the bowling alley was. Source: Google.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. The old sign for the bowling alley. Source: JP Videos/YouTube. © Copyrighted Digitally Remastered by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. (Photo brightened, sharper, and more color).
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. The illustration of roofline before the fire. Source: Mark Falso/FALSO CREATIVITY/Dead-Rinks. © Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. Abandoned bowling pins Photo still capture. Source: JP Videos/YouTube.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. The back wall was where the roller rink was. I believe that big thing was a stair or elevator. Photo still capture. Source: JP Videos/YouTube.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA. Source: JP Videos/YouTube. Music source: "Keep It In The Family" by Hybrid.
LS Skate-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA
LS Bowl-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA
LS Bowl-A-Rama Walnut & Washington St., Nanticoke, PA
LS Skate-A-Rama and LS Bowl-A-Rama were at Walnut and Washington St., Nanticoke, Pennsylvania. The former dual business entertainment center was around for a long time until it was abandoned and burned down and it took forever for the town to demolish it at a tune of a half Million Dollars because of the asbestos and had to be taken down with care rather than a wrecking ball type of tear down.
Consider the fact the building was quite old. They finally closed the book on this history was in June 2022 to tear down this complex after a few delays.
About the address. I received the address as it says but Google showed it was the rear building of the complex. The address should read as this: 198 East Washington Street because that is where the front door was. But the bowling was at 900 South Prospect Street. The reason for the two addresses is because they both had two separate entry and faced separately from each other. They were inaccessbile from each other. According to the bird view on Google, the bowling section had longer building than the roller rink. You see the photo above.
The history to the building was longer than the entertainment segment was housed there. it was a factory at one time then it became a warehouse then the skating-bowling complex. It was a silk mill factory and later a warehouse for something.
Then in 1974, the Ellis Family bought the old factory building and turned into both bowling and roller rink in entire building. The bowling section was bigger than the rink section. The bowling section had AMF bowling equipment.
But in 1991 they had a fire that destroyed the roller rink on that side of the building and the bowling section was spared and continued to operate until they closed in 2007.
Then the dark history began from that point on. The Ellis Family abandoned the roller rink and it became a multi-state drug operation center where they grew 1,151 Cannabis plants that are made into Marijuana as an illegal drug. They had artificial sunlight lamps and grew the plants. But on 20th of November 2009, the police and the Feds had an outstanding warrant to raid into the secret Cannabis farm in the former bowling alley. The law enforcements officers arrested every single person involving this case. 1,151 plants seized along with 3 pounds already processed drug and 100,000 USD in cash. All as evidences for court. They were sentenced to prison.
Because of all this, It was still abandoned and the place was in total mess. collapsing roof, fallen pink fiberglass installations from the ceiling, papers all over, damaged floors, much black mold, dew, puddles, and more. It was pretty much destroyed like a tornado went through inside. I do not know the fate of the Maple floor for the bowling if it was there or was it removed. I did not see any bowling balls or a lot of pins but about a less dozen pins according to the video I saw.
It was quite a different show with the former rink that it did look very much like an old Roman Ruin with pillars still standing and walls but no roof. It was a modern interpretation of the former. Quite literally. I can see that the roof was completely gone. It was hard to tell with pictures like that and seen no pictures of the way it was like.
Having said, I looked into old USGS photos and it surprised me that it had Gabled Roof and a Flat Roof for the skating area. Half of the entire skating rink section had Gabled and I believe that is where the roller rink was. The other half with Flatted Roof was for concessions, admission, eating area, and bathrooms, etc.
Anyone can tell me if the rink was actually on that ground floor or was it above those pillars? I mean was it on the 2nd floor? The remaining tower-like buildings were likely stairs and elevators because they were designed to be fireproof. They were still standing after that 1991 fire. One of the towers showed the outline of the Gabled roof and I saw how high it was above where the old walls still stood making me think was the rink really upstairs? Anyone can correct this?
The reason I said this is because I saw how close those pillars were and I said, "Too tight to be a rink there!" They must have had a small rink on one area right by the old bowling center was. That was the largest open space without any pillars/columns/posts were in that building. Still, quite small. See photo for description.
Also see my sketches for the roofline.
The history after the drug bust? It went into tax auction and it was sold several times but no progress on each and finally they said in 2016 to be demolished but according to Google Maps, it was still standing and finally in 2022! Just in June 2022, they are demolishing the former factory building! About time.
The Interior.
LS Skate-A-Rama: The interior was unknown. Even the rink floor material is unknown. Anyone know, please fill in.
LS Bowl-A-Rama: The interior had AMF brand equipment and the number of lanes is unknown. Anyone? The bowling section was quite bigger than the roller rink part. This is when the silk mill factory section was while the rink was where the offices were.
The Exterior.
LS Skate-A-Rama: This section was originally where the offices were because of the roofline which made perfect sense it was where the offices were. Flatted and Gabled roof area along with many close pillars/posts/columns were. They had nicer area where the doors were. Compared to the rear which was actually originally the back where the bowling section was with Seesaw or Saw Mill Roof design. Roofs are easy to give away what kind of section it was for the original factory company was and later as roller rink and bowling alley. All Dark Red Bricks. A classic Seesaw Roof factory that every architect student should be aware of the architectural history for manufacturing plants. The original River Rouge owned by Ford Motor Company has a version of a roof design. The new one is two story Big Box style factory building popular F-150 pickup trucks. (F-250s to F-550s are manufactured in Kentucky).
LS Bowl-A-Rama: See LS Skate-A-Rama.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: ~ 122,000 SF (overall) Built: N/A. Renovations: N/A. Demolished: Fire October 1991, finally razed June 2020 (after abandonment and delay due to legality and technically of government and auction and other matters).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Brick - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Sawmill Roof (bowling section), Unknown (roller rink section).
Acres: ~ 1.6000 AC.
Organ: N/A. (I doubt they had one).
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: Number unknown. Brand: AMF
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1974 to October 1991 (bowling till November 2007).
LS Skate-A-Rama: 1974 to October 1991
LS Bowl-A-Rama: 1974 to November 2007.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
LS Skate-A-Rama: Destroyed by fire October 1991.
LS Bowl-A-Rama: N/A. (was it tax related?)
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos/articles. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Dead-Rinks. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Facebook - The Forgotten Places of NEPA/
WNEP - 1.1 Million Dollars funds to demolish rink-bowling building.
Time Leader - Tax Auction.
Times Leader - Building to be demolished.
Times Leader - Building still standing in 2016!
FOX56 - Sold at auction.
Date of issue: 23 July 2022.
For office use only: 8/1.
Worth to visit:
None. Demolished.
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on Dead-Rinks are not the property of Dead-Rinks therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.
Consider the fact the building was quite old. They finally closed the book on this history was in June 2022 to tear down this complex after a few delays.
About the address. I received the address as it says but Google showed it was the rear building of the complex. The address should read as this: 198 East Washington Street because that is where the front door was. But the bowling was at 900 South Prospect Street. The reason for the two addresses is because they both had two separate entry and faced separately from each other. They were inaccessbile from each other. According to the bird view on Google, the bowling section had longer building than the roller rink. You see the photo above.
The history to the building was longer than the entertainment segment was housed there. it was a factory at one time then it became a warehouse then the skating-bowling complex. It was a silk mill factory and later a warehouse for something.
Then in 1974, the Ellis Family bought the old factory building and turned into both bowling and roller rink in entire building. The bowling section was bigger than the rink section. The bowling section had AMF bowling equipment.
But in 1991 they had a fire that destroyed the roller rink on that side of the building and the bowling section was spared and continued to operate until they closed in 2007.
Then the dark history began from that point on. The Ellis Family abandoned the roller rink and it became a multi-state drug operation center where they grew 1,151 Cannabis plants that are made into Marijuana as an illegal drug. They had artificial sunlight lamps and grew the plants. But on 20th of November 2009, the police and the Feds had an outstanding warrant to raid into the secret Cannabis farm in the former bowling alley. The law enforcements officers arrested every single person involving this case. 1,151 plants seized along with 3 pounds already processed drug and 100,000 USD in cash. All as evidences for court. They were sentenced to prison.
Because of all this, It was still abandoned and the place was in total mess. collapsing roof, fallen pink fiberglass installations from the ceiling, papers all over, damaged floors, much black mold, dew, puddles, and more. It was pretty much destroyed like a tornado went through inside. I do not know the fate of the Maple floor for the bowling if it was there or was it removed. I did not see any bowling balls or a lot of pins but about a less dozen pins according to the video I saw.
It was quite a different show with the former rink that it did look very much like an old Roman Ruin with pillars still standing and walls but no roof. It was a modern interpretation of the former. Quite literally. I can see that the roof was completely gone. It was hard to tell with pictures like that and seen no pictures of the way it was like.
Having said, I looked into old USGS photos and it surprised me that it had Gabled Roof and a Flat Roof for the skating area. Half of the entire skating rink section had Gabled and I believe that is where the roller rink was. The other half with Flatted Roof was for concessions, admission, eating area, and bathrooms, etc.
Anyone can tell me if the rink was actually on that ground floor or was it above those pillars? I mean was it on the 2nd floor? The remaining tower-like buildings were likely stairs and elevators because they were designed to be fireproof. They were still standing after that 1991 fire. One of the towers showed the outline of the Gabled roof and I saw how high it was above where the old walls still stood making me think was the rink really upstairs? Anyone can correct this?
The reason I said this is because I saw how close those pillars were and I said, "Too tight to be a rink there!" They must have had a small rink on one area right by the old bowling center was. That was the largest open space without any pillars/columns/posts were in that building. Still, quite small. See photo for description.
Also see my sketches for the roofline.
The history after the drug bust? It went into tax auction and it was sold several times but no progress on each and finally they said in 2016 to be demolished but according to Google Maps, it was still standing and finally in 2022! Just in June 2022, they are demolishing the former factory building! About time.
The Interior.
LS Skate-A-Rama: The interior was unknown. Even the rink floor material is unknown. Anyone know, please fill in.
LS Bowl-A-Rama: The interior had AMF brand equipment and the number of lanes is unknown. Anyone? The bowling section was quite bigger than the roller rink part. This is when the silk mill factory section was while the rink was where the offices were.
The Exterior.
LS Skate-A-Rama: This section was originally where the offices were because of the roofline which made perfect sense it was where the offices were. Flatted and Gabled roof area along with many close pillars/posts/columns were. They had nicer area where the doors were. Compared to the rear which was actually originally the back where the bowling section was with Seesaw or Saw Mill Roof design. Roofs are easy to give away what kind of section it was for the original factory company was and later as roller rink and bowling alley. All Dark Red Bricks. A classic Seesaw Roof factory that every architect student should be aware of the architectural history for manufacturing plants. The original River Rouge owned by Ford Motor Company has a version of a roof design. The new one is two story Big Box style factory building popular F-150 pickup trucks. (F-250s to F-550s are manufactured in Kentucky).
LS Bowl-A-Rama: See LS Skate-A-Rama.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: ~ 122,000 SF (overall) Built: N/A. Renovations: N/A. Demolished: Fire October 1991, finally razed June 2020 (after abandonment and delay due to legality and technically of government and auction and other matters).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Brick - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Sawmill Roof (bowling section), Unknown (roller rink section).
Acres: ~ 1.6000 AC.
Organ: N/A. (I doubt they had one).
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: Number unknown. Brand: AMF
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1974 to October 1991 (bowling till November 2007).
LS Skate-A-Rama: 1974 to October 1991
LS Bowl-A-Rama: 1974 to November 2007.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
LS Skate-A-Rama: Destroyed by fire October 1991.
LS Bowl-A-Rama: N/A. (was it tax related?)
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos/articles. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Dead-Rinks. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Facebook - The Forgotten Places of NEPA/
WNEP - 1.1 Million Dollars funds to demolish rink-bowling building.
Time Leader - Tax Auction.
Times Leader - Building to be demolished.
Times Leader - Building still standing in 2016!
FOX56 - Sold at auction.
Date of issue: 23 July 2022.
For office use only: 8/1.
Worth to visit:
None. Demolished.
DISCLAIMER:
Dead-Rinks and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on Dead-Rinks are not the property of Dead-Rinks therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.