Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. The sign with their logo on that is the exact the same as you can see below (red sticker). The billboard on the sign said "Earl Neumann at the Mighty Wurlitzer". Clearly he was the one playing the organ that night when this photo was taken on a winter day. Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This was a long narrow property where the rink was and the parking lot that can old 5000 automobiles. That was a lot of cars! Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This was a long narrow property where the rink was and the parking lot that can old 5000 automobiles. I said corrected. It was also all around the building but mostly in front. That was a lot of cars! Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This was the original floor- all dirt for livestock show. Buyers would convene and purchase livestock. Kind of like collectable automobile auction seen on TV. They would parade livestock and purchase it. Other events were there also. This was taken in 1929, the year they built the place before it was opened for use. Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. A very good photograph of what the floor was like! Rotunda. Beautiful floor! It did not have outline for the center of the rink like 99 percent of all of the rinks have. There was in fact one almost unseen, look at bottom of the photo above. They already did painted. Taken in 1951. Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This was a postcard. A bit harder to see the floor than previous photo. You noticed the speakers were aiming toward the stands, not the floor. It was originally for livestock shows and other shows at the arena for the announcer to speak. Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Monday evening 9 April 1945 students for the dance class at the rink. Dang, there were quite a bit more females than males at this dance class! I wish I was there! Ahh! All the potentials! Haha. Source: Skating News September 1945.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Article dated 31 July 1948 talking about RSROA was having their convention and skating championship occurred at the same time at the host rink--the Rollercade that year. Source: Billboard 7 August 1948, page 63. Copyrighted Digitally Remastered by Dead-Rinks. (erased background darkness, tone balance, fixed some words.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Article about the organist in 1951. Thomas Hoption was featured. Source: Skate magazine 1951.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Sticker for the collectors to collect the trade show for roller rink stickers! Like other children played Little Leagues and collected baseball cards and boys collected badges from other boys on patches, Skaters of all age collected stickers as well. The expo was held at Rollercade in 1951. I guess they do not have any such expo anymore. Don't they? It is sad. Source: A Private Skate collector.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This occurred in 1953 and another organist was featured for the event. This one was Earl Neumann. Source: Skate magazine championship issue, 10 January 1953.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. The scene when the 1958 Nationals championship was held. It was a full house of fans watching (sold out). Source: Skate magazine 1953.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This occurred in 1968 on the final session ever at Rollercade before it was closed for good.. Source: Cleveland Memory.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. This occurred in 1953 and another organist was featured for the event. This one was Earl Neumann Source: Cleveland Memory. Copyrighted Digitally Remastered by Dead-Rinks. (To balance page to shortened the height.)
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. Source: Pinterest. Copyrighted Digitally Remastered by Dead-Rinks. (color balance).
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. I believe this was for attachment to license plate. Source: Facebook group - Remembering Ohio Roller Skating Rinks of the Past and Present.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH. The current building built in 1969 after the demolish of the old rink. Source: Google.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH Sorry for some grainy clips that he made but that was the quality of film back then. Source: ROLLER rewind/YouTube.
Rollercade 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, OH
Rollercade was a skating rink located at 6800 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Originally the building constructed in 1929 which was known as Equestrium. It was built for the Cleveland Union Stockyards Company which showcased livestock shows, polo matches, riding contests, and boxing.
Eventually, they had declining in attendance in these events which led to the building being sold and converted into the Rollercade by 1941. Renovations which cost the rink operators $14,000. There were club rooms, showers, management offices, and a large refreshment bar. Ten colored lights were installed in the ceiling and an electric organ supplied music.
Rollercade was operated by Clarence and De Forest Reynolds and managed by Jack Dalton, a well-known acrobatic speed skater formerly with RKO Vaudeville. They pretty much operated the rink for its entire operations for 27 years.
They added the skating floor of 260' by 120', as well as seating for 3,000 patrons. It was said to have been the largest unobstructed roller rink in America at the time. The football-field size floor was said to have been a larger covered area.
Seating total was 3,0000 but the attendance peaked at 2,400 in one day in the 1940s then there after it began to decline. In 1960 the Wurlitzer organ from the Palace Theater in Cleveland was installed but 3 years later, it was sold to a private individual and removed. Attendance dropped to under 300 a night by the mid-1960s and in 1968 the Rollercade was closed and demolished in 1968/9 because the new building for the supermarket was built in 1969 according to Xome.
The building was demolished and today, it is a Hispanic or Spanish speaking church, Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Cleveland "Casa de Sanidad" - Translated meaning First Hispanic Baptist Church of Cleveland "House of Health (Healing)."
The Interior.
Said to be one of the world's largest roller rink with 260 Feet by 120 Feet Non-painted, Clear-coated Hardwood Maple which was larger than a NHL ice rink however, the floor was not as big as any kind of ball field (NFL, CFL, FILA, etc) The article I read was a bit exaggerated about the size. An NFL has 360 feet in length and 160 feet in width. Guptil's Arena is much bigger than this rink but the difference is this place was more of an arena/auditorium venue than a standard roller rink you see today.
The floor itself actually had many layers starting with bottom up, starting with tiles, slag, concrete, asphalts, roofing paper, tar, then Maple wood. Very unusual form of designing a roller rink with this series of layers for a roller rink floor. Some rinks had flotation rotunda but this was layered Rotunda. I think they designed to protect the wood from moisture. Today, flotation would work best because of air space underboard to keep it dry but you need good ventilation to do so.
3,000 (and at one point, 3,500) seats total which divided into halves. One 1,500 on one side and the other with same amount. This would equal to many ice rinks arenas for their local leagues. Not AHL level but smaller or developmental level or private ice rinks. First the floor was dirt for the livestock shows and other activities and sweep for other purposes such as boxing events and other activities before it became Rollercade.
The building floorplan was huge at 48,000 Square Feet. Besides the main rink in size, they also had Main lobby size 270 Feet by 33 Feet -- right along on the left side of the rink (see photo where they removed seating). Also they had a separate Rink for figure skating (and perhaps practice) 85 Feet by 30 Feet. Overall rink in size was 33,750 Square Feet, about half of the Guptil's Arena has today.
It can accommodate about 9,000 people in the building which limited by fire code. One time they had to turn away 1,500 people at the door because it reached that many.
The Exterior.
The exterior look was quite very much an antique style livestock arena. The appearance looked very similar to the ones still standing at the New York State Fair now that Rollercade building is no longer standing. You can check out the Dairy Cattle Building at the NYS Fairgrounds at any time especially if you like to see cows, go during the State Fair. (To see the map, click on the NYS Fairgrounds link and click the grounds map and look for number 20. It is close to the front of the fairgrounds. But it has no stands.
Many factories also had that look too. You perhaps seen them in the movies and television programs as well.
It had Red Bricks for exterior walls.
The original that was built in 1929 had that Monitor style building that had center section taller than the rest of the building on the sides where the stands are. The higher part of the roof was above where the rink floor was. This was to bring in lights to shine at the seats, not the floor if the sunlight shined one direction. Depends what time of the day.
The building itself was big. 48,000 Square Feet which means it was 320 Feet Long by 150 Feet Wide. The parking lot around the building can accommodate 5,000 automobiles. The building was indeed an arena or stadium after all. In my opinion, this was the "Houston Astrodome" of roller skating rink of yesteryear. Having said, it is because of its revolutionary concept of size, design, the stands, and ample parking. This would also equal (and might want to add--historically similarly) to the recent closed Roller Garden in St. Louis Park, MN but bigger. It would also compare to a couple others in this scale. One in AZ and even the possibility of a rink in MSG in Manhattan, New York City, NY but I am not sure about that. There was also one that had 300 feet long but narrow rink in Queens, NYC area. Also one in KY that was recently closed as well. But nothing compares to this place.
Having said about Houston Astrodome, today stadiums are not like the Astrodome because they have increased in size, seating, height, better playing fields, lightings, better hospitality (restrooms and concession stands and restaurants). A few modern rinks are now part of entertainment centers. They are in the likes of major league stadiums around the world. This is what this rink is about with all those incentives they had such as size of rinks, 2 rinks, large main area off the rink, size of rink, the stands.
The Stats:
Rinks: 2.
Rink Size: (overall in Sq Ft) - 33,750 SF
Main: 260' by 120' (One of largest).
2nd rink - Figure Skate Rink: 85' x 30'
Floor: Non-painted, Clear coated, hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: Rotunda (main).
Building Size: 320' x 150'/48,000 SF Built: 1929 (Rink 1940/41.) Renovations: 1940/41 (for rink). Demolished: 1968.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Red Bricks- Walled Arena - like Building.
Roof: Gabled Monitor.
Acres: N/A.
(Note - they had TWO different organs. They were...
Organ: Wurlitzer Electric "Style 260 Sp"
Factory date: May 18, 1926.
Built for the Palace Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1960, moved to the Rollercade. After three years it was sold to James C. Webster (Private), Penfield, New York (Rochester, NY area), who added a 2nd Vox Humana. In 1999, sold to Shanklin Music Hall Groton, Massachusetts.
15 ranks.
Manuals: 3
Manual Compass: 61
Pedal Compass: 32
Key Action: Electrical connection from key to chest.
Stop Action: Electric connection between stop control and chest.
Organ ID: 58986.
Organ: Hammond.
(other information unavailable).
Seating: 3000 patrons (Livestock) 3500 patrons (rink)
Operated: (Overall)-- 1941 to 1968.
Reason for Closure: Declining attendance since 1940s! Very gradual decline.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos/articles. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Case Western Reserve University - History of Rollercade.
Cleveland Memory - Library of photos and articles.
Clevescene - show a photo of the rink sign and YouTube.
Xome - new building built in 1969 to make way for supermarket then later, church.
Pipe Organ Database - The organ at the rink for 3 years.
Date of issue: 15 November 2021. Update: 30 December 2021.
For office use only: 18/1.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.
Eventually, they had declining in attendance in these events which led to the building being sold and converted into the Rollercade by 1941. Renovations which cost the rink operators $14,000. There were club rooms, showers, management offices, and a large refreshment bar. Ten colored lights were installed in the ceiling and an electric organ supplied music.
Rollercade was operated by Clarence and De Forest Reynolds and managed by Jack Dalton, a well-known acrobatic speed skater formerly with RKO Vaudeville. They pretty much operated the rink for its entire operations for 27 years.
They added the skating floor of 260' by 120', as well as seating for 3,000 patrons. It was said to have been the largest unobstructed roller rink in America at the time. The football-field size floor was said to have been a larger covered area.
Seating total was 3,0000 but the attendance peaked at 2,400 in one day in the 1940s then there after it began to decline. In 1960 the Wurlitzer organ from the Palace Theater in Cleveland was installed but 3 years later, it was sold to a private individual and removed. Attendance dropped to under 300 a night by the mid-1960s and in 1968 the Rollercade was closed and demolished in 1968/9 because the new building for the supermarket was built in 1969 according to Xome.
The building was demolished and today, it is a Hispanic or Spanish speaking church, Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Cleveland "Casa de Sanidad" - Translated meaning First Hispanic Baptist Church of Cleveland "House of Health (Healing)."
The Interior.
Said to be one of the world's largest roller rink with 260 Feet by 120 Feet Non-painted, Clear-coated Hardwood Maple which was larger than a NHL ice rink however, the floor was not as big as any kind of ball field (NFL, CFL, FILA, etc) The article I read was a bit exaggerated about the size. An NFL has 360 feet in length and 160 feet in width. Guptil's Arena is much bigger than this rink but the difference is this place was more of an arena/auditorium venue than a standard roller rink you see today.
The floor itself actually had many layers starting with bottom up, starting with tiles, slag, concrete, asphalts, roofing paper, tar, then Maple wood. Very unusual form of designing a roller rink with this series of layers for a roller rink floor. Some rinks had flotation rotunda but this was layered Rotunda. I think they designed to protect the wood from moisture. Today, flotation would work best because of air space underboard to keep it dry but you need good ventilation to do so.
3,000 (and at one point, 3,500) seats total which divided into halves. One 1,500 on one side and the other with same amount. This would equal to many ice rinks arenas for their local leagues. Not AHL level but smaller or developmental level or private ice rinks. First the floor was dirt for the livestock shows and other activities and sweep for other purposes such as boxing events and other activities before it became Rollercade.
The building floorplan was huge at 48,000 Square Feet. Besides the main rink in size, they also had Main lobby size 270 Feet by 33 Feet -- right along on the left side of the rink (see photo where they removed seating). Also they had a separate Rink for figure skating (and perhaps practice) 85 Feet by 30 Feet. Overall rink in size was 33,750 Square Feet, about half of the Guptil's Arena has today.
It can accommodate about 9,000 people in the building which limited by fire code. One time they had to turn away 1,500 people at the door because it reached that many.
The Exterior.
The exterior look was quite very much an antique style livestock arena. The appearance looked very similar to the ones still standing at the New York State Fair now that Rollercade building is no longer standing. You can check out the Dairy Cattle Building at the NYS Fairgrounds at any time especially if you like to see cows, go during the State Fair. (To see the map, click on the NYS Fairgrounds link and click the grounds map and look for number 20. It is close to the front of the fairgrounds. But it has no stands.
Many factories also had that look too. You perhaps seen them in the movies and television programs as well.
It had Red Bricks for exterior walls.
The original that was built in 1929 had that Monitor style building that had center section taller than the rest of the building on the sides where the stands are. The higher part of the roof was above where the rink floor was. This was to bring in lights to shine at the seats, not the floor if the sunlight shined one direction. Depends what time of the day.
The building itself was big. 48,000 Square Feet which means it was 320 Feet Long by 150 Feet Wide. The parking lot around the building can accommodate 5,000 automobiles. The building was indeed an arena or stadium after all. In my opinion, this was the "Houston Astrodome" of roller skating rink of yesteryear. Having said, it is because of its revolutionary concept of size, design, the stands, and ample parking. This would also equal (and might want to add--historically similarly) to the recent closed Roller Garden in St. Louis Park, MN but bigger. It would also compare to a couple others in this scale. One in AZ and even the possibility of a rink in MSG in Manhattan, New York City, NY but I am not sure about that. There was also one that had 300 feet long but narrow rink in Queens, NYC area. Also one in KY that was recently closed as well. But nothing compares to this place.
Having said about Houston Astrodome, today stadiums are not like the Astrodome because they have increased in size, seating, height, better playing fields, lightings, better hospitality (restrooms and concession stands and restaurants). A few modern rinks are now part of entertainment centers. They are in the likes of major league stadiums around the world. This is what this rink is about with all those incentives they had such as size of rinks, 2 rinks, large main area off the rink, size of rink, the stands.
The Stats:
Rinks: 2.
Rink Size: (overall in Sq Ft) - 33,750 SF
Main: 260' by 120' (One of largest).
2nd rink - Figure Skate Rink: 85' x 30'
Floor: Non-painted, Clear coated, hardwood Maple. Floor Layout: Rotunda (main).
Building Size: 320' x 150'/48,000 SF Built: 1929 (Rink 1940/41.) Renovations: 1940/41 (for rink). Demolished: 1968.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Red Bricks- Walled Arena - like Building.
Roof: Gabled Monitor.
Acres: N/A.
(Note - they had TWO different organs. They were...
Organ: Wurlitzer Electric "Style 260 Sp"
Factory date: May 18, 1926.
Built for the Palace Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio. In 1960, moved to the Rollercade. After three years it was sold to James C. Webster (Private), Penfield, New York (Rochester, NY area), who added a 2nd Vox Humana. In 1999, sold to Shanklin Music Hall Groton, Massachusetts.
15 ranks.
Manuals: 3
Manual Compass: 61
Pedal Compass: 32
Key Action: Electrical connection from key to chest.
Stop Action: Electric connection between stop control and chest.
Organ ID: 58986.
Organ: Hammond.
(other information unavailable).
Seating: 3000 patrons (Livestock) 3500 patrons (rink)
Operated: (Overall)-- 1941 to 1968.
Reason for Closure: Declining attendance since 1940s! Very gradual decline.
Wanted: Information regarding exact dates of open/closed, why closed, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos/articles. Anyone knows or have photos, please let me know by emailing at [email protected]. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Case Western Reserve University - History of Rollercade.
Cleveland Memory - Library of photos and articles.
Clevescene - show a photo of the rink sign and YouTube.
Xome - new building built in 1969 to make way for supermarket then later, church.
Pipe Organ Database - The organ at the rink for 3 years.
Date of issue: 15 November 2021. Update: 30 December 2021.
For office use only: 18/1.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 and 16.