Bus Stop SR 725, Dayton, OH. This is now a Salvation Army Thrift store. Source: Google.
Bus Stop SR 725, Dayton, OH. Newspaper article. Source: Dayton Daily News - 28 November 1973, page 22.
Bus Stop SR 725, Dayton, OH. A very trendy newspaper advertisement at the time. Source: Dayton Daily News - 06 August 1974.
Bus Stop SR 725, Dayton, OH. A very trendy newspaper advertisement at the time. Source: Dayton Daily News - c. 1974.
Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH
Bus Stop 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH
Roller World 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH
Bus Stop 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH
Roller World 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH
Bus Stop was one of the three brand name for this rink on 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, OH. The other two were Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink, and Roller World. All three were not necessarily in order. I do not have any information.
The most unusual name was called the Bus Stop. That rink was more of a focused roller rink and disco floor that teenagers choose to have fun. It was more of a non-alcoholic night club for teens. But the Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink, on the other hand had a focus on both ice and wood floors to skate upon. Ice skating and roller skating.
Roller World made more sense that it was focused on roller skating. Both Bus Stop and Roller World were just roller rinks. Only that Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink was a dual rinks complex. Did those two split? I guess not.
First, it was Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink. But having a dual rink did not work out as the owners at the time found out that you could not have two demographics attend at the same place. After the owner closed the ice rink after about a year to two year later, the Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink was renamed as the Bus Stop to focus on as non-alcoholic teen night club with disco dancing and roller rink. This was according to this another forum, Dayton History Books.
Roller World came after that. I do not have some of the dates yet.. Only the construction began in November 1973 opening in 1974.
The poster said the roller rink floor was still there. I do not know if it was wood or not. Because I see photographs of the Salvation Army Thrift Store has a look of messy old concrete floor thanks to a lady who went in to find some shoes as said in Yelp.
I could not find exactly where because the address was very vague. But thanks to the comments in a forum for the Bengals fans talking about this rink, the former Bus Stop roller rink. And someone else said he believes it is a Salvation Army Thrift Store and I looked up on Google Map. Yes, the footprint is quite noticed it was a roller rink because of the design. Many rinks had exposed Steel Trusses on the outside wall if they desired to have a rink in that shape.. meaning the interior wall smooth without seeing the trusses. Some rinks like the walls extended a little bit to make the place just merely a few more square feet.
And the address is at 8065 Southwind Drive, Centerville, Ohio. That was the real address.
The poster on one of the forum said that it was a disco on one side and rink on the other. but most of the time kids and teenagers would hangout were outside. Parties were common outside. Was it also a favorite hangout for cruising cars such as muscle cars, collectable cars, etc?
The poster said 70s and 80s.
The ground was broken on 28 November 1973 to built 1.2 Million USD roller rink which was quite expensive at the time. To compare to 2022 USD adjusted for inflation, the cost would be 7,668,000 USD! That is because it has had TWO rinks- one for ice, other for roller. This is why it was expensive. Second of all, it was because of ice rink that cost more expensive than wood because of operating cost. Wood was cheap at the time.
UPDATE! -- Sunday, 10 April 2022.
I recevived an email from an E.H. about this rink. She clearly explained and I corrected my mistakes. I originally got the name as Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink and it was wrong. It should be stated as Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink.
I was told the name was wrong. I got from my lists as Great Lakes. Oh well. If there was, anyone know where that one was?
Here is what she has to say --
Hi there,
I saw a thread on Facebook about the "Bus Stop" nightclub in Dayton/Centerville Ohio and I started googling it because I was curious and found your site. But I do have a few corrections for you. The address of the Salvation Army is 8065 Southwinds Drive Centerville; however, I believe that the address changed in the mid-2000s, it used to be 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio, Also, the ice/roller rink was called "The Great Skate" not Great Lakes.
I have attached an ad from the August 6, 1974 Dayton Daily News with that name and address for your reference. The first mention I can find on newspapers.com of it is August 1974, the first mention of Rollerworld was an ad for a disc jockey in August 1978, it seems to go back and forth from Rollerworld's Bus Stop to Bus Stop's Rollerworld. The last ad I see mentioned of this establishment was 1987 and then the first for Salvation Army was 1993. Not sure when it closed.
Ice/Roller rink size 85 Feet X185 Feet each (from a Sept 1974) article that I wish I could send)
Your site is awesome! Thank you for providing a great source of information!
Oh thank you so much E.H.! Really helpful! I did see one of my sources (the list of former rinks from 1990s stating as Great Lakes. That is why I got that name and copied and pasted. This is how I do my writing to make all that same spelling. Sorry about that.
This really helps! Thank you again!
The address. I can see from 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio as stated ON Google to see if it works. I can see it pretty hidden behind another building. All of those buildings' frontage faces Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio. The address E.H. said 2020, I find 2022 which is a restaurant presently. It used to be Friday's (TGIF's) and now a Mexican restaurant. But it is the Salvation Army location.
I understood how this can happen because of mail routes at the post office how they deliver mail. The mail cases at the post office has to be in the route, not by street and number. By route. A lot complication to explain this part but anyway.. That is understandable and perhaps the USPS had to reroute their mail carriers' route. And this is how they end up having a different address, i believe.
As what the email said, the last of the advertisement was in the papers were in 1987. The Salvation Army opened that store in 1993. Closure was in the ball park between 1987 and 1992 or even 1993. Quick change over can happen within a month to three for a thrift store as matter of fact.
UPDATE! -- 31 May 2022.
I received an email from someone today talking about this rink. Thank you for awesome information! Please read--
our photo of the Salvation Army store is 100% the correct building. I’ve been inside recently, you can still see the wooden skate floor and some of the cinder block wall that surrounded it with one of the “penalty boxes” in the corner.
I remember ice skating on the other side of the building when it was Great Skate. When you went into the front lobby, roller skating was to the right and ice skating was to the left. The restrooms are are in their original position, in the front on either side. I think the area where the cash registers are now was the concession area. The name of the roller rink side was later changed to Roller World.
About this time, the ice skating rink was turned into The Bus Stop teen disco. I can’t give you a date, but I’m fairly certain it was changed over by or before 1982. There was a school bus parked with the front half inside the building and it served as the DJ booth. There were tables around the dance floor and I think I they were on a terraced floor. I don’t remember how many levels of tables there were, maybe two or three. This side wasn’t open to the public when I was there recently, so I have no idea how it looks now.
Loved both sides. My friends and I would usually start the evening at Roller World and end the evening at the Bus Stop. Very fond memories of this place, sad to see it become a thrift store.
The Interior.
The interior had two separate rinks. One for ice, the other roller. Both in same dimensions. 85' x 185', almost a NHL rink size. For a time they did have both but they dropped the ice rink for roller as I recalled in the past before today's email (10 April 2022),
The Exterior.
It appeared very much standard appearance of a roller rink. Exposed exterior Steel Truss, Free-Span. Cinderblocks-walled Warehouse-like building with Gable roof. Original colors unknown. It was also natural wood for the front. That section was to make it looked like an entire different appearance of the rink. It was not. Very 1970s appearance with diagonal wood paneling. It was a common practice genre of architecture of the 1970s. It was a Contemporary appearance.
The Stats:
Ice Rink Size: 85' x 185, Floor: Full Ice. Floor Layout: Ice (layers, unknown)
Roller Rink Size: 85' x 185, Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks side Walled and Natural Wood front Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: N/A.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1974 to 1990s.
Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink: 1974 to later in 1970s.
Bus Stop: 1982 to N/A.
Roller World: 1980s to 1990s.
(Note, dates are unknown but given by forums talk about, it gave ballpark estimating when).
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink: Business plan changed quickly after 1 to 2 years after opened due to difficulties to balance both ice rink and roller rink. Mostly prefer roller skating. Ice rink was removed.
Bus Stop: N/A.
Roller World: N/A.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
The Bengals Board - Bus Stop.
Yelp - Salvation Army.
Dayton History Books - Tons of information on MANY RINKS!
email - E.H. (10 April 2022).
email - R.R. (31 May 2022).
Worth to Visit:
Yes, it is retail store now. You would not be able to find anything related to the rink at that location though. HOLD THAT THOUGHT! Yes, you can! Someone said you can still see the rink floor and some other things. Read the update dated on Tuesday 31 May 2022 above for more information. One thing though, be there to shop, not to just come in to see the old rink. Be sure buy something so that the store would not think you all are in for that. Thank you!
Date of issue: 10 July 2021.
Update: Sunday 10 April 2022.
Update: Tuesday 31 May 2022.
For office use only: 4.
Disclaimer: 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 differences result between two 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.
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. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.
The most unusual name was called the Bus Stop. That rink was more of a focused roller rink and disco floor that teenagers choose to have fun. It was more of a non-alcoholic night club for teens. But the Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink, on the other hand had a focus on both ice and wood floors to skate upon. Ice skating and roller skating.
Roller World made more sense that it was focused on roller skating. Both Bus Stop and Roller World were just roller rinks. Only that Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink was a dual rinks complex. Did those two split? I guess not.
First, it was Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink. But having a dual rink did not work out as the owners at the time found out that you could not have two demographics attend at the same place. After the owner closed the ice rink after about a year to two year later, the Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink was renamed as the Bus Stop to focus on as non-alcoholic teen night club with disco dancing and roller rink. This was according to this another forum, Dayton History Books.
Roller World came after that. I do not have some of the dates yet.. Only the construction began in November 1973 opening in 1974.
The poster said the roller rink floor was still there. I do not know if it was wood or not. Because I see photographs of the Salvation Army Thrift Store has a look of messy old concrete floor thanks to a lady who went in to find some shoes as said in Yelp.
I could not find exactly where because the address was very vague. But thanks to the comments in a forum for the Bengals fans talking about this rink, the former Bus Stop roller rink. And someone else said he believes it is a Salvation Army Thrift Store and I looked up on Google Map. Yes, the footprint is quite noticed it was a roller rink because of the design. Many rinks had exposed Steel Trusses on the outside wall if they desired to have a rink in that shape.. meaning the interior wall smooth without seeing the trusses. Some rinks like the walls extended a little bit to make the place just merely a few more square feet.
And the address is at 8065 Southwind Drive, Centerville, Ohio. That was the real address.
The poster on one of the forum said that it was a disco on one side and rink on the other. but most of the time kids and teenagers would hangout were outside. Parties were common outside. Was it also a favorite hangout for cruising cars such as muscle cars, collectable cars, etc?
The poster said 70s and 80s.
The ground was broken on 28 November 1973 to built 1.2 Million USD roller rink which was quite expensive at the time. To compare to 2022 USD adjusted for inflation, the cost would be 7,668,000 USD! That is because it has had TWO rinks- one for ice, other for roller. This is why it was expensive. Second of all, it was because of ice rink that cost more expensive than wood because of operating cost. Wood was cheap at the time.
UPDATE! -- Sunday, 10 April 2022.
I recevived an email from an E.H. about this rink. She clearly explained and I corrected my mistakes. I originally got the name as Great Lakes Ice and Roller Rink and it was wrong. It should be stated as Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink.
I was told the name was wrong. I got from my lists as Great Lakes. Oh well. If there was, anyone know where that one was?
Here is what she has to say --
Hi there,
I saw a thread on Facebook about the "Bus Stop" nightclub in Dayton/Centerville Ohio and I started googling it because I was curious and found your site. But I do have a few corrections for you. The address of the Salvation Army is 8065 Southwinds Drive Centerville; however, I believe that the address changed in the mid-2000s, it used to be 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio, Also, the ice/roller rink was called "The Great Skate" not Great Lakes.
I have attached an ad from the August 6, 1974 Dayton Daily News with that name and address for your reference. The first mention I can find on newspapers.com of it is August 1974, the first mention of Rollerworld was an ad for a disc jockey in August 1978, it seems to go back and forth from Rollerworld's Bus Stop to Bus Stop's Rollerworld. The last ad I see mentioned of this establishment was 1987 and then the first for Salvation Army was 1993. Not sure when it closed.
Ice/Roller rink size 85 Feet X185 Feet each (from a Sept 1974) article that I wish I could send)
Your site is awesome! Thank you for providing a great source of information!
Oh thank you so much E.H.! Really helpful! I did see one of my sources (the list of former rinks from 1990s stating as Great Lakes. That is why I got that name and copied and pasted. This is how I do my writing to make all that same spelling. Sorry about that.
This really helps! Thank you again!
The address. I can see from 2020 Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio as stated ON Google to see if it works. I can see it pretty hidden behind another building. All of those buildings' frontage faces Miamisburg Centerville Rd, Centerville, Ohio. The address E.H. said 2020, I find 2022 which is a restaurant presently. It used to be Friday's (TGIF's) and now a Mexican restaurant. But it is the Salvation Army location.
I understood how this can happen because of mail routes at the post office how they deliver mail. The mail cases at the post office has to be in the route, not by street and number. By route. A lot complication to explain this part but anyway.. That is understandable and perhaps the USPS had to reroute their mail carriers' route. And this is how they end up having a different address, i believe.
As what the email said, the last of the advertisement was in the papers were in 1987. The Salvation Army opened that store in 1993. Closure was in the ball park between 1987 and 1992 or even 1993. Quick change over can happen within a month to three for a thrift store as matter of fact.
UPDATE! -- 31 May 2022.
I received an email from someone today talking about this rink. Thank you for awesome information! Please read--
our photo of the Salvation Army store is 100% the correct building. I’ve been inside recently, you can still see the wooden skate floor and some of the cinder block wall that surrounded it with one of the “penalty boxes” in the corner.
I remember ice skating on the other side of the building when it was Great Skate. When you went into the front lobby, roller skating was to the right and ice skating was to the left. The restrooms are are in their original position, in the front on either side. I think the area where the cash registers are now was the concession area. The name of the roller rink side was later changed to Roller World.
About this time, the ice skating rink was turned into The Bus Stop teen disco. I can’t give you a date, but I’m fairly certain it was changed over by or before 1982. There was a school bus parked with the front half inside the building and it served as the DJ booth. There were tables around the dance floor and I think I they were on a terraced floor. I don’t remember how many levels of tables there were, maybe two or three. This side wasn’t open to the public when I was there recently, so I have no idea how it looks now.
Loved both sides. My friends and I would usually start the evening at Roller World and end the evening at the Bus Stop. Very fond memories of this place, sad to see it become a thrift store.
The Interior.
The interior had two separate rinks. One for ice, the other roller. Both in same dimensions. 85' x 185', almost a NHL rink size. For a time they did have both but they dropped the ice rink for roller as I recalled in the past before today's email (10 April 2022),
The Exterior.
It appeared very much standard appearance of a roller rink. Exposed exterior Steel Truss, Free-Span. Cinderblocks-walled Warehouse-like building with Gable roof. Original colors unknown. It was also natural wood for the front. That section was to make it looked like an entire different appearance of the rink. It was not. Very 1970s appearance with diagonal wood paneling. It was a common practice genre of architecture of the 1970s. It was a Contemporary appearance.
The Stats:
Ice Rink Size: 85' x 185, Floor: Full Ice. Floor Layout: Ice (layers, unknown)
Roller Rink Size: 85' x 185, Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks side Walled and Natural Wood front Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: N/A.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1974 to 1990s.
Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink: 1974 to later in 1970s.
Bus Stop: 1982 to N/A.
Roller World: 1980s to 1990s.
(Note, dates are unknown but given by forums talk about, it gave ballpark estimating when).
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Great Skates Ice and Roller Rink: Business plan changed quickly after 1 to 2 years after opened due to difficulties to balance both ice rink and roller rink. Mostly prefer roller skating. Ice rink was removed.
Bus Stop: N/A.
Roller World: N/A.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
The Bengals Board - Bus Stop.
Yelp - Salvation Army.
Dayton History Books - Tons of information on MANY RINKS!
email - E.H. (10 April 2022).
email - R.R. (31 May 2022).
Worth to Visit:
Yes, it is retail store now. You would not be able to find anything related to the rink at that location though. HOLD THAT THOUGHT! Yes, you can! Someone said you can still see the rink floor and some other things. Read the update dated on Tuesday 31 May 2022 above for more information. One thing though, be there to shop, not to just come in to see the old rink. Be sure buy something so that the store would not think you all are in for that. Thank you!
Date of issue: 10 July 2021.
Update: Sunday 10 April 2022.
Update: Tuesday 31 May 2022.
For office use only: 4.
Disclaimer: 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 differences result between two 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.
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. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.