All articles of The Messena Observer newspapers.
Frederick's Rollerena, Orvis Street East at Main Street, Massena, NY
Frederick's was on two main street. A main corner in this town of Massena, NY which is in the very North of New York State near the Canadian border and the St. Lawrence River. It's specific location is not known but giving clue that it says Orvis Street East at Main, this means a corner. According to street level Google Map, that would have to be where a Rite Aid pharmacy is located because the other corner was a very old church that is no longer there (church was demolished or burned down). The rink itself is gone too. There are no other information but mentioned in the area newspapers two or three times. One was listed as one of the sponsors of the Louisville Lions Club Trade Fair. a trade show at the time and had a lot of sponsors (Massena, NY Observer newspaper, Page 10, Thursday September 15, 1983. It was held on September 16th at the Louisville Community Center Arena). They also had other sponsors including both Boys and Girl Scouts and many others.
Frederick's seemed to be in the newspapers more than any thing I can find on the net. There is another newspaper mentioned about the rink in same day! Same newspaper, same date, different page. It was mentioned on page 3. This one they were talking about a four hour Jerry Lewis Skate-a-Thon to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It was a national event likely because it was co-sponsored by Roller Skating Rink Operators Association (predecessors of RSAI). This was the second event they held as they did in 1982. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for that Skate-A-Thon in 1982 according to the article. That was quite a successful.
It was clear that Frederick's was very involved in charity causes and sponsorships. Sounds like a good reputation. Sadly the rink is not around anymore. Sound like a good one to go to. Franz Frederick who founded the rink was very involved with the community. What I showed above was not all. They even had annual "Thank Goodness School's Out" skate party at the rink, see here.
That article was found in the Massena Observer, page 2, Tuesday July 29, 1980. Pretty late to have such a party since it was middle of summer! Should have been in June. Anyway, there was some bad news and Franz Fredrick was upset about the town banning roller skating on the streets and sidewalks. He was really encouraging them to skate as means of exercise. See this article here.
Did they pass ordinance? Maybe this was part of reason why roller skating declined? No wonder children today are overweight and adults too because of banning skating, skateboarding, etc? And this caused rinks to close because no one was coming? Franz was right about skating. So, Franz shut down the skating rink business but still owns the building and had it converted to offices and a fitness center to occupy 12,000 square feet. The main floor has 20,000 Square feet. Which corner I still am thinking. Google Map only did street mapping on Main Street and never did Ovis street. And poor quality since it was filmed in 2008.
Anyway, the rink shut down in February 1986 as said in the Observer. It was a cover story. Around the time most rinks shut down in the 1980s when the Roller Disco burst a few years earlier. Franz said when he first opened in June 1980, it was about a thousand skaters each session with little advertisements. But in past few months leading to Feb. 1986, a lot of advertising expenses with just 300 to 400 skaters. The the profits was shrinking greatly because of the scale between expenditures and income tipped greatly.
I do not have any architectural details and if any of you have photos of the rink both outside and inside, that would be a huge help.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: N/A Rink layout: N/A
Building Size: 20,000 SF Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span Building.
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Operated: June 1980 to February 1986
Reason for Closure: N/A
Wanted: Information regarding photographs! Exact day for each-open and closure.
Sources: Many articles including The Messena Observer newspapers. (click on any above)
© 2019 - 2020 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.
Frederick's was on two main street. A main corner in this town of Massena, NY which is in the very North of New York State near the Canadian border and the St. Lawrence River. It's specific location is not known but giving clue that it says Orvis Street East at Main, this means a corner. According to street level Google Map, that would have to be where a Rite Aid pharmacy is located because the other corner was a very old church that is no longer there (church was demolished or burned down). The rink itself is gone too. There are no other information but mentioned in the area newspapers two or three times. One was listed as one of the sponsors of the Louisville Lions Club Trade Fair. a trade show at the time and had a lot of sponsors (Massena, NY Observer newspaper, Page 10, Thursday September 15, 1983. It was held on September 16th at the Louisville Community Center Arena). They also had other sponsors including both Boys and Girl Scouts and many others.
Frederick's seemed to be in the newspapers more than any thing I can find on the net. There is another newspaper mentioned about the rink in same day! Same newspaper, same date, different page. It was mentioned on page 3. This one they were talking about a four hour Jerry Lewis Skate-a-Thon to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. It was a national event likely because it was co-sponsored by Roller Skating Rink Operators Association (predecessors of RSAI). This was the second event they held as they did in 1982. They raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for that Skate-A-Thon in 1982 according to the article. That was quite a successful.
It was clear that Frederick's was very involved in charity causes and sponsorships. Sounds like a good reputation. Sadly the rink is not around anymore. Sound like a good one to go to. Franz Frederick who founded the rink was very involved with the community. What I showed above was not all. They even had annual "Thank Goodness School's Out" skate party at the rink, see here.
That article was found in the Massena Observer, page 2, Tuesday July 29, 1980. Pretty late to have such a party since it was middle of summer! Should have been in June. Anyway, there was some bad news and Franz Fredrick was upset about the town banning roller skating on the streets and sidewalks. He was really encouraging them to skate as means of exercise. See this article here.
Did they pass ordinance? Maybe this was part of reason why roller skating declined? No wonder children today are overweight and adults too because of banning skating, skateboarding, etc? And this caused rinks to close because no one was coming? Franz was right about skating. So, Franz shut down the skating rink business but still owns the building and had it converted to offices and a fitness center to occupy 12,000 square feet. The main floor has 20,000 Square feet. Which corner I still am thinking. Google Map only did street mapping on Main Street and never did Ovis street. And poor quality since it was filmed in 2008.
Anyway, the rink shut down in February 1986 as said in the Observer. It was a cover story. Around the time most rinks shut down in the 1980s when the Roller Disco burst a few years earlier. Franz said when he first opened in June 1980, it was about a thousand skaters each session with little advertisements. But in past few months leading to Feb. 1986, a lot of advertising expenses with just 300 to 400 skaters. The the profits was shrinking greatly because of the scale between expenditures and income tipped greatly.
I do not have any architectural details and if any of you have photos of the rink both outside and inside, that would be a huge help.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: N/A Rink layout: N/A
Building Size: 20,000 SF Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span Building.
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Operated: June 1980 to February 1986
Reason for Closure: N/A
Wanted: Information regarding photographs! Exact day for each-open and closure.
Sources: Many articles including The Messena Observer newspapers. (click on any above)
© 2019 - 2020 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.