Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS. Source: Google.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS. They painted the sides! It is water proofed and does help brighten up the mood. My favorite part is how the roofline design is like seen on the Brick front. Beautifully designed. Source: Google.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS. Skate Rentals and Concession Stand into one! Really cool idea. Source: Youth Center Roller Rink.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS. The current rink operations. Interesting floor because of its characters on the wood. Source: Youth Center Roller Rink.
Pretty Prairie Tent Roller Rink Pretty Prairie, KS (had several locations, as Tent Rink)
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS
Youth Center Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS (current operating)
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS
Youth Center Roller Rink 122 E. Main St, Pretty Prairie, KS (current operating)
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink was a rink on the corner at 122 E. Main Street, Pretty Prairie, Kansas. This rink was established in 1950 and operated for many years before it became Youth Center Roller Rink. Nothing much to say here except it was another Arched-Curved building with a faux front similar to many roller rinks.
Today it is operated as Youth Center Roller Rink. Please read Update! section for futher information that now I have removed questions because now I have answers.
They are still in business today.
UPDATE! -- 11 September 2022.
Wow, really interesting and more about this rink's history. Here is what he has to say. It is edited for this site. (other parts were for me only).
In 1946 Pretty Prairie had a tent skating rink hosting crowds of a 100 skaters. In a community of 600 people I find that impressive. Fred Collingwood, as a memorial to his mother, offered the city the supplies to build a rink if the community would supply the labor. Vernon Krehbiel, a local farmer with an engineering degree, along with Henry Stucky, a master carpenter, oversaw the project. Henry Stucky laid a hardwood Maple floor, routed together in a “fan pattern” designed for smooth skating.
The rink was completed in 1949 and the deed was presented to the community. A single member from each church in town served on a board to oversee the running of the rink. My father, Daryl Young a senior in high school at the time, and Pat Barton took turns opening the rink. By 1952, my dad was the only volunteer left managing the rink. As clamp-on skates and oxford shoes lost popularity, my father invested in shoe skates for rental.
At some point the board dissolved and it fell to the city to manage the rink. I believe it became the Pretty Prairie Youth Center at that point. Although the city would help pay for materials when needed, my parents provided the labor to maintain and make improvements through the years.
In 1984, 32 years after the rink opened, my dad decided to sell the skates and retire. A young woman in the community decided to buy the skates and keep the rink going. Ironically, she married my bother and soon the management was left to him.
The front of the building does have a brick front but the side walls and back are cement block. Those walls were sealed and painted “white” to prevent water damage to the floor. The maple floor was always carefully preserved and was sealed with a poly-urethane coat probably in 90”s. The “staining” you are referring to is from the sealing process unfortunately. The main objective was to keep and care for the original floor. [Still, its a beautiful characters - MF]
Through the years, all four of us kids took turns cleaning and opening the rink for Saturday night sessions and private parties. It was a great job in high school and we all loved doing it.
It is now 2022 and my brother, Robert Young, still opens the rink every Saturday night and has done so for the past 38 years. He is host to private parties, after school care, and even PE classes. He has added a nice collection of in-line skates as well. His only payment for the past 38 years is what he gets for the skate rental and a little on concessions.
It may be “small” but it is a community treasure.
I hope you find this information helpful. With no air conditioning, you will still find it open every Saturday night from 7-9:30 from Septmber through May. Stop by sometime, everyone is always welcome.
Sincerely,
Cindy Young Correll
wow, thank you so much, Cindy! I will try one of those days when I have a budget to travel.
The Interior.
Original Location: Since it was a tent rink, the interior was just basically a canvas tent with supports on all sides plus center of the rink. It had Maple floor. Perhaps open walls, thus just canopy like many Tent Rinks (Ie- I have a profile on a Tent Rink in Lincoln Nebraska that was a traveling Tent Rink around the state before settled in that town. See Frank Cernik Tent Rink to see what a Tent Rink was like. This I love to see some Tent Rinks but I doubt you would find any much anymore. Rinks have gone indoors like small diners became standard sized restaurant diners, drive-ins, and fast food restaurants you see today. Similar. It is all good.
Current Location: It has a classic Maple wood floor with Polyurethane coat on it which showed characters on the rink floor. In another word, really pops the wood line characters. But it really shows its class for its period to people today. It is basically a simple rink not like some fancy 3 Million US Dollar rink but its a rink to home for the owners/operators today and their loyal skate patrons that are coming to their rink today and indeed did survive well through this Great Virus Lockdown, I recommend you go skating there! It has Off-White walls with a wallpaper stripe. The brown part on the wall might be either wood or brown carpet. I am not sure.
It is small facility. It has skate rental and snack bar both into one. I like that part because because they can function two duties as one. I know how it is like because one night the manager of this rink I worked for did not show up and I went to go skating on my day off and oh.. no one was there! No staff, no manager and I had concern skaters (about 20 of them in line at 7 pm before more came including the DJ from a Christian radio (Christian night skate) so I handled the admission, snack bar, and skate rental all at once all by myself! If I was to evaluate this rink, I would give this a 9.85 score point overall because of this snack bar-skate rental into one location. I handled everything that night. And no, I did not get to skate but I got to meet the woman I had crush on but we never seen each other again.
The Exterior.
Original Location: Basically it was a tent rink that was set up in a temporary location before they decided on this current location where the rink stands today.
Current Location: Basic Brick build with Classic Dark Red-Brown bricks on the wall with D-Shaped roof. Bow-Arched? I am not sure because of the ceiling they have. It is possible. The sides are concrete Blocks built. It was painted to be water-sealer therefore, waterproof the walls. Very common with the Northeast US where there are basements and many would paint with water-sealants that I have seen.
It is beautifully design. The front raised roof give a fake roofline. Common with old Brick-walled buildings in 1600s to early 20th Century to hide their actual roofs. I believe many places still do. But differently now.
The Stats:
Original/Tent Rink Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: FAN
Current Location Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Polyurethane Hardwood Maple.
Floor Layout: FAN
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1949. Demolished: Still standing today.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Bricks-Walled Storefront - like Building.
Roof: D-roof/Arched-Curved (Bowtie Arch?).
Acres: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: None.
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.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1946 to Present
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Original as Tent Rink): 1946 to 1949.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Permanent): 1949 to
Youth Center Roller Rink: N/A to present.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Original as Tent Rink): Permanent location replaced Tent.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Permanent):
Youth Center Roller Rink: 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 International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© 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:
Yellow Pages - Pretty Prairie Roller Rink.
email - Cindy. (11 September 2022).
Date of issue: 18 February 2021.
Update: 11 September 2022.
For office use only: 4.
Worth to visit:
YES! When you are in town, please by all means check it out! It is still operational. Usually from September to May. Summer times, they are closed for season.
If you want to know schedule or availability to go skating or to rent, call them at (620) 459-6908 and find out and when you tell them, tell them that I recommended this rink for you to skate.
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 became 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 Dead-Rinks 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 16. Deut. 32:7.
Today it is operated as Youth Center Roller Rink. Please read Update! section for futher information that now I have removed questions because now I have answers.
They are still in business today.
UPDATE! -- 11 September 2022.
Wow, really interesting and more about this rink's history. Here is what he has to say. It is edited for this site. (other parts were for me only).
In 1946 Pretty Prairie had a tent skating rink hosting crowds of a 100 skaters. In a community of 600 people I find that impressive. Fred Collingwood, as a memorial to his mother, offered the city the supplies to build a rink if the community would supply the labor. Vernon Krehbiel, a local farmer with an engineering degree, along with Henry Stucky, a master carpenter, oversaw the project. Henry Stucky laid a hardwood Maple floor, routed together in a “fan pattern” designed for smooth skating.
The rink was completed in 1949 and the deed was presented to the community. A single member from each church in town served on a board to oversee the running of the rink. My father, Daryl Young a senior in high school at the time, and Pat Barton took turns opening the rink. By 1952, my dad was the only volunteer left managing the rink. As clamp-on skates and oxford shoes lost popularity, my father invested in shoe skates for rental.
At some point the board dissolved and it fell to the city to manage the rink. I believe it became the Pretty Prairie Youth Center at that point. Although the city would help pay for materials when needed, my parents provided the labor to maintain and make improvements through the years.
In 1984, 32 years after the rink opened, my dad decided to sell the skates and retire. A young woman in the community decided to buy the skates and keep the rink going. Ironically, she married my bother and soon the management was left to him.
The front of the building does have a brick front but the side walls and back are cement block. Those walls were sealed and painted “white” to prevent water damage to the floor. The maple floor was always carefully preserved and was sealed with a poly-urethane coat probably in 90”s. The “staining” you are referring to is from the sealing process unfortunately. The main objective was to keep and care for the original floor. [Still, its a beautiful characters - MF]
Through the years, all four of us kids took turns cleaning and opening the rink for Saturday night sessions and private parties. It was a great job in high school and we all loved doing it.
It is now 2022 and my brother, Robert Young, still opens the rink every Saturday night and has done so for the past 38 years. He is host to private parties, after school care, and even PE classes. He has added a nice collection of in-line skates as well. His only payment for the past 38 years is what he gets for the skate rental and a little on concessions.
It may be “small” but it is a community treasure.
I hope you find this information helpful. With no air conditioning, you will still find it open every Saturday night from 7-9:30 from Septmber through May. Stop by sometime, everyone is always welcome.
Sincerely,
Cindy Young Correll
wow, thank you so much, Cindy! I will try one of those days when I have a budget to travel.
The Interior.
Original Location: Since it was a tent rink, the interior was just basically a canvas tent with supports on all sides plus center of the rink. It had Maple floor. Perhaps open walls, thus just canopy like many Tent Rinks (Ie- I have a profile on a Tent Rink in Lincoln Nebraska that was a traveling Tent Rink around the state before settled in that town. See Frank Cernik Tent Rink to see what a Tent Rink was like. This I love to see some Tent Rinks but I doubt you would find any much anymore. Rinks have gone indoors like small diners became standard sized restaurant diners, drive-ins, and fast food restaurants you see today. Similar. It is all good.
Current Location: It has a classic Maple wood floor with Polyurethane coat on it which showed characters on the rink floor. In another word, really pops the wood line characters. But it really shows its class for its period to people today. It is basically a simple rink not like some fancy 3 Million US Dollar rink but its a rink to home for the owners/operators today and their loyal skate patrons that are coming to their rink today and indeed did survive well through this Great Virus Lockdown, I recommend you go skating there! It has Off-White walls with a wallpaper stripe. The brown part on the wall might be either wood or brown carpet. I am not sure.
It is small facility. It has skate rental and snack bar both into one. I like that part because because they can function two duties as one. I know how it is like because one night the manager of this rink I worked for did not show up and I went to go skating on my day off and oh.. no one was there! No staff, no manager and I had concern skaters (about 20 of them in line at 7 pm before more came including the DJ from a Christian radio (Christian night skate) so I handled the admission, snack bar, and skate rental all at once all by myself! If I was to evaluate this rink, I would give this a 9.85 score point overall because of this snack bar-skate rental into one location. I handled everything that night. And no, I did not get to skate but I got to meet the woman I had crush on but we never seen each other again.
The Exterior.
Original Location: Basically it was a tent rink that was set up in a temporary location before they decided on this current location where the rink stands today.
Current Location: Basic Brick build with Classic Dark Red-Brown bricks on the wall with D-Shaped roof. Bow-Arched? I am not sure because of the ceiling they have. It is possible. The sides are concrete Blocks built. It was painted to be water-sealer therefore, waterproof the walls. Very common with the Northeast US where there are basements and many would paint with water-sealants that I have seen.
It is beautifully design. The front raised roof give a fake roofline. Common with old Brick-walled buildings in 1600s to early 20th Century to hide their actual roofs. I believe many places still do. But differently now.
The Stats:
Original/Tent Rink Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: FAN
Current Location Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Non-painted Polyurethane Hardwood Maple.
Floor Layout: FAN
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1949. Demolished: Still standing today.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Bricks-Walled Storefront - like Building.
Roof: D-roof/Arched-Curved (Bowtie Arch?).
Acres: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: None.
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.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1946 to Present
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Original as Tent Rink): 1946 to 1949.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Permanent): 1949 to
Youth Center Roller Rink: N/A to present.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Original as Tent Rink): Permanent location replaced Tent.
Pretty Prairie Roller Rink (Permanent):
Youth Center Roller Rink: 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 International Roller Skating Rinks History Foundation© 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:
Yellow Pages - Pretty Prairie Roller Rink.
email - Cindy. (11 September 2022).
Date of issue: 18 February 2021.
Update: 11 September 2022.
For office use only: 4.
Worth to visit:
YES! When you are in town, please by all means check it out! It is still operational. Usually from September to May. Summer times, they are closed for season.
If you want to know schedule or availability to go skating or to rent, call them at (620) 459-6908 and find out and when you tell them, tell them that I recommended this rink for you to skate.
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 became 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 Dead-Rinks 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 16. Deut. 32:7.