Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. As it appears today. Courtesy of Loop Net.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of Madison Florham Park Eagle - 04 April 1968
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of Madison Florham Park Eagle - 09 May 1968.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. 1970 USARSA advertisement. Courtesy of USARSA.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of The Record - 02 Feb 1975.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of New Yrok Times - 16 November 1997, page 14, Titled SHOPPING AROUND, SUBURBAN STRIP; From Bowling Alley to Shopping Center as Times and Economics.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of West Assex Tribune - Wednesday, 15 August 2015.
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ. Courtesy of Rink- History.
Livingston Lanes 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
America On Wheels 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Finders Keepers 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Strawberry's 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
The Shoppe at 615 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Livingston Roller Rink 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
America On Wheels 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Finders Keepers 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Strawberry's 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
The Shoppe at 615 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, NJ
Originally, it was Livingston Lanes bowling alley at 615 Livingston Ave. S., Livingston, New Jersey which was housed there in the late 1950s but it did not last long. The 16 lanes in the 24,000 Square Foot Segmental Arch building had to be converted to a roller rink so in 1967, the bowling lanes closed and the floor was converted to a 90 by 180 Feet Northern Michigan Maple Wood Floor was installed for the roller rink
First it was Livingston Lanes. it first opened and operated by Bernie Kruth, along with his business partners in 19. But It was sold to Ernie Teed and his partner, Mr. Wooten. First name is unknown at this time. I wanted to read the rest of the article that would state exact when the bowling alley first opened. However, the West Essex Tribune limited to only subscription if you order for annual subscription digitally. However, I would not allow that. I only wanted for one day for this one. Or any more for the rink. It is against our policy at Rink-History to order any subscriptions if you only going to use that newspaper or news media once. There are thousands of rinks.. We do not have millions of dollars to spend on all subscriptions. There fore, that is all I can do here. If you have the rest of the article, great, send it to us.. Same with Livingston Roller Rink and or any rinks or any thing related, send it to us at Rink-History.
Likely the bowling alley opened in 1967 due to that article stating they got permit to post the sign that year. But closed the bowling alley in 1967 according to NYT.
So, on 09 May 1968, they finally opened as Livingston Roller Rink under America On Wheels banner. They operated the rink until the Great Insurance Complication of 1980s which was skyrocketing cost of insuring high risk businesses such as roller rinks and banks denying loans for same reasons. This issue was faced the same with automakers with the muscle cars of 1960s and early 1970s which effectively killed many models and brands.
The rink was operated as a chain for America On Wheels, an AOW Corporation that owned several rinks. The managers at the rink were Joseph Schneider in 1968 and later, Tommy Kress who was promoted to a manager. Only that Tommy Kress became the youngest manager at the age of 23 when he was promoted to be manager in 1975 according to the article and obituary. Had to figure it out by math.
The other issue was that the crowd at the rink were becoming rougher. Rowdy as it was alienating regulars away from the rink because of rough crowd. This occurrence often happened at many rinks since 1980s as it had in 1920s and 1930s which was why Roller Skating Rinks Operators Association was formed to curb rowdy crowds. RSAI needs to reinforce that as well today. AND better music. Heck, Opera and Symphony Orchestra music can scare away rowdy crowds! Haha. Time to bring back organ music. It can act like a Symphony Orchestra.
Anyway, the timing with this rink closing coincidence with the demise of America On Wheels as they folded the AOW Corporation due to lack of the next generation family members who were owners and operators of the company desire to work for AOW. (They could have sold it to United Skates of America).
Cannot bring that name back because of a museum is using that name now called America On Wheels, a collection of automobiles in a museum in Pennsylvania. Can name it as SOW. Skaters on Wheels. Oh well.
After the rink closed, it became Finders Keepers but it had short lived then it became another called Strawberry's, a female clothing store, and short lived too. So, now it is The Shoppe at 615 whereas it was found more successful with children-minded retail stores.
The Interior.
It had a 90' x 180' Non-colored Hardwood Northern Michigan Maple roller rink floor. Currently no photograph available for the interior.
The Exterior.
The building we do not know exactly what it was like at the time as the bowling alley and later the roller rink but can give you idea that it was Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks - Walled Arena - like Building. It had Segmental Arch roof that even had arched in front and back.
Loop Net says it is 23,500 Square Foot however, Property Shark claimed it is at 22,982 Square Feet of building available. Conflicting!
The Stats:
Rink Size: 90' x 180' Floor: Non-colored Hardwood Northern Michigan Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 23,500 SF. Built: 1940. (Loop Net). Renovations: 1955, 1968, 1986, 2 more unknown dates. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks - Walled Arena - like Building.
Roof: Segmental Arch roof that even had arched in front and back.
Acres: N/A.
Architect: N/A.
Contractor: N/A.
Interior Designer: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: (as Livingston Lanes prior to rink): 16 Lanes.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: (as bowling alley: Unknown number)
Pocket Billiard Tables: (as rink: Unknown number)
Air Hockey Tables: N/A.
Foosball Table: N/A.
Basketball Speed: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Theater (movie/stage): None.
Dance Center: None.
Picnic Grove: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
Original business: 1940 to 1953/4.
Livingston Lanes: 1955 to 1967
Livingston Roller Rink: Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
America On Wheels: Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
Finders Keepers: Late 1980s to N/A.
Strawberry's: N/A.
The Shoppes at 615: N/A to Present.
Reason for Closure:
Original business: N/A.
Livingston Lanes: Declining business.
Livingston Roller Rink: Insurance rates skyrocketed, rejected policy on Rink; Rough crowds.
America On Wheels: Insurance rates skyrocketed, rejected policy on Rink; Rough crowds.
Finders Keepers: N/A.
Strawberry's: N/A.
The Shoppes at 615: Still Operational!
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also, photos/articles. Also send me any updates such as reopening, sold, name changes, or whatsoever occurred with this rink or any rinks. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Rink-History©. Before you email, please state this rink name AND THE CITY AND STATE (or COUNTRY) so I can know where or what rink you are talking about. Thank you. We welcome both active and defunct rinks.
Sources:
Loop Net - property records
Sources are listed above.
West Essex Tribune - Bowling.
Loop Net - More property records found.
Property Shark - property records.
Obituary - Thomas J. Kress Sr. (06 January 1952 to 24 August 2013)
Date of issue: 14 August 2023.
Updated:
For office use only: 8.
Worth to visit:
You can see the exterior which still stands today. It is a shopping plaza so you can see only exterior. Nothing to be found inside.
DISCLAIMER:
International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© (formerly known as Dead-Rinks) and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Dead Rinks is now International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© because many former names have become new names at the same rinks that are still active and due to much confusion, We have decided that International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© fits better for all rinks including defunct, closed, inactive, rebooted, and rinks that are still active today. For short on this site, it is International Roller Skating Rinks History© Bear with us as we change the entire site page by page each day. Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former. Since we are rebooted to allow alive rinks, active rinks, we welcome those active rinks as well. It will be described.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© are not the property of International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group and/or International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved become property of International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Disclaimer.
© Copyrighted by International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation©, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 17. Deut. 32:7.
First it was Livingston Lanes. it first opened and operated by Bernie Kruth, along with his business partners in 19. But It was sold to Ernie Teed and his partner, Mr. Wooten. First name is unknown at this time. I wanted to read the rest of the article that would state exact when the bowling alley first opened. However, the West Essex Tribune limited to only subscription if you order for annual subscription digitally. However, I would not allow that. I only wanted for one day for this one. Or any more for the rink. It is against our policy at Rink-History to order any subscriptions if you only going to use that newspaper or news media once. There are thousands of rinks.. We do not have millions of dollars to spend on all subscriptions. There fore, that is all I can do here. If you have the rest of the article, great, send it to us.. Same with Livingston Roller Rink and or any rinks or any thing related, send it to us at Rink-History.
Likely the bowling alley opened in 1967 due to that article stating they got permit to post the sign that year. But closed the bowling alley in 1967 according to NYT.
So, on 09 May 1968, they finally opened as Livingston Roller Rink under America On Wheels banner. They operated the rink until the Great Insurance Complication of 1980s which was skyrocketing cost of insuring high risk businesses such as roller rinks and banks denying loans for same reasons. This issue was faced the same with automakers with the muscle cars of 1960s and early 1970s which effectively killed many models and brands.
The rink was operated as a chain for America On Wheels, an AOW Corporation that owned several rinks. The managers at the rink were Joseph Schneider in 1968 and later, Tommy Kress who was promoted to a manager. Only that Tommy Kress became the youngest manager at the age of 23 when he was promoted to be manager in 1975 according to the article and obituary. Had to figure it out by math.
The other issue was that the crowd at the rink were becoming rougher. Rowdy as it was alienating regulars away from the rink because of rough crowd. This occurrence often happened at many rinks since 1980s as it had in 1920s and 1930s which was why Roller Skating Rinks Operators Association was formed to curb rowdy crowds. RSAI needs to reinforce that as well today. AND better music. Heck, Opera and Symphony Orchestra music can scare away rowdy crowds! Haha. Time to bring back organ music. It can act like a Symphony Orchestra.
Anyway, the timing with this rink closing coincidence with the demise of America On Wheels as they folded the AOW Corporation due to lack of the next generation family members who were owners and operators of the company desire to work for AOW. (They could have sold it to United Skates of America).
Cannot bring that name back because of a museum is using that name now called America On Wheels, a collection of automobiles in a museum in Pennsylvania. Can name it as SOW. Skaters on Wheels. Oh well.
After the rink closed, it became Finders Keepers but it had short lived then it became another called Strawberry's, a female clothing store, and short lived too. So, now it is The Shoppe at 615 whereas it was found more successful with children-minded retail stores.
The Interior.
It had a 90' x 180' Non-colored Hardwood Northern Michigan Maple roller rink floor. Currently no photograph available for the interior.
The Exterior.
The building we do not know exactly what it was like at the time as the bowling alley and later the roller rink but can give you idea that it was Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks - Walled Arena - like Building. It had Segmental Arch roof that even had arched in front and back.
Loop Net says it is 23,500 Square Foot however, Property Shark claimed it is at 22,982 Square Feet of building available. Conflicting!
The Stats:
Rink Size: 90' x 180' Floor: Non-colored Hardwood Northern Michigan Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 23,500 SF. Built: 1940. (Loop Net). Renovations: 1955, 1968, 1986, 2 more unknown dates. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Cinderblocks - Walled Arena - like Building.
Roof: Segmental Arch roof that even had arched in front and back.
Acres: N/A.
Architect: N/A.
Contractor: N/A.
Interior Designer: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: (as Livingston Lanes prior to rink): 16 Lanes.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: (as bowling alley: Unknown number)
Pocket Billiard Tables: (as rink: Unknown number)
Air Hockey Tables: N/A.
Foosball Table: N/A.
Basketball Speed: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Theater (movie/stage): None.
Dance Center: None.
Picnic Grove: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
Original business: 1940 to 1953/4.
Livingston Lanes: 1955 to 1967
Livingston Roller Rink: Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
America On Wheels: Wednesday, 15 May 1968 at 6:30 pm to 1986.
Finders Keepers: Late 1980s to N/A.
Strawberry's: N/A.
The Shoppes at 615: N/A to Present.
Reason for Closure:
Original business: N/A.
Livingston Lanes: Declining business.
Livingston Roller Rink: Insurance rates skyrocketed, rejected policy on Rink; Rough crowds.
America On Wheels: Insurance rates skyrocketed, rejected policy on Rink; Rough crowds.
Finders Keepers: N/A.
Strawberry's: N/A.
The Shoppes at 615: Still Operational!
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also, photos/articles. Also send me any updates such as reopening, sold, name changes, or whatsoever occurred with this rink or any rinks. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at Rink-History©. Before you email, please state this rink name AND THE CITY AND STATE (or COUNTRY) so I can know where or what rink you are talking about. Thank you. We welcome both active and defunct rinks.
Sources:
Loop Net - property records
Sources are listed above.
West Essex Tribune - Bowling.
Loop Net - More property records found.
Property Shark - property records.
Obituary - Thomas J. Kress Sr. (06 January 1952 to 24 August 2013)
Date of issue: 14 August 2023.
Updated:
For office use only: 8.
Worth to visit:
You can see the exterior which still stands today. It is a shopping plaza so you can see only exterior. Nothing to be found inside.
DISCLAIMER:
International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© (formerly known as Dead-Rinks) and Mark Falso are not responsible for your physical and legal injuries you may have caused. We do not endorse such illegal activities including breaking and entry of former rinks, malls, abandoned buildings, etc. Please always obey laws and regulations and property owner's signs. Some states allow purple paint on fence which means they even have guns on their property and have rights to shoot you. Please DO NOT attempt to enter property without permission!
For abandoned rinks, after you receive permission, do WEAR safety OSHA equipment including a safety glasses, pair of safety gloves, an orange vest or a jacket, and a construction helmet.
Thank you for understanding.
Dead Rinks is now International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© because many former names have become new names at the same rinks that are still active and due to much confusion, We have decided that International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© fits better for all rinks including defunct, closed, inactive, rebooted, and rinks that are still active today. For short on this site, it is International Roller Skating Rinks History© Bear with us as we change the entire site page by page each day. Thank you for understanding.
Second of all: The contents including words and photos above on this page and/or on any pages are purely educational entertainment purposes only. I provide what information from other websites, skaters, and operators and it may end up with different results between two (or more) sources. It is not our responsible for errors we caused. All sources are shown on each page. All opinions and statements of mine are also stated and are for purely educational entertainment only.
Rinks that are closed are considered dead. Rinks that are/were sold and with new management names new name(s), the former are considered dead. Previous operating rink that closed but came back years later, are considered dead because the reopening is considered rebooted, nothing to do with the former. Since we are rebooted to allow alive rinks, active rinks, we welcome those active rinks as well. It will be described.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
Any music associated with any YouTube or any other videos provided on International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© are not the property of International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group and/or International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved become property of International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© and are watermarked but they are credited to you (or where the source is from). Thank you for understanding. To understand more about this, please go to this page: Disclaimer.
© Copyrighted by International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation©, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 17. Deut. 32:7.