Beautiful logo on the wall and good paint theme. I love that Saw-Tooth canopy. Similar to what Empire Skates East had before they closed and remodeled as Empire Plaza. But interesting. You can see the evolution of painting on this building from Google Map that they restore antique pictures. Look at next few pics courtesy of Google Map.
The 2007 photo showed it had 4 main colors! Starting bottom up with Ocean Blue, then Sky Blue followed by Snow White and Americana Red.
Before this 2011 photo was taken, a redone paint job replaced the Blue hues with Snow White and Americana Red was replaced with Purple! And a nice logo on the wall near the front doors as you can see in the photo and now compare to next one.. its gone.
Logo was painted over and more Snow Whites taking over the Purple a little here or there especially the sign. Wow, that new beautiful logo was painted over just like that!?
... And the final evolution on style it became mostly Snow White eliminating the Purple. Too plain! Also the Skate was very simple drawn as it appeared to be unfinished where the original beautiful logo was. Apparently the place was up for sale already as you can see the real estate sign (Red). And it was gone. Sold and demolished to make way for a new mini plaza. By the way that big box-like on top (see first few evolutionary photos as it was shown but it is gone in the 2016 photo. What was that "big box" part on top of the building for? HVAC? Refrigeration?
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. Google Map many times are idiots for bluring out something except they need to do that with license plates only! NOT the dang signs or logos or whatever! It says, "WNY (Western New Yorkers,) THANKS FOR 29 GREAT (YEARS). This means a good bye message by thanking the skaters for nearly 30 years. Source: Google.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. The roller rink floor in background, seating and the entrance to the arcade area. Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. A closer look to the roller rink floor in background, seating and the entrance to the arcade area at far right. Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. Roller Hockey look with the wall and plex-glass and score board. Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. Non-painted Maple floor, Log Cabin layout. It appeared very much of a Roller Hockey rink because of the walls and score board. Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. Cozy 1970s décor for the arcade. Ahh, sure miss this theme from that decade that was popular such as slant diagonal tongue and groove wood, Gold colored Berber (sorry not shaggy!) carpet and Red bricks. Also softer lights. I knew two restaurants exactly look like that and I loved those two restaurants (both defunct). Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY. Update-- you can see why those tables and chairs were set up like that. It was because of a bowling alley was there! The rink floor is where the lanes were. Those chairs and tables were set as if it was designed for bowling. Thanks Dusty for Info. Source: Roller Magic, Inc.
Regal Roller Rink 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY
Depew Skating Center 5287 Transit Road, Depew, NY
Depew, a suburb of Buffalo, NY had a roller rink called Depew Skating Center, a franchise of at the time, 4 rinks chain including the nearby Eastern Hills Skating Center along with two other rinks--one in New Jersey and the other in Connecticut.
But before that, it was Regal Roller Rink which opened in the 1970s till its closure forced by the court for back taxes in 1984. It was owned by the Cerullo family. A year later, it was reopened as Depew Skating Center. Finally they closed in more recent years due to retirement and not enough business.
The true story went like this. When the court ordered to have the rink shut down and locked down, the employees arrived to find it was padlocked and a notice on the door that the court order to shut down... Everyone was shocked. After the rink was reopened, the same employees were recalled back to work.
The exterior showed 1950s building but updated for the rink look. Purple bottom wall trim, roof trim, poles.. all purple with white background with nice logo on the wall. That was only nice look they had compared to inside.
It is rather a small roller rink with the feel of hockey rink design because it has that yellow bottom border and white walls and rails along with fiberglass windows like a regular hockey rink would have But it is a roller rink. I believed they had it designed this way for roller hockey. But the photos showed too much of a ice rink look.
There was even a scoreboard in one end and pretty dark in that narrow section of the facility between the wall and the rink. Must be where they had fans to watch the hockey games? Good question we do not know. Maybe the skaters and owner would know. Any valuable information you can send, I will be happy to explain on here and pictures of people. Unfortunately, I have are pictures off of their website that are still active even though they defunct not too long ago.
The seating areas and snack-bar are quite unpleasant to see because they appeared to be quite crowded and mix-matched. Yellow round tables with straight laminated wood pattern tables with attached benches, and other kinds of tables and benches even non-attached. It does appear crowded. Poorly designed. I have seen skating rinks quite clean designed on the internet and I personally seen pretty good ones. Usually good matching sets. One of the worst I have seen are Depew and Eastern Hills Skating Centers. It was operated by Roller Magic company, the owner of the four rinks at the time.
It is rather small rink and small seating areas. Although Eastern Hills and Depew are not that far though as I have driven through on NYS Thruway several times going by them.
When the court forced the rink to close for back taxes according to a source, he said the owner damaged the roller rink floor in anger to devalue the property, a common practice for any homeowners or business owners to destroy own properties so that it cost more for creditors (meaning banks) to have tougher time to sell and its lowered price. A rink floor worth 50K to 150K dollars depends on the size of the floor, damages can devalue to 10K. Perhaps that is the amount of the taxes owned? who knows.
This rink is too much similar to the sister rink, Eastern Hills Skating Center. It was same ownership! It was standard look for the chain. One thing though, the rink was right next to the Depew School System (K-12) which was ideal for children to go skating after school by walking over to the rink. Depew School District could have purchased the rink and converted to Ice Hockey rink for their school athletics department.
The building was demolished and now its a mini shopping plaza which is still pretty much empty for at least three years.
UPDATE --
I received an email from a former manager of this rink (read on 12 August 2021). Dusty wrote this--
Here is a little more information about the rink. I was one of the first managers when it opened in 1977. It had been converted from a bowling alley that the Cerrillo family had owned. The bowling alley had a major fire and the owners decided to convert it to a roller rink. That is why it had the odd set up that you see in the pictures. When it first opened it did not have the plexiglass windows that gave it the hockey rink look, those were added after the tax foreclosure. I believe the tax foreclosure was actually on the auto and boat dealerships that the family owned, but all assets were seized, although I guess if they did not pay the taxes on the first two, they probably did not pay on the third. That’s all I can add, hope it helps.
--Dusty
Thanks Dusty for the info. That really helps. Now I understand why those odd arrangement of tables and chairs.
Wow, that is why we all have to pay taxes! Really ouch!
Interior:
The interior was unappealing somewhat because of no murals like most rinks had. They were quite plain and the carpet appeared as it looked faded gray colors on the floor rather than some fancy neon glow in dark carpets that are quite popular now at rinks since 1980s. This rink appeared as it looked 1970s but only reopened in 1985 and closed for good according to their copyrighted on their website, 2009.
It is unappealing because the walls and Plexiglas are set up as roller hockey and that can be unappealing to regular roller skaters which are more comfortable with more opened rink floor than an enclosured roller hockey rink look. The appeal off the floor had some help to increase some mark on attractiveness. Please review photos to see what I mean. Same with the seating. That was because it was a bowling alley according to Dusty.
They added plexiglas and walls in later after the auction for roller hockey.
Exterior:
They kept changing their appearance with paint jobs. It had American Patriotic look but turned to Purple and White but no Red.
They had this big box on top but the newest photo it was not there.
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple, poiyurethane coated. Floor Layout: Log Cabin
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1970s. Demolished: 2017/8 to make way for new plaza.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Cinderblock Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: N/A.
Operations: 1977s to 1984, 1985 to 2009.
Regal Roller Rink: 1977 to 1984
Depew Skating Center: 1985 to 2009.
Reason for Closure: N/A
Regal Roller Rink: Court ordered to close due to back taxes owed.
Depew Skating Center: Retirement, not enough business (fewer skaters attended rink).
Wanted: Any photographs with people at the rink would be helpful and information.
Sources: Roller Magic, Inc./Depew Skating Center, Inc. website (defunct rink but website still running but without this rink).
Dusty--one of first managers in 1977.
Date of issue: January 2019. Updated: 20 February 2021. Updated: 12 August 2021.
© Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3,16.
But before that, it was Regal Roller Rink which opened in the 1970s till its closure forced by the court for back taxes in 1984. It was owned by the Cerullo family. A year later, it was reopened as Depew Skating Center. Finally they closed in more recent years due to retirement and not enough business.
The true story went like this. When the court ordered to have the rink shut down and locked down, the employees arrived to find it was padlocked and a notice on the door that the court order to shut down... Everyone was shocked. After the rink was reopened, the same employees were recalled back to work.
The exterior showed 1950s building but updated for the rink look. Purple bottom wall trim, roof trim, poles.. all purple with white background with nice logo on the wall. That was only nice look they had compared to inside.
It is rather a small roller rink with the feel of hockey rink design because it has that yellow bottom border and white walls and rails along with fiberglass windows like a regular hockey rink would have But it is a roller rink. I believed they had it designed this way for roller hockey. But the photos showed too much of a ice rink look.
There was even a scoreboard in one end and pretty dark in that narrow section of the facility between the wall and the rink. Must be where they had fans to watch the hockey games? Good question we do not know. Maybe the skaters and owner would know. Any valuable information you can send, I will be happy to explain on here and pictures of people. Unfortunately, I have are pictures off of their website that are still active even though they defunct not too long ago.
The seating areas and snack-bar are quite unpleasant to see because they appeared to be quite crowded and mix-matched. Yellow round tables with straight laminated wood pattern tables with attached benches, and other kinds of tables and benches even non-attached. It does appear crowded. Poorly designed. I have seen skating rinks quite clean designed on the internet and I personally seen pretty good ones. Usually good matching sets. One of the worst I have seen are Depew and Eastern Hills Skating Centers. It was operated by Roller Magic company, the owner of the four rinks at the time.
It is rather small rink and small seating areas. Although Eastern Hills and Depew are not that far though as I have driven through on NYS Thruway several times going by them.
When the court forced the rink to close for back taxes according to a source, he said the owner damaged the roller rink floor in anger to devalue the property, a common practice for any homeowners or business owners to destroy own properties so that it cost more for creditors (meaning banks) to have tougher time to sell and its lowered price. A rink floor worth 50K to 150K dollars depends on the size of the floor, damages can devalue to 10K. Perhaps that is the amount of the taxes owned? who knows.
This rink is too much similar to the sister rink, Eastern Hills Skating Center. It was same ownership! It was standard look for the chain. One thing though, the rink was right next to the Depew School System (K-12) which was ideal for children to go skating after school by walking over to the rink. Depew School District could have purchased the rink and converted to Ice Hockey rink for their school athletics department.
The building was demolished and now its a mini shopping plaza which is still pretty much empty for at least three years.
UPDATE --
I received an email from a former manager of this rink (read on 12 August 2021). Dusty wrote this--
Here is a little more information about the rink. I was one of the first managers when it opened in 1977. It had been converted from a bowling alley that the Cerrillo family had owned. The bowling alley had a major fire and the owners decided to convert it to a roller rink. That is why it had the odd set up that you see in the pictures. When it first opened it did not have the plexiglass windows that gave it the hockey rink look, those were added after the tax foreclosure. I believe the tax foreclosure was actually on the auto and boat dealerships that the family owned, but all assets were seized, although I guess if they did not pay the taxes on the first two, they probably did not pay on the third. That’s all I can add, hope it helps.
--Dusty
Thanks Dusty for the info. That really helps. Now I understand why those odd arrangement of tables and chairs.
Wow, that is why we all have to pay taxes! Really ouch!
Interior:
The interior was unappealing somewhat because of no murals like most rinks had. They were quite plain and the carpet appeared as it looked faded gray colors on the floor rather than some fancy neon glow in dark carpets that are quite popular now at rinks since 1980s. This rink appeared as it looked 1970s but only reopened in 1985 and closed for good according to their copyrighted on their website, 2009.
It is unappealing because the walls and Plexiglas are set up as roller hockey and that can be unappealing to regular roller skaters which are more comfortable with more opened rink floor than an enclosured roller hockey rink look. The appeal off the floor had some help to increase some mark on attractiveness. Please review photos to see what I mean. Same with the seating. That was because it was a bowling alley according to Dusty.
They added plexiglas and walls in later after the auction for roller hockey.
Exterior:
They kept changing their appearance with paint jobs. It had American Patriotic look but turned to Purple and White but no Red.
They had this big box on top but the newest photo it was not there.
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple, poiyurethane coated. Floor Layout: Log Cabin
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1970s. Demolished: 2017/8 to make way for new plaza.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Cinderblock Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: N/A.
Operations: 1977s to 1984, 1985 to 2009.
Regal Roller Rink: 1977 to 1984
Depew Skating Center: 1985 to 2009.
Reason for Closure: N/A
Regal Roller Rink: Court ordered to close due to back taxes owed.
Depew Skating Center: Retirement, not enough business (fewer skaters attended rink).
Wanted: Any photographs with people at the rink would be helpful and information.
Sources: Roller Magic, Inc./Depew Skating Center, Inc. website (defunct rink but website still running but without this rink).
Dusty--one of first managers in 1977.
Date of issue: January 2019. Updated: 20 February 2021. Updated: 12 August 2021.
© Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3,16.