Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Source: eBay.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Sorry for quality of poor photo and it was zoomed bigger because their photo on their page is too small plus that website is a very late 1990s look. Source: Big Wheels Skateland page.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Taken in 2011. Hard to see sign but that has to be a church name on the wall. Source: Google.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Taken in 2018. Indoor sports center. Source: Google.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Taken in 2019. As a indoor sports center. Source: Google.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. .From top to above: The exterior of the rink. Blurred picture. Again, sorry for the picture. Anyway, next photo showed M.G. with a friend in the front office. It is hard to see beyond that glass for you to see what the rest of the place was like. I can see clearly one row of lights. I think that is Christmas decoration by the ceiling. It is hard to see for you. Sorry again. Source: M.G. Photo collection.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Snack bar area. Compare to next photo below. M.G. said it was not much differences on changes. I had to laugh to see that in B/W photo a girl screaming on the right and the other guy approaching her. What that was all about? Haha. M.G. said they all had to tell a story and their accidents. Were there any happy accidents? Wink. Source: M.G. Photo collection.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Snack bar area. Yes, there was ONE happy accident! The same couple hugged! I can see the guy's eye were looking at the camera. Uh oh! He was not looking at his girlfriend. He was looking at M.G.! Tsk tsk! Wink. Source: M.G. Photo collection.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Glad to see her she is okay after she fell down on her butt. But.. no skates on. I see that same guy in the background as the previous photo above. How? Look at his clip in his pocket. Where is his girl? She dumped him because of his eyes were on M.G.? Just kidding! Source: M.G. Photo collection.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Oh that gorgeous woman with dark hair was biting her nail? Please don't! You are.. (shaking head "yes" with a big smile) What you got there, lady in stripes? Source: M.G. Photo collection.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Haha. Very funny. The photo is self explanatory. I rested my case. Haha. Source: M.G. Photo collection. Note: I add some humor to this.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX. Still operational website that has NOT changed its look! Still struck since October 20, 1997! Yes, 714 times people seen this site since. Sad! I counted myself as 714th person but also 712th and 711th when I was looking at it the previous day before making this profile today (September 18, 2020). Update: now I am the 878th visitor on 27 January 2022. Link for this site is below. Source: Big Wheel Skateland website.
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, TX
Big Wheel Skateland 1118 California Lane, Arlington, Texas was a rink for a time and there was a good reason for naming that rink was, according to a skating fan, the largest rink in Dallas-Forth Worth Metro. By the look of the exterior photos, indeed it appeared to be very big facility. It was designed for several different roller skating functions including artistic, speed, and hockey.
But J.K. said otherwise, it was not the largest. Texas Skatium in Mesquite was considerably larger than Big Wheel. (According to J.K.'s email)
This gem was behind some storage facilities away from the main road.
When the rink closed in 1990s, it became a church which later they relocated to a nicer newer facility and they also have daughter churches in Texas. Praise God.
Now, it is an indoor football (soccer) facility. What interesting about this rink is that the paint job remains the same colors! Well, almost!
And the interior remains the same open space that housed once as a rink, an auditorium for church, and now football. What is next? Hopefully returns back to skating rink!
Since this rink was well known for several purposes including Artistic, Speed, and Roller Hockey, one to know that the Late Bubba Hamilton was a well known skating coach who produced many national champions coached at this rink as well as other rinks. His Obituary is located here.
Yes, he was even in my hometown for the Nationals at the Onondaga County War Memorial in 1995. And yes, the photo of him is in the Obituary memorial page. You know that I missed the Nationals? I was going to go a certain day and something bad incident to me that I could not go. I had to work other days and that was my day off! I always wanted to go to a Nationals! Oh well. They were in Syracuse and I missed it! Oh well.
UPDATE!
I received an email from a former employee who worked at this rink and she provided the photos but it was more about the skaters than the rink but that was all she provided. I am still seeking for anyone who has photos of the interior and better exterior at the time. Here what M.G. has to say --
My only pictures of Big Wheel skating rink in 1993 and 1994. It was my first job at age 16 and 17. Unfortunately, the pictures are in black and white because it was a photography class assignment where I had the Big Wheel employees tell a story... apparently it had to do with accidents lol
But I do have one picture in color where we were in the front-office. That built on attachment. there was where all the kids lined up in a curved line (like at a bank) with their skates waiting for the sliding glass window to open (there is one in the picture facing the snack bar area but there was another one facing the entry way) to pay to get in. I was a snack bar girl, so it was my job to collect all the birthday cakes in this line of people. I can still see the characters on the cakes (Aladdin was a popular one) in my head.
I also put up the snack bar picture next to the snack bar picture at the now soccer arena. It’s very similar with a few changes like, before it was a mirror back ground and the place definitely did not have red trim everywhere.
I bought my first K2s during this time and all us employees would hang out until the sun came up. I still fantasize about being able to skate in a rink all to myself. (I have skated myself alone on a rink a couple of times... in the dark overnight like 2 or 3 in the morning after I finished cleaning the place up after a session during one week night. But never with someone special alone. Oh well. I had a girlfriend at the but she did not know how to skate and didn't want to be up late. I was like huh? If I knew you, I would have invited you, M.G. Skating alone on a rink was one of my bucket list done. CHECK!)
It was mostly the older woman owner who would come in to check on the place.
Good times! The flooring was wood and it had a tall DJ booth that sat up high where kids couldn’t get to him. I can still see them screaming up high to play a certain song. At that time, the old lady owner did not allow females to be DJs or the person skating around keeping an eye on kids. I was frustrated by that.
Thanks for your webpage!!!
Thank you M.G. Awesome pictures and email!
UPDATE AGAIN! - (27 January 2022).
I received an email to fill in some gap I have for this rink. here is what JK has to say. My comments are in parenthesis.
Saw your post about Big Wheel and wanted to fill in some of the knowledge gaps. I worked there almost up until it closed.
It was owned by a man named Luther who owned several other rinks in DFW. Big Wheel was built in the mid 70’s and I don’t believe it was ever the largest rink in the DFW area. Several other rinks almost identical to Big Wheel were built around the same time. Redbird in Duncanville, Forum in Grand Prairie, Josey Skateland in Carrollton, Interskate in Lewisville….these almost could have been franchises. If you drive by them today, almost all of these look just like Big Wheel on the outside. (Perhaps they were owned by Luther because many rink operators do owned many rinks themselves and often they have similar architectural features or design very similar -- My own opinion For sample, Skate Country of AZ has quite a bit with the exact same design. More common if you need more clearly, look at Burger King, McDonalds, Long John Silver, and the old Arby's with the Chuckwagon look)
Luther (Bernstein), the owner, had leased the rink out to other operators through the years and he finally leased it to a group, in 1998, who turned it in to a roller hockey rink. This is when the entrance was moved to the front of the building, along with significant other renovations. The hockey rink lasted a few years, then the owner finally sold outright to the church, then the church sold to the soccer group. (Likely Luther Bernstein was the owner J.K. was talking about because the same owner owned Josey Skateland)
I am almost positive the original wood floor is still under the soccer field. Other than that, the inside doesn’t resemble what it did when it was a skating rink. I would say it’s almost unrecognizable.
To address the “largest rink” question, Texas Skatium in Mesquite was considerably larger than Big Wheel. In the mid 90’s, Arlington Skatium was built just a few miles down the road from Big Wheel. Arlington Skatium was enormous, well lit, clean and brand new. That is what spelled the end for Big Wheel.
If you want more info, let me know. I know a lot about this place.
JK
From roller rink to roller hockey, then church, then indoor field.
The Interior.
The roller rink floor was Maple wood according to M.G. She said it was wood. The skate rental had a sliding window and kids and other adults waiting to get their skate rentals. They had a line curved at at a bank to get their skates.
According to JK, JK said the wood floor was covered for the indoor soccer field. But the interior right now is almost unrecognizable. Totally renovated.
The Exterior.
Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building with extended Gable roof. It has Blue paint on Steel sheets wrap around by the roofline. The rest are Cinder-blocks. The exterior wall where the blocks are were in Baby Blue color but after the rink closed, the church painted that part in White. The owner of the football has the paint remained the same. It is like a memorial to the rink. It was well known rink that it was the largest in the metroplex.
However, there was a major change as you can see in the photo. Originally, the rink had main doors on the side corner of the rink. It was an extension. After the rink was sold, the church bought it and renovated to move their front door to the front end of the building, in the middle. Again see photos above. It does look better there than that extension which was no match to the rest of the building. Shingles does not match and not comparable to the Steel sheet walls. They could have had that look. By seeing that color photo and the vehicle. It looks like 1970s or 1980s. Having said, the concept having Sheet metal as roof was almost unheard in the US compared to foreign countries that they use it very common. Shingles. I am shaking my head because it does not look good with it. But understandable. Most rinks built in 1960s to 1980s had that look. Even stores, banks, garages / auto repairs shops, auto dealerships, and more. Very common in 1970s. Even schools (Perfect example - NYSSD in Rome, NY dormitories (PDF) has that roof full of shingles. The article in that link showed the photo of the dormitory with those shingles. Like McDs has)
It does look okay and understandable the need to have that extension of the building.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 23,000 SF. Built: Mid-1970s. Renovated: 1998 to relocate front door from side corner to front for Roller Hockey Rink layout. Demolished: Still standing. Now an indoor football (soccer) facility.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled and Cinder-Block Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 1.4970 Acres.
Operated: Mid-1970s to early 2000s.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Wanted: Information regarding better photos, both interior and exterior, exact dates of open and closed, why closed? Size of rink, floor material? Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
A skating Fan D.S.
Loop Net,
Big Wheel Skateland memorial website, PDF. If you check PDF, you would not be counted!
Email (17 July 2021) from M.G.
Email (27 January 2022) from JK.
Big Wheel Skateland website - All Star Skate.
Date of issue: 2020. Update: 17 July 2021. Update again: 27 January 2022.
For Office Only: 12.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.
But J.K. said otherwise, it was not the largest. Texas Skatium in Mesquite was considerably larger than Big Wheel. (According to J.K.'s email)
This gem was behind some storage facilities away from the main road.
When the rink closed in 1990s, it became a church which later they relocated to a nicer newer facility and they also have daughter churches in Texas. Praise God.
Now, it is an indoor football (soccer) facility. What interesting about this rink is that the paint job remains the same colors! Well, almost!
And the interior remains the same open space that housed once as a rink, an auditorium for church, and now football. What is next? Hopefully returns back to skating rink!
Since this rink was well known for several purposes including Artistic, Speed, and Roller Hockey, one to know that the Late Bubba Hamilton was a well known skating coach who produced many national champions coached at this rink as well as other rinks. His Obituary is located here.
Yes, he was even in my hometown for the Nationals at the Onondaga County War Memorial in 1995. And yes, the photo of him is in the Obituary memorial page. You know that I missed the Nationals? I was going to go a certain day and something bad incident to me that I could not go. I had to work other days and that was my day off! I always wanted to go to a Nationals! Oh well. They were in Syracuse and I missed it! Oh well.
UPDATE!
I received an email from a former employee who worked at this rink and she provided the photos but it was more about the skaters than the rink but that was all she provided. I am still seeking for anyone who has photos of the interior and better exterior at the time. Here what M.G. has to say --
My only pictures of Big Wheel skating rink in 1993 and 1994. It was my first job at age 16 and 17. Unfortunately, the pictures are in black and white because it was a photography class assignment where I had the Big Wheel employees tell a story... apparently it had to do with accidents lol
But I do have one picture in color where we were in the front-office. That built on attachment. there was where all the kids lined up in a curved line (like at a bank) with their skates waiting for the sliding glass window to open (there is one in the picture facing the snack bar area but there was another one facing the entry way) to pay to get in. I was a snack bar girl, so it was my job to collect all the birthday cakes in this line of people. I can still see the characters on the cakes (Aladdin was a popular one) in my head.
I also put up the snack bar picture next to the snack bar picture at the now soccer arena. It’s very similar with a few changes like, before it was a mirror back ground and the place definitely did not have red trim everywhere.
I bought my first K2s during this time and all us employees would hang out until the sun came up. I still fantasize about being able to skate in a rink all to myself. (I have skated myself alone on a rink a couple of times... in the dark overnight like 2 or 3 in the morning after I finished cleaning the place up after a session during one week night. But never with someone special alone. Oh well. I had a girlfriend at the but she did not know how to skate and didn't want to be up late. I was like huh? If I knew you, I would have invited you, M.G. Skating alone on a rink was one of my bucket list done. CHECK!)
It was mostly the older woman owner who would come in to check on the place.
Good times! The flooring was wood and it had a tall DJ booth that sat up high where kids couldn’t get to him. I can still see them screaming up high to play a certain song. At that time, the old lady owner did not allow females to be DJs or the person skating around keeping an eye on kids. I was frustrated by that.
Thanks for your webpage!!!
Thank you M.G. Awesome pictures and email!
UPDATE AGAIN! - (27 January 2022).
I received an email to fill in some gap I have for this rink. here is what JK has to say. My comments are in parenthesis.
Saw your post about Big Wheel and wanted to fill in some of the knowledge gaps. I worked there almost up until it closed.
It was owned by a man named Luther who owned several other rinks in DFW. Big Wheel was built in the mid 70’s and I don’t believe it was ever the largest rink in the DFW area. Several other rinks almost identical to Big Wheel were built around the same time. Redbird in Duncanville, Forum in Grand Prairie, Josey Skateland in Carrollton, Interskate in Lewisville….these almost could have been franchises. If you drive by them today, almost all of these look just like Big Wheel on the outside. (Perhaps they were owned by Luther because many rink operators do owned many rinks themselves and often they have similar architectural features or design very similar -- My own opinion For sample, Skate Country of AZ has quite a bit with the exact same design. More common if you need more clearly, look at Burger King, McDonalds, Long John Silver, and the old Arby's with the Chuckwagon look)
Luther (Bernstein), the owner, had leased the rink out to other operators through the years and he finally leased it to a group, in 1998, who turned it in to a roller hockey rink. This is when the entrance was moved to the front of the building, along with significant other renovations. The hockey rink lasted a few years, then the owner finally sold outright to the church, then the church sold to the soccer group. (Likely Luther Bernstein was the owner J.K. was talking about because the same owner owned Josey Skateland)
I am almost positive the original wood floor is still under the soccer field. Other than that, the inside doesn’t resemble what it did when it was a skating rink. I would say it’s almost unrecognizable.
To address the “largest rink” question, Texas Skatium in Mesquite was considerably larger than Big Wheel. In the mid 90’s, Arlington Skatium was built just a few miles down the road from Big Wheel. Arlington Skatium was enormous, well lit, clean and brand new. That is what spelled the end for Big Wheel.
If you want more info, let me know. I know a lot about this place.
JK
From roller rink to roller hockey, then church, then indoor field.
The Interior.
The roller rink floor was Maple wood according to M.G. She said it was wood. The skate rental had a sliding window and kids and other adults waiting to get their skate rentals. They had a line curved at at a bank to get their skates.
According to JK, JK said the wood floor was covered for the indoor soccer field. But the interior right now is almost unrecognizable. Totally renovated.
The Exterior.
Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse - like Building with extended Gable roof. It has Blue paint on Steel sheets wrap around by the roofline. The rest are Cinder-blocks. The exterior wall where the blocks are were in Baby Blue color but after the rink closed, the church painted that part in White. The owner of the football has the paint remained the same. It is like a memorial to the rink. It was well known rink that it was the largest in the metroplex.
However, there was a major change as you can see in the photo. Originally, the rink had main doors on the side corner of the rink. It was an extension. After the rink was sold, the church bought it and renovated to move their front door to the front end of the building, in the middle. Again see photos above. It does look better there than that extension which was no match to the rest of the building. Shingles does not match and not comparable to the Steel sheet walls. They could have had that look. By seeing that color photo and the vehicle. It looks like 1970s or 1980s. Having said, the concept having Sheet metal as roof was almost unheard in the US compared to foreign countries that they use it very common. Shingles. I am shaking my head because it does not look good with it. But understandable. Most rinks built in 1960s to 1980s had that look. Even stores, banks, garages / auto repairs shops, auto dealerships, and more. Very common in 1970s. Even schools (Perfect example - NYSSD in Rome, NY dormitories (PDF) has that roof full of shingles. The article in that link showed the photo of the dormitory with those shingles. Like McDs has)
It does look okay and understandable the need to have that extension of the building.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 23,000 SF. Built: Mid-1970s. Renovated: 1998 to relocate front door from side corner to front for Roller Hockey Rink layout. Demolished: Still standing. Now an indoor football (soccer) facility.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled and Cinder-Block Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 1.4970 Acres.
Operated: Mid-1970s to early 2000s.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Wanted: Information regarding better photos, both interior and exterior, exact dates of open and closed, why closed? Size of rink, floor material? Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
A skating Fan D.S.
Loop Net,
Big Wheel Skateland memorial website, PDF. If you check PDF, you would not be counted!
Email (17 July 2021) from M.G.
Email (27 January 2022) from JK.
Big Wheel Skateland website - All Star Skate.
Date of issue: 2020. Update: 17 July 2021. Update again: 27 January 2022.
For Office Only: 12.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.