Above two were where the original rink was. The new one on the left side of the photo (not shown). Source: Google.
All above courtesy of Richard Young, Ernest's grandson and Facebook group. Exterior, interior with stripes. And see how the construction especially the rink floor was? The cornerstone. Perhaps that cornerstone still there? Has to be.
Google Map showed the old rink on the right in that brick building as the newer rink on the left. You can see the size grew bigger for sure!
New Riverdale Roller Rink 700 East Ave., Warwick, RI
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick 700 East Ave., Warwick, RI
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center 700 East Ave., Warwick, RI
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick 700 East Ave., Warwick, RI
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center 700 East Ave., Warwick, RI
It was that modern building It looked like a Warehouse-like. It is a Gable free-span building to allow skaters to skate more freely on that rink.
Richard Young emailed me and I will let you read this. This is for both history of the original location at the Armory and the new location on East Ave. I will let him speak here for your enjoyment of reading what he wrote me.
My name is Richard Young and my grandfather (Ernest) started Riverdale followed by my parents Ed & Peg Young and I grew up in the rink, actually had my playpen in the coat room next to the snack bar (yes some roller rinks had coat room where you could check in your coats and shoes).
Riverdale Roller Rink was originally called Riverdale Armory as there National Guard had a unit stationed out of there. The rink was on the third floor (not the second). There was on the side of the building a large two story high garage door and inside it the National guard had a tank, half track and jeeps. The first floor was only seven feet high. After the armory moved out it was renamed Riverdale Roller Rink and it was located on Celestial Court (not East Ave).
The rink floor was 60 x120 with no floor coating (rosin was put down to prevent wheels from slipping). Floor coating did not become of age until the early 70’s. The floor style was rotunda which was designed by my grandfather and was the original oval floating floor. It was nailed sideways and not down to the subfloor. The corners were rounded so you always skated on the length of the board. The boards were all grooved to keep them in place.
The original rink open as a skating rink on March 31, 1938 on my fathers 17th birthday. Before then some of the locals skated on the rink before the oval floor was put in. The back building housed my grandfathers Novelty Pottery company but that burnt down as well as part of the back of the front building which later housed the skating rink. The local also were the workers that worked at the pottery business. After the fire he redid the rink with the new floor, organ, etc and as I said before, opened on March 31, 1938.
The rink had a big and strong competitive club that also put on a yearly show. However the rink was open to public skating every night except Monday which was reserved for private parties. Tuesday Night was originally penny night where with a certain date penny (changed every week) and a dollar you could skate the season, later it became dime night. Thursday night was family night and the whole family could skate for just $10. Sunday eventually became an all day skate, starting at 1:30PM and ended at 10:00PM. Those entering after 7:00 got a reduced rate.
The rink was actually the old cloth room of the old Natick Mill and there were railroad off track on the far side of the parking lot. Those tracks were taken out and the new rink built there, The cornerstone was laid in 1968 and the rink had it’s unofficial opening on March 31, 1969, the official date of the old rink closing and the new rink opening. The new rink, called New Riverdale Roller Rink now had it’s own driveway that connected to East Ave and the address was 700 East Ave. New Riverdale Roller Rink became Riverdale Roller World with the expansion of the business to another rink in West Bridgewater MA.I operated the rink with my father from 1972, when we opened the rink in West Bridgewater I took over complete management of the Warwick rink and my brother Ted became the manager of the rink in West Bridgewater.
Hope this helps you out,
Richard Young
UPDATE - 29 July 2021--
I received email from a J.M. who was at this rink. Here is what he has to say:
I was looking through your feed and I have a little bit more information on the closure of (R)oller (M)agic on East Avenue in Warwick Rhode Island.
I was a teenager when I worked there, the late 90s(-)early 2000s. When they were closing, the owner had told me there was roof damage and it was too much money to repair the cost of the roof, wasn’t the skaters didn’t wanna be there that was a local hang out every Thursday night with a day or a program that was provided by the police department. But when they needed to start closing to try to repair the roof and then the roof yet again gave out a little bit it was costing too much to fix it so the owners made The call to shut it down, and then was taken over by another company that put together steel I believe.
The last time I remember stepping foot in there was spring of 2002.
-- J.M.
The Interior.
It was beautiful modern interior with mostly White with clear and again rotunda Maple wood floor. This time, ON the ground floor, not upstairs. It was great floor all the way up to 2010 when the six feet of flood water flooded and the wood actually floated above the water but because of heavy equipment, materials, etc anchored down and it was all ruined.
It had starburst ceiling lights with diamond ball pendant. Very common at most rinks.
The style changed inside. A few things. First the practice floor was on the side but they moved it to the rear part of the building to make room for arcade. And for lockers to be located there.
The décor originally was White background with some colored bricks such as Red, Blue, etc. It reminded me of the appearance of that musical lights an organist played at the UFO in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Later, it was repainted to more plainly stripes. See photos to see what I mean.
They in fact kept the old rink operational for a while as they finished up in the new rink building in 1969 till officially opened in the fall. Then they completely shut down. During construction, they had those Maple wood from an old Mill (read the email I posted).
The original interior may have been all Red-Bricks bricks interior walls with Maple floor. That is truly eye opener because I love that interior design.
The Exterior.
The original was all Red-Bricks brick building. It was by the river. I love this style of building. Was it all brick exposed interior back then?
The exterior was quite modern with that warehouse-like building with Gable roof because of the free-span steel truss for open floor skating. It had steel sheet metal for walls and had that 1970s look vertical window treatments up front. That style of window were common in 1970s.
The color were off White. (new)
The Stats:
Rink Size: 82' x 182' (Main) and 82' x 30' (Practice), Original - 60' x 120' Floor: Clear coated (rosin in original) rotunda floating Maple floor. Floor Layout: Rotunda (main). Straight (Practice).
Building Size: N/A Built: N/A Demolished: Still standing (both original and new). Several businesses housed in new building.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Warehouse-like with floating foam ceiling Building (new) Original was multi-story building.
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Operated:
New Riverdale Roller Rink: March 31, 1969 to N/A
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick: N/A to 1993 (Name changed due to opening of Riverdale Roller World in MA.)
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center: 1993 to 2003
Reason for Closure:
New Riverdale Roller Rink: Name changed to Riverdale Roller World as business growth.
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick: "I won't get into why as not to renew family arguments" Richard Young.
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center: Roof leakage on going even after repairs, too much to replace entirely.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates.
Sources:
Richard Young (See email above in italic)
Skate Magazine, Fall 1969.
J.M. (email).
Date of Issue: 2020 Update: Late 2020. Update: 29 July 2021.
For office only: 17. (3 g).
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3,16.
Richard Young emailed me and I will let you read this. This is for both history of the original location at the Armory and the new location on East Ave. I will let him speak here for your enjoyment of reading what he wrote me.
My name is Richard Young and my grandfather (Ernest) started Riverdale followed by my parents Ed & Peg Young and I grew up in the rink, actually had my playpen in the coat room next to the snack bar (yes some roller rinks had coat room where you could check in your coats and shoes).
Riverdale Roller Rink was originally called Riverdale Armory as there National Guard had a unit stationed out of there. The rink was on the third floor (not the second). There was on the side of the building a large two story high garage door and inside it the National guard had a tank, half track and jeeps. The first floor was only seven feet high. After the armory moved out it was renamed Riverdale Roller Rink and it was located on Celestial Court (not East Ave).
The rink floor was 60 x120 with no floor coating (rosin was put down to prevent wheels from slipping). Floor coating did not become of age until the early 70’s. The floor style was rotunda which was designed by my grandfather and was the original oval floating floor. It was nailed sideways and not down to the subfloor. The corners were rounded so you always skated on the length of the board. The boards were all grooved to keep them in place.
The original rink open as a skating rink on March 31, 1938 on my fathers 17th birthday. Before then some of the locals skated on the rink before the oval floor was put in. The back building housed my grandfathers Novelty Pottery company but that burnt down as well as part of the back of the front building which later housed the skating rink. The local also were the workers that worked at the pottery business. After the fire he redid the rink with the new floor, organ, etc and as I said before, opened on March 31, 1938.
The rink had a big and strong competitive club that also put on a yearly show. However the rink was open to public skating every night except Monday which was reserved for private parties. Tuesday Night was originally penny night where with a certain date penny (changed every week) and a dollar you could skate the season, later it became dime night. Thursday night was family night and the whole family could skate for just $10. Sunday eventually became an all day skate, starting at 1:30PM and ended at 10:00PM. Those entering after 7:00 got a reduced rate.
The rink was actually the old cloth room of the old Natick Mill and there were railroad off track on the far side of the parking lot. Those tracks were taken out and the new rink built there, The cornerstone was laid in 1968 and the rink had it’s unofficial opening on March 31, 1969, the official date of the old rink closing and the new rink opening. The new rink, called New Riverdale Roller Rink now had it’s own driveway that connected to East Ave and the address was 700 East Ave. New Riverdale Roller Rink became Riverdale Roller World with the expansion of the business to another rink in West Bridgewater MA.I operated the rink with my father from 1972, when we opened the rink in West Bridgewater I took over complete management of the Warwick rink and my brother Ted became the manager of the rink in West Bridgewater.
Hope this helps you out,
Richard Young
UPDATE - 29 July 2021--
I received email from a J.M. who was at this rink. Here is what he has to say:
I was looking through your feed and I have a little bit more information on the closure of (R)oller (M)agic on East Avenue in Warwick Rhode Island.
I was a teenager when I worked there, the late 90s(-)early 2000s. When they were closing, the owner had told me there was roof damage and it was too much money to repair the cost of the roof, wasn’t the skaters didn’t wanna be there that was a local hang out every Thursday night with a day or a program that was provided by the police department. But when they needed to start closing to try to repair the roof and then the roof yet again gave out a little bit it was costing too much to fix it so the owners made The call to shut it down, and then was taken over by another company that put together steel I believe.
The last time I remember stepping foot in there was spring of 2002.
-- J.M.
The Interior.
It was beautiful modern interior with mostly White with clear and again rotunda Maple wood floor. This time, ON the ground floor, not upstairs. It was great floor all the way up to 2010 when the six feet of flood water flooded and the wood actually floated above the water but because of heavy equipment, materials, etc anchored down and it was all ruined.
It had starburst ceiling lights with diamond ball pendant. Very common at most rinks.
The style changed inside. A few things. First the practice floor was on the side but they moved it to the rear part of the building to make room for arcade. And for lockers to be located there.
The décor originally was White background with some colored bricks such as Red, Blue, etc. It reminded me of the appearance of that musical lights an organist played at the UFO in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Later, it was repainted to more plainly stripes. See photos to see what I mean.
They in fact kept the old rink operational for a while as they finished up in the new rink building in 1969 till officially opened in the fall. Then they completely shut down. During construction, they had those Maple wood from an old Mill (read the email I posted).
The original interior may have been all Red-Bricks bricks interior walls with Maple floor. That is truly eye opener because I love that interior design.
The Exterior.
The original was all Red-Bricks brick building. It was by the river. I love this style of building. Was it all brick exposed interior back then?
The exterior was quite modern with that warehouse-like building with Gable roof because of the free-span steel truss for open floor skating. It had steel sheet metal for walls and had that 1970s look vertical window treatments up front. That style of window were common in 1970s.
The color were off White. (new)
The Stats:
Rink Size: 82' x 182' (Main) and 82' x 30' (Practice), Original - 60' x 120' Floor: Clear coated (rosin in original) rotunda floating Maple floor. Floor Layout: Rotunda (main). Straight (Practice).
Building Size: N/A Built: N/A Demolished: Still standing (both original and new). Several businesses housed in new building.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Warehouse-like with floating foam ceiling Building (new) Original was multi-story building.
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Operated:
New Riverdale Roller Rink: March 31, 1969 to N/A
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick: N/A to 1993 (Name changed due to opening of Riverdale Roller World in MA.)
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center: 1993 to 2003
Reason for Closure:
New Riverdale Roller Rink: Name changed to Riverdale Roller World as business growth.
Riverdale Roller World of Warrick: "I won't get into why as not to renew family arguments" Richard Young.
Roller Magic Warwick Skating Center: Roof leakage on going even after repairs, too much to replace entirely.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates.
Sources:
Richard Young (See email above in italic)
Skate Magazine, Fall 1969.
J.M. (email).
Date of Issue: 2020 Update: Late 2020. Update: 29 July 2021.
For office only: 17. (3 g).
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3,16.