Lakeside Roller Rink, Cokato, MN
This rink was in Cokato, Minnesota and unfortunately I do not have much information regarding this rink. I could not find where it was located either. It failed to address where the address. This is truly a mystery.
Where is Unsolved Mysteries when I need them? Haha.
Only one article mentioned this rink. It was in the Herald Journal! No, not the Syracuse Herald Journal. It is from Cokato, MN area.
It first opened in 1973. It did exchange hands often. Originally was in a Chicken barn. They originally built the barn seven years earlier and collected 14,000 eggs from 12,000 Hens but it became skating rink that had 175 feet long. Somewhat narrow too. Lorraine and Harold Thompson owned the barn and the rink. According to the HJ on January 4, 1973, the floor cost them 10,000 USD. That was cheap to us but adjusted for inflation in 2019 USD, that is quite expensive. According to the scale online, it came to $57,960.81 and that is quite a bit more expensive than today's cost about half of that amount. Depends on the size of the rink too. And that cost was adjusted by 479.6% rate of inflation.
So, technically, that was more expensive for them. But they did open the rink at the time.
I believe they actually opened in late 1972 because the article was January 4, 1973 and it did explained the average already for the number of skaters attended the rink. They averaged 150 skaters per session. The rink was estimated to hold 200 skaters.
The whole family operated the rink including their children. Later, the Thompsons sold the rink on to Neil and Fran Emerson in August 1975. The Emerson couple also had children helping out at the rink as well. Both were truly entire family operations.
The Emersons then sold the rink in 1981 to brothers John and Michael Hass. In September 1981, the Thompsons again took ownership of the rink, and then a year later Lloyd and Sandi Rogers of Danfur and their four children took over the operation. Quite a bit of exchanging hands!
September 1983 had the Ylitalos took on management, as the Thompsons owning the rink again But The Thompsons propsed that the Ylitalos lease the rink with the option to buy, because they no longer had the energy for it, and thought the Ylitalos might, Brita said.
So from 1983 to 1986, the Ylitalos and their four children spent their weekends at Lakeside providing entertainment for area youth.
Although the Ylitalos had three years operating Lakeside, liability insurance became unaffordable around that time, which ultimately closed down the rink. It was at a time liability insurance were quite difficult and expensive for many rinks as well as any other businesses. Even just a simple Putt Putt® Course Mini-Golf that they even told me in late 1980s that insurance hurt their business and was forced to change some of the designs at their mini-golf courses. They said all kinds of businesses were affected. And this incident and accident effected the outcome of the rink:
One night a girl skating, got hurt by landing on her neck. She was bussed to the hospital on an ambulance, The Ylitalos received a phone call with a bad news saying that the girl’s neck may be broken. It looked serious.
The Ylitalos stopped everything at the rink that night and prayed. A while later, another phone call from the hospital relieved the Ylitalos worst fears – the girl’s neck was not broken. Praise God. I am sure the girl grew up okay.
However, without liability insurance that night, the Ylitalos no longer felt comfortable operating the roller skating rink. This is why they closed the rink. This is a classic example why many rinks closed for good. Typically it is the responsibility of the business for the safety and liability for all of their customers, patrons, even staff, and vendors. I am not talking about rinks, I am talking about any kind of businesses. Even governments too. And NPO (Non-Profit Organization) as well as NGO (Non-Government Organizations). The same goes for any house of worship.
This is why now rinks have liability insurance waivers that makes you not causing injury to yourself in order to collect money, second reason is to make yourself responsibility, not the facility to pay you for injuries. Your own insurance pays for it, period.
It would have been nice to skate there if insurance was not an issue at the time.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Wood (kind is unknown) Floor Layout: N/A
Building Size: N/A Built: 1966
Type of Building: Free Span barn.
Roof: N/A
Acres: N/A
Operated: 1972/73 To 1986.
Reason for Closure: Liability insurance premium too high and had no insurance had to close because of the little girl's fall on her neck, hospitalized and she was ok.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open and closed. Photos of both interior and exterior and I need address! Where was it?
Sources: Herald Journal, Fran Emerson Obituary,
© 2019 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.
This rink was in Cokato, Minnesota and unfortunately I do not have much information regarding this rink. I could not find where it was located either. It failed to address where the address. This is truly a mystery.
Where is Unsolved Mysteries when I need them? Haha.
Only one article mentioned this rink. It was in the Herald Journal! No, not the Syracuse Herald Journal. It is from Cokato, MN area.
It first opened in 1973. It did exchange hands often. Originally was in a Chicken barn. They originally built the barn seven years earlier and collected 14,000 eggs from 12,000 Hens but it became skating rink that had 175 feet long. Somewhat narrow too. Lorraine and Harold Thompson owned the barn and the rink. According to the HJ on January 4, 1973, the floor cost them 10,000 USD. That was cheap to us but adjusted for inflation in 2019 USD, that is quite expensive. According to the scale online, it came to $57,960.81 and that is quite a bit more expensive than today's cost about half of that amount. Depends on the size of the rink too. And that cost was adjusted by 479.6% rate of inflation.
So, technically, that was more expensive for them. But they did open the rink at the time.
I believe they actually opened in late 1972 because the article was January 4, 1973 and it did explained the average already for the number of skaters attended the rink. They averaged 150 skaters per session. The rink was estimated to hold 200 skaters.
The whole family operated the rink including their children. Later, the Thompsons sold the rink on to Neil and Fran Emerson in August 1975. The Emerson couple also had children helping out at the rink as well. Both were truly entire family operations.
The Emersons then sold the rink in 1981 to brothers John and Michael Hass. In September 1981, the Thompsons again took ownership of the rink, and then a year later Lloyd and Sandi Rogers of Danfur and their four children took over the operation. Quite a bit of exchanging hands!
September 1983 had the Ylitalos took on management, as the Thompsons owning the rink again But The Thompsons propsed that the Ylitalos lease the rink with the option to buy, because they no longer had the energy for it, and thought the Ylitalos might, Brita said.
So from 1983 to 1986, the Ylitalos and their four children spent their weekends at Lakeside providing entertainment for area youth.
Although the Ylitalos had three years operating Lakeside, liability insurance became unaffordable around that time, which ultimately closed down the rink. It was at a time liability insurance were quite difficult and expensive for many rinks as well as any other businesses. Even just a simple Putt Putt® Course Mini-Golf that they even told me in late 1980s that insurance hurt their business and was forced to change some of the designs at their mini-golf courses. They said all kinds of businesses were affected. And this incident and accident effected the outcome of the rink:
One night a girl skating, got hurt by landing on her neck. She was bussed to the hospital on an ambulance, The Ylitalos received a phone call with a bad news saying that the girl’s neck may be broken. It looked serious.
The Ylitalos stopped everything at the rink that night and prayed. A while later, another phone call from the hospital relieved the Ylitalos worst fears – the girl’s neck was not broken. Praise God. I am sure the girl grew up okay.
However, without liability insurance that night, the Ylitalos no longer felt comfortable operating the roller skating rink. This is why they closed the rink. This is a classic example why many rinks closed for good. Typically it is the responsibility of the business for the safety and liability for all of their customers, patrons, even staff, and vendors. I am not talking about rinks, I am talking about any kind of businesses. Even governments too. And NPO (Non-Profit Organization) as well as NGO (Non-Government Organizations). The same goes for any house of worship.
This is why now rinks have liability insurance waivers that makes you not causing injury to yourself in order to collect money, second reason is to make yourself responsibility, not the facility to pay you for injuries. Your own insurance pays for it, period.
It would have been nice to skate there if insurance was not an issue at the time.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Wood (kind is unknown) Floor Layout: N/A
Building Size: N/A Built: 1966
Type of Building: Free Span barn.
Roof: N/A
Acres: N/A
Operated: 1972/73 To 1986.
Reason for Closure: Liability insurance premium too high and had no insurance had to close because of the little girl's fall on her neck, hospitalized and she was ok.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open and closed. Photos of both interior and exterior and I need address! Where was it?
Sources: Herald Journal, Fran Emerson Obituary,
© 2019 Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved.