All photos above: courtesy of story_51709 on Photobucket. Bottom photo is the Hoffman's family. All of them skating.
Hoffman's Skateland, 1335 Central Avenue, Albany, New York
Hoffman's Skateland was not part of a chain of Skateland that was quite common name out in Western NY and in Erie, PA. This was in Albany and it says Hoffman's which means the Hoffman Family owned it. It was founded by John Hoffman of the Hoffman Family that owned the skating rink, bowling ally, amusement park, and more according to bizjournals.com website (I could not open its page at all due to adblocker I have blocking ads but when I unblocked it and white listed, it refused to open because you have to subscribe to it! No thanks! I only need ONE article to read.
I found that out in the search engine that says so. Likely it was part of the Hoffman Family that owned the Hoffman's Playland amusement park that ceased operations in 2013. I am not sure but need more information if this is the one and same related.
The post card is all I have for views. So are the pictures.
Architecturally, it was a deep red brick building with a slight curved arch roof. The design was very much of 1940s look with the arch and flat front that gave its unique look with a slight flair of modernism as it was becoming mid-Century look with a little bit of Art Nouveau flair look (white part) on the top part of the roof. But it was a slight mix of Art Deco and Mid-Century design.
The interior was designed with wood floor, cinderblock walls, and you can see the arch with flickering banners from wall to wall. It was the style of its day. I do not know what color it was and what color decor of that place was like.
Clearly this place was big on figure skating, couples skating, roller dances, ballroom dances. Perhaps ballroom dancing, not skating was available. It had organ music at the rink. In fact, two types of organs played by a single organist. It also hosted basketball court(s) on the rink since you can see the hoop in one of the photos. It even in fact had basketball baskets seen in one of the photo. It was more than just a rink. It was entertainment.
The rink ran from around 1941 to Unknown. It kind of quietly faded because there are no other information available.
Likely it closed down in 1960s by the way of looks of those photos because none of late 1960s look and beyond were available.
Rink Size: N/A (likely hockey rink size) Floor: Likely Maple Wood.
Floor Layout: Fan (standard figure skating and basketball court)
Building Size: N/A Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span D-roof cinderblock Building.
Roof: D-Roof
Acres: N/A
Operated: c. 1941 to ?
Sources: Forgotten roller rinks of the past, flickr. Also Photobucket.com.
© 2019 - 2020 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.
Hoffman's Skateland was not part of a chain of Skateland that was quite common name out in Western NY and in Erie, PA. This was in Albany and it says Hoffman's which means the Hoffman Family owned it. It was founded by John Hoffman of the Hoffman Family that owned the skating rink, bowling ally, amusement park, and more according to bizjournals.com website (I could not open its page at all due to adblocker I have blocking ads but when I unblocked it and white listed, it refused to open because you have to subscribe to it! No thanks! I only need ONE article to read.
I found that out in the search engine that says so. Likely it was part of the Hoffman Family that owned the Hoffman's Playland amusement park that ceased operations in 2013. I am not sure but need more information if this is the one and same related.
The post card is all I have for views. So are the pictures.
Architecturally, it was a deep red brick building with a slight curved arch roof. The design was very much of 1940s look with the arch and flat front that gave its unique look with a slight flair of modernism as it was becoming mid-Century look with a little bit of Art Nouveau flair look (white part) on the top part of the roof. But it was a slight mix of Art Deco and Mid-Century design.
The interior was designed with wood floor, cinderblock walls, and you can see the arch with flickering banners from wall to wall. It was the style of its day. I do not know what color it was and what color decor of that place was like.
Clearly this place was big on figure skating, couples skating, roller dances, ballroom dances. Perhaps ballroom dancing, not skating was available. It had organ music at the rink. In fact, two types of organs played by a single organist. It also hosted basketball court(s) on the rink since you can see the hoop in one of the photos. It even in fact had basketball baskets seen in one of the photo. It was more than just a rink. It was entertainment.
The rink ran from around 1941 to Unknown. It kind of quietly faded because there are no other information available.
Likely it closed down in 1960s by the way of looks of those photos because none of late 1960s look and beyond were available.
Rink Size: N/A (likely hockey rink size) Floor: Likely Maple Wood.
Floor Layout: Fan (standard figure skating and basketball court)
Building Size: N/A Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span D-roof cinderblock Building.
Roof: D-Roof
Acres: N/A
Operated: c. 1941 to ?
Sources: Forgotten roller rinks of the past, flickr. Also Photobucket.com.
© 2019 - 2020 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.