Logos courtesy of America on Wheels, photos (all) courtesy of Bladensburg Arena Roller Rink and Bowling Alley group on Facebook.
Postcards of American On Wheels courtesy of AOW. Photos courtesy of courtesy of Bladensburg Arena Roller Rink and Bowling Alley group on Facebook. Top row-Alexandra Arena, Alexandra, VA (will work on that!), National Arena, Washington, DC. (design somewhat similar to the Bladensburg Arena)., and the bottom is the Bladensburg Arena, Bladensburg, MD.
uCourtesy of JKhol's website. Beautiful grand-like place yet very modern for a 1949 built! It was due to the light and some architecture features were ahead of time.
The photos of the fire is very traumatic that it is not shown here for the sake of some skaters.
The photos of the fire is very traumatic that it is not shown here for the sake of some skaters.
Bladensburg Arena Roller Rink and Bowling Alley 4811 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg, MD
This much storied beloved popular roller rink and bowling alley had their start in 1949 at 4811 Annapolis Road in Baldensburg, Maryland. However, to the community, it was a shocking end with a fire on Feb 16, 1971. It was affiliated with Americans on Wheels company.
Skaters loved this place to skate upstairs above the bowling alley. This Arched-curved (Was it Bowstring?) building housed two major activities. Back then I am sure not handicapped accessible for the skating rink because I doubt they had an elevator except they may have. Unless fans tell me they were.
It had humble beginning in 1949 at the height of the on going returning of GIs overseas and new generation that grew with many babies.. the Baby Boomers. It may have ran just 21 short years but filled with such memories as I can see on their memorial fan page on Facebook.
American On Wheels was the owner but it was Pat and Ann Aluise managed the rink for most of the years.
The group on Facebook is very informative and quite active. More photos and information are found there.
The sad day was that it was forced to close for good was a fire on Tuesday February 16, 1971. It started in early morning hours after midnight in the roller rink section upstairs where the fire began. It was so bad that they called in 20 companies and over 150 firefighters to fight this fire. It was so hot that they even had to hose down a skater's husband's house next door to keep it wet and cool due to the fire was being very close.
The Interior.
It was a multi-story building that housed both Bowling and Skating rink. The first floor was a bowling alley with I do not know how many lanes. I am not sure what brand those equipment they had used. The arrow-like ball hood on the sides of the return platform where the balls comes to rest can be either looks more like an AMF. I attempted to find a match to that ball cover but it may have been an AMF but I am not sure. Any one who bowled there as well as skating there, please let me know. The same with the number of lanes. From those photos, it appeared to be around 36 lanes because the building was very similar in design and perhaps size to the Onondaga County War Memorial where the ABC Tournaments was held in Syracuse, NY a few times.
Now, upstairs on second floor, was none other than the roller rink. It appeared to be quite modern for its time. It had rectangular tube lights outline, not a single light box lamp. I am referring to more like an unfilled rectangular shape lights. In the photo, it showed it has stairs to walk up the steps. Clearly it was not designed like newer rinks that we can walk flatly entering the building. Huge differences.
The interior was quite bright because of windows. Big difference than say, the National Arena in Washington, DC
The skate floor looked more grand and modern. The lights I believe had to be installed in much later years than when it was first opened because those style tube lights were not catching on till 1950s (look at photo of interior at Levittown rink).
It is beautifully designed interior for the rink. Looked more grand than the bowling section on the first floor which was more of a introduction to 1950s Mid-Century Modernism as you can see out of two photos I can see. Both are very grainy black-and-white photos. Both location in that building was quite different from each other.
The rink itself was more grand and had an organ and a stage in back ground that would house a band or small orchestra playing at that rink. It does appear more of a dance hall than a roller rink. Maybe they did have some dances? Who knows. But many rinks back in first half century of 20th Century were hybrids or using a dance hall as skating rink. A real division occurred in 1960s on that really split away from dance halls while roller skating were drifting away from ice skating in terms of architectural and competition and rules.
The Exterior.
It was an Arched-Curve building and it had bricks on the exterior. It was a two-storys building that housed two popular 20th Century activities--bowling and roller skating. It was high enough to house both of them. Even with stairs to enter the building.
It has that 1940s style appearance that were common on major complex like this building. It was beautiful post-Art-Deco- Mid-Century Modernism blend.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple. Floor Layout: Log Cabin.
Bowling Alley Lanes: Likely 24 to 36.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1949. Demolished: Fire on Tuesday February 16, 1971.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock/Brick-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Arched-Curved
Acres: N/A.
Operated: Thursday November 17, 1949 to Tuesday February 16, 1971.
Reason for Closure: Due to a massive fire destroyed the beloved complex on February 16, 1971.
Wanted: Information regarding size of rink, rink materials. Also photos.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Facebook; 1959 Bladensburg High School Yearbook - photos of the fire; JKhol's website;
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.
Skaters loved this place to skate upstairs above the bowling alley. This Arched-curved (Was it Bowstring?) building housed two major activities. Back then I am sure not handicapped accessible for the skating rink because I doubt they had an elevator except they may have. Unless fans tell me they were.
It had humble beginning in 1949 at the height of the on going returning of GIs overseas and new generation that grew with many babies.. the Baby Boomers. It may have ran just 21 short years but filled with such memories as I can see on their memorial fan page on Facebook.
American On Wheels was the owner but it was Pat and Ann Aluise managed the rink for most of the years.
The group on Facebook is very informative and quite active. More photos and information are found there.
The sad day was that it was forced to close for good was a fire on Tuesday February 16, 1971. It started in early morning hours after midnight in the roller rink section upstairs where the fire began. It was so bad that they called in 20 companies and over 150 firefighters to fight this fire. It was so hot that they even had to hose down a skater's husband's house next door to keep it wet and cool due to the fire was being very close.
The Interior.
It was a multi-story building that housed both Bowling and Skating rink. The first floor was a bowling alley with I do not know how many lanes. I am not sure what brand those equipment they had used. The arrow-like ball hood on the sides of the return platform where the balls comes to rest can be either looks more like an AMF. I attempted to find a match to that ball cover but it may have been an AMF but I am not sure. Any one who bowled there as well as skating there, please let me know. The same with the number of lanes. From those photos, it appeared to be around 36 lanes because the building was very similar in design and perhaps size to the Onondaga County War Memorial where the ABC Tournaments was held in Syracuse, NY a few times.
Now, upstairs on second floor, was none other than the roller rink. It appeared to be quite modern for its time. It had rectangular tube lights outline, not a single light box lamp. I am referring to more like an unfilled rectangular shape lights. In the photo, it showed it has stairs to walk up the steps. Clearly it was not designed like newer rinks that we can walk flatly entering the building. Huge differences.
The interior was quite bright because of windows. Big difference than say, the National Arena in Washington, DC
The skate floor looked more grand and modern. The lights I believe had to be installed in much later years than when it was first opened because those style tube lights were not catching on till 1950s (look at photo of interior at Levittown rink).
It is beautifully designed interior for the rink. Looked more grand than the bowling section on the first floor which was more of a introduction to 1950s Mid-Century Modernism as you can see out of two photos I can see. Both are very grainy black-and-white photos. Both location in that building was quite different from each other.
The rink itself was more grand and had an organ and a stage in back ground that would house a band or small orchestra playing at that rink. It does appear more of a dance hall than a roller rink. Maybe they did have some dances? Who knows. But many rinks back in first half century of 20th Century were hybrids or using a dance hall as skating rink. A real division occurred in 1960s on that really split away from dance halls while roller skating were drifting away from ice skating in terms of architectural and competition and rules.
The Exterior.
It was an Arched-Curve building and it had bricks on the exterior. It was a two-storys building that housed two popular 20th Century activities--bowling and roller skating. It was high enough to house both of them. Even with stairs to enter the building.
It has that 1940s style appearance that were common on major complex like this building. It was beautiful post-Art-Deco- Mid-Century Modernism blend.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple. Floor Layout: Log Cabin.
Bowling Alley Lanes: Likely 24 to 36.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1949. Demolished: Fire on Tuesday February 16, 1971.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock/Brick-Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Arched-Curved
Acres: N/A.
Operated: Thursday November 17, 1949 to Tuesday February 16, 1971.
Reason for Closure: Due to a massive fire destroyed the beloved complex on February 16, 1971.
Wanted: Information regarding size of rink, rink materials. Also photos.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Facebook; 1959 Bladensburg High School Yearbook - photos of the fire; JKhol's website;
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:16.