Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful rink and beautiful 1960s-70s theme on the outside! I just wish it was not Spanish Clay tiles. I think they should have had all the same like the rest of the building. It would look good with out the Spanish theme into the 1970s Contemporary. Source: Way Marketing.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful wall with small stones that gave the 1960s-70s theme. And the sign on the wall. I feel well comfortable with this design. Sure going to miss this. Crying in my shake. Source: Google.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Ahh, that 1970s feel. I sure miss that look. Peace. Source: Google.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful exterior with the 1970s look. But the Spanish Tiles? No. No offense. I love Spanish too but it did not belong with the rest of the building theme. Source: Way Marketing.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful rink and beautiful 1960s-70s theme in 2010s! Source: Yelp. I like the mirrors above. Look very fun house feel to it. Digitally remastered by Dead-Rinks (removed that old yellow camera date stamp.)
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Wow, five flavors of popcrns! Normally one. Hey, movie theaters, you see this? Start adding more flavors! And please theaters, not a 3 week old popcorn, thank you! (yes, I had to make popcorns when I was working for a movie chain as an usher that one slow night, I had to make popcorn big as your 30 gallon trash bag size THREE weeks advanced.) Source: Yelp.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Sad times were coming to the rink because you can see the sign written about the sell off of everything. Source: Google.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful 1960s-70s theme in 2010s! Source: Yelp.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful rink and beautiful 1960s-70s theme in 2010s! Source: Google.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. Beautiful rink and beautiful 1960s-70s theme in 2010s! Source: Google.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. YouTube. History and final skate. Source: Patch.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. YouTube. History and final skate. Source: Bay Tiger, a Patch video.
Cal Skate Milpitas 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA
Cal Skate Milpitas was one of those Cal Skate rinks and this was located at 980 Los Coches St., Milpitas, CA. As Ami "Tsunami" F. said to me, it was the best! notoriously known for the rhythm skate community! Wow, more artistic skate rinks in the Bay area. Interesting. Must be very strong community for that region.
The very same owners and operators, Chris and Trace St. Germain have operated Cal Skate of Milpitas practically nonstop for the past 34 years. That is quite a long time considering most operators run like less than 30 years rather than over 30 years. Part of the St. Germain family that worked with Chris and Trace was Ernie St. Germain who passes away at the age of 85 in May 2011. Likely that was part of reason for its closure. It was really the parents, Evelyn & Ernie St. Germain opened Cal Skate Milpitas. Along with their daughter Chris, and a few years later their son Trace as I mentioned earlier in the paragraph.
But.. here was the reason-- Their admission prices at 5 to 15 USD range, the rink is doing well financially and the building itself is also getting old after running 34 years. It was taking more time and money to maintain. But they did not want to raise prices for a total renovation.
“That’s not right. I think we’re high as it is,” said Trace St. Germain as said in KPIX 5 CBS SF Bay Area report.
You see, the St. Germains opened the rink in 1977. It was quickly becoming a popular hangout for skating patrons there as the timing was correct for them as Roller Skating Disco era took off. The very same rink hosted first world games. I assume it mean first World Games Roller Skating category that the United States hosted those games. The first World Games which is an alternative to Olympics (like NIT Basketball Tournament is alternatives for the rejected teams to play if they cannot play in the NCAA Final Four). Rejected sports are invited to play in World Games. The first was in 1981 in Santa Clara, California and this is why the Roller Skating events for the games were played at.
In 2023, Alabama will be hosting such games.
When Cal Skate first opened, 18 roller rinks were in the Bay Area, but after Cal Skate Milpitas closed, only there were five roller rinks left in 2011. That number has declined since with the closure of San Jose Skate (although Aloha Roller Rink Reboot increased the number of operating rinks in 2018). Redwood Roller Skating Rink closed in 2014 which further reduced from 5 to 4, then 3 then increased to 4. I hope I have my numbers correct with what rinks remains. Ami? Do I have the number of rinks left correct?
It would be disastrous if the Bay Area are left without a rink! Huge population but without one? Oh boy (in Scott Bulka's Dr. Sam Beckett's voice). Already New York City, the country's biggest population only has ONE INDOOR rink. That is sad.
On Yelp, it explained from patrons at the rink how good it was. Apparently so. 4 out of 5 stars. They had so many commenters on Yelp and I did not go through every one of them pressing time I have to get this profile done. I only saw one negative. Well, two but the one of them did give better stars for other things why they were that good.
In fact on the final skate, it was totally crowded. To the max limited. About a 1000 people were admitted but 200 others had to turn away because of meeting the max allowed to enter. This was pre-covid era.
It was demolished to make way for a new housing development on a 5 acre property.
The Interior.
The interior they had was non-painted Urethane coated Maple floor in a 25,664 Square Feet building. They had much redness in there.
The furniture in the snackbar was quite different than standard laiminated tables and benches dinettes. this one was Fire Engine Red chairs, stools, and White Tables with old 1970s light fixture with word "Snack Zone" in red letters. I cannot tell what font style it was however, I have seen that font before. Anyone?
This brings a mixture of old and new. The interior looked great to me before they closed. So, what was wrong?
Red walls.. Red this or that. Really vibrant interior design. Looked spacious and correctly designed.
I love the mirrors high on the ceiling-wall angled to make that funhouse feel.
The Exterior.
This building was a beautiful design in the 1970s. It was rather a large 25,664 Square Feet Flat roof Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks and façade - Walled Storefront - like Building. The facade had pebble like wall and framing each section. This was common in 1960s and 1970s till around mid-1970s actually. After that I never seen new buildings with this look. It may have faded fast because I recalled seeing some building with that kind of wall on the exterior was not that old and already fell apart. Why? Some actual stones were so small and not enough mortar to hold them up. Plus weather wear and tear quickly can do this compared to bricks and blocks itself. Tiles face similar problem because of its size and not strong enough to hold on all four sides. Only the rear side holds up... well, not that great.
Although this design really made this rink unque. I love how it was designed though. This design is quite similar to a rink I was in Sacramento and I am wondering if it was the same owner or someone copied off of. Many operators do visit rinks before they do start their own but often take ideas and do it themselves. That was what was happening with the Skate Country AZ concept that someone who designed actually ripped off and started own chain of Skate Country architecturally. Even this design was similar to two other rinks I just did-- San Jose Skate/Aloha Roller Palace in San Jose, CA and another rink in area with similar design. The Skate Country AZ design really set or influenced so many rinks to be that look but that was actually a rip off according to the operator of that rink in his email in December 2019. Real nice man explained to me about how rinks stole the design. It was quite different than the Frank Cernik Skateland design that also influenced many of his rink and other rinks too. About half of all the rinks I have done so far (3000 plus rinks), I noticed they are mostly either Cal Skate Design, The Skate Country IA Rip-Off Design, Skate Country AZ Design, and Frank Cernik Skateland Design. Those three are most influenced in 1970s and on. As in fact, Skate Country AZ Design is patented and copyrighted so no one else can steal the design and apparently the Skate Country of Cedar Rapids cannot built a new rink with that design anymore due to the copyright.
So, back to this, this was designed and built in 1976 so that sort of was in the middle of the popularity of Skate Country AZ Design. Hopefully this was not a rip off version.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted, Polyurethane coated Maple. Floor Layout: Fan.
Building Size: 25,664 SF. Built/Renovations: 1976/N/A. Demolished: 2011 to make way for new housing development.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks and façade - Walled Storefront - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 2.33 AC (according to Loop Net, not my competitor says) Although it was 2 lots. The overall was 5.29 Acres total.
Operated: (Overall)-- Thursday, 24 March 1977 to Sunday, 31 July 2011.
Reason for Closure: Their admission prices at 5 to 15 USD range, the rink is doing well financially and the building itself is also getting old after running 34 years. It was taking more time and money to maintain. But they did not want to raise prices for a total renovation.
“That’s not right. I think we’re high as it is,” said Trace St. Germain. This translate that the rink needed repairs and it would be beyond their ability and means to do repairs. (Expensive to repair).
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 [email protected]. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Email - Ami "Tsunami" F.
Yelp - Cal Skate Milpitas
Way Marketing - Cal Skate Milpitas
Loop Net - Real Estate property - PDF
Patch - Demolish.
Facebook
YouTube - Last day.
Local Gyms & Fitness - based off Facebook.
KPIX 5 News - Closing; 29 July 2011 - PDF
Date of issue: 04 October 2021.
For office use only: 12 p 1 v
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.
The very same owners and operators, Chris and Trace St. Germain have operated Cal Skate of Milpitas practically nonstop for the past 34 years. That is quite a long time considering most operators run like less than 30 years rather than over 30 years. Part of the St. Germain family that worked with Chris and Trace was Ernie St. Germain who passes away at the age of 85 in May 2011. Likely that was part of reason for its closure. It was really the parents, Evelyn & Ernie St. Germain opened Cal Skate Milpitas. Along with their daughter Chris, and a few years later their son Trace as I mentioned earlier in the paragraph.
But.. here was the reason-- Their admission prices at 5 to 15 USD range, the rink is doing well financially and the building itself is also getting old after running 34 years. It was taking more time and money to maintain. But they did not want to raise prices for a total renovation.
“That’s not right. I think we’re high as it is,” said Trace St. Germain as said in KPIX 5 CBS SF Bay Area report.
You see, the St. Germains opened the rink in 1977. It was quickly becoming a popular hangout for skating patrons there as the timing was correct for them as Roller Skating Disco era took off. The very same rink hosted first world games. I assume it mean first World Games Roller Skating category that the United States hosted those games. The first World Games which is an alternative to Olympics (like NIT Basketball Tournament is alternatives for the rejected teams to play if they cannot play in the NCAA Final Four). Rejected sports are invited to play in World Games. The first was in 1981 in Santa Clara, California and this is why the Roller Skating events for the games were played at.
In 2023, Alabama will be hosting such games.
When Cal Skate first opened, 18 roller rinks were in the Bay Area, but after Cal Skate Milpitas closed, only there were five roller rinks left in 2011. That number has declined since with the closure of San Jose Skate (although Aloha Roller Rink Reboot increased the number of operating rinks in 2018). Redwood Roller Skating Rink closed in 2014 which further reduced from 5 to 4, then 3 then increased to 4. I hope I have my numbers correct with what rinks remains. Ami? Do I have the number of rinks left correct?
It would be disastrous if the Bay Area are left without a rink! Huge population but without one? Oh boy (in Scott Bulka's Dr. Sam Beckett's voice). Already New York City, the country's biggest population only has ONE INDOOR rink. That is sad.
On Yelp, it explained from patrons at the rink how good it was. Apparently so. 4 out of 5 stars. They had so many commenters on Yelp and I did not go through every one of them pressing time I have to get this profile done. I only saw one negative. Well, two but the one of them did give better stars for other things why they were that good.
In fact on the final skate, it was totally crowded. To the max limited. About a 1000 people were admitted but 200 others had to turn away because of meeting the max allowed to enter. This was pre-covid era.
It was demolished to make way for a new housing development on a 5 acre property.
The Interior.
The interior they had was non-painted Urethane coated Maple floor in a 25,664 Square Feet building. They had much redness in there.
The furniture in the snackbar was quite different than standard laiminated tables and benches dinettes. this one was Fire Engine Red chairs, stools, and White Tables with old 1970s light fixture with word "Snack Zone" in red letters. I cannot tell what font style it was however, I have seen that font before. Anyone?
This brings a mixture of old and new. The interior looked great to me before they closed. So, what was wrong?
Red walls.. Red this or that. Really vibrant interior design. Looked spacious and correctly designed.
I love the mirrors high on the ceiling-wall angled to make that funhouse feel.
The Exterior.
This building was a beautiful design in the 1970s. It was rather a large 25,664 Square Feet Flat roof Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks and façade - Walled Storefront - like Building. The facade had pebble like wall and framing each section. This was common in 1960s and 1970s till around mid-1970s actually. After that I never seen new buildings with this look. It may have faded fast because I recalled seeing some building with that kind of wall on the exterior was not that old and already fell apart. Why? Some actual stones were so small and not enough mortar to hold them up. Plus weather wear and tear quickly can do this compared to bricks and blocks itself. Tiles face similar problem because of its size and not strong enough to hold on all four sides. Only the rear side holds up... well, not that great.
Although this design really made this rink unque. I love how it was designed though. This design is quite similar to a rink I was in Sacramento and I am wondering if it was the same owner or someone copied off of. Many operators do visit rinks before they do start their own but often take ideas and do it themselves. That was what was happening with the Skate Country AZ concept that someone who designed actually ripped off and started own chain of Skate Country architecturally. Even this design was similar to two other rinks I just did-- San Jose Skate/Aloha Roller Palace in San Jose, CA and another rink in area with similar design. The Skate Country AZ design really set or influenced so many rinks to be that look but that was actually a rip off according to the operator of that rink in his email in December 2019. Real nice man explained to me about how rinks stole the design. It was quite different than the Frank Cernik Skateland design that also influenced many of his rink and other rinks too. About half of all the rinks I have done so far (3000 plus rinks), I noticed they are mostly either Cal Skate Design, The Skate Country IA Rip-Off Design, Skate Country AZ Design, and Frank Cernik Skateland Design. Those three are most influenced in 1970s and on. As in fact, Skate Country AZ Design is patented and copyrighted so no one else can steal the design and apparently the Skate Country of Cedar Rapids cannot built a new rink with that design anymore due to the copyright.
So, back to this, this was designed and built in 1976 so that sort of was in the middle of the popularity of Skate Country AZ Design. Hopefully this was not a rip off version.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted, Polyurethane coated Maple. Floor Layout: Fan.
Building Size: 25,664 SF. Built/Renovations: 1976/N/A. Demolished: 2011 to make way for new housing development.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks and façade - Walled Storefront - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 2.33 AC (according to Loop Net, not my competitor says) Although it was 2 lots. The overall was 5.29 Acres total.
Operated: (Overall)-- Thursday, 24 March 1977 to Sunday, 31 July 2011.
Reason for Closure: Their admission prices at 5 to 15 USD range, the rink is doing well financially and the building itself is also getting old after running 34 years. It was taking more time and money to maintain. But they did not want to raise prices for a total renovation.
“That’s not right. I think we’re high as it is,” said Trace St. Germain. This translate that the rink needed repairs and it would be beyond their ability and means to do repairs. (Expensive to repair).
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 [email protected]. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Email - Ami "Tsunami" F.
Yelp - Cal Skate Milpitas
Way Marketing - Cal Skate Milpitas
Loop Net - Real Estate property - PDF
Patch - Demolish.
YouTube - Last day.
Local Gyms & Fitness - based off Facebook.
KPIX 5 News - Closing; 29 July 2011 - PDF
Date of issue: 04 October 2021.
For office use only: 12 p 1 v
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.