The Skate Place 1104 Grayson Highway, Lawrenceville, GA. Source: Courtesy of Chris Reynolds (General Manager) of The Skate Place.
All of Google Map. Noticed the signs changed for Sparkles? The sign on the right was taken in January 2019 while the one on the left was taken in June 2019. They must have changed the sign in early 2019. Much better now. But what about Skate Place? Anyone? I love that grand canopy making it feels like it is a church, a casino, or a hotel. Very nice! I love the Patriotic look. Beautiful job!
The Skate Place 1104 Grayson Highway, Lawrenceville, GA
Sparkles Family Fun Center - Gwinnet 1104 Grayson Highway, Lawrenceville, GA (Still operational/current)
Sparkles Family Fun Center - Gwinnet 1104 Grayson Highway, Lawrenceville, GA (Still operational/current)
The Skate Place in Lawrenceville, GA was a skating rink since 1980-81 until 1990 when Sparkles took over. Sparkles is a franchise/chain rink.
UPDATE!
Today, I received an email from the General Manager of The Skate Place, Chris Reynolds regarding information and correction. He said he and his father, a Delta Airlines Captain built the rink in 1980-81, not 1959 as some report I got.
(Hey, I flew Delta in 1990s and year 2000. Great flights, on time and all except when we had a tornado warning in GA in year 2000 after returning from San Jose, Costa Rica on a mission trip as a Deaf Camp Counselor, an American Sign Language Tutor/Assistant, and more. Our flight was delayed till next morning. Oh well.)
Anyway!
Here is what Chris said--
My name is Chris Reynolds and in 1980-81 (not 1959 as you have listed on your site), my father, Captain Stan J. Reynolds (a Delta Airlines captain), and I built The Skate Place roller skating rink in Lawrenceville, GA (Gwinnett County). We opened the doors 40 years ago today, on Saturday, July 17, 1981 (I was the General Manager and was 24 years old on opening night)! The rink was (is) slightly over 30,000 square feet - and at the time I built it, it was the largest free span building in Gwinnett County Georgia! I designed the rink and was also the General Contractor on the build (first time doing that and I learned a lot and cost my Dad a lot of money on 'rookie' mistakes)!!
You are correct that in 1990, my Dad and I sold the rink to Sparkles - which at the time was a family owned 'chain' of several rinks in the Atlanta, GA area.
I went searching for any internet ID on my former rink - again as today is the 40-year anniversary of opening The Skate Place in Lawrenceville - where our slogan was "Let the Good Times Roll" and we started EVERY skating session for ten years with The Cars song of the same name!!
Thanks for hosting this site and please update info on my rink if you have time!!
PS - here is the logo we used back then!
Today it is Sparkles family Fun Center and it also has a gas station and a car wash! This is the most unusual rink I ever heard of. Are those two related to the rink or not? The reason I said this is because it is on the same parking lot as the rink itself. No other businesses. None. The name really different than the rink. I believe it is separate business. Did Sparkles leased the gas station-car wash the space for their business? I do not know.
Let's focus on Skate Place. The name is very basic. I do not know what it looked like at the time. Anyone has photos going back to 1959? Anything? Owner, why sold to Sparkles?
The Interior.
As for The Skate Place, none I know of but for Sparkles, they really renovated big time that they made it so busy like on walls with graffiti style which I believe it encourages children to be illegal graffiti "artists" which is illegal anywhere. However, there are a lot of black-light neons on those walls, even the paint itself (non-graffiti) and 1990s style black-light neon light carpet. It has Maple floor with clear coated polyurethane protection. It has fan layout on each end.
It is roughly 30,000 Square Feet.
The Exterior.
The exterior for Skate Place is unknown. However, as for Sparkles, it has very Patriotic theme colors of American Red-White-Blue with Gold Stars long the Gable roof trim outside. I love the design that really gets you want to go in the door. But that gas station and car wash really blocked from the road as I can see on Google Map. They should have not put it there but I understand their needs I believe.
Sparkles had different sign color. Originally in Gold Yellow background with their logo but they changed to White. Much better. But I do not know what The Skate Place logo and sign was like. Anyone?
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Clear coated Polyurethane Maple. Floor Layout: Fan. (someone said it was rotunda in Skatelog Forum but not sure if this is the rink they were talking about. See here.)
Building Size: 30,000 SF Built: Likely 1981 Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Truss Stucco-walled church-like Building. It also has a gas station and a car wash on same property!
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Building Designer: Chris Reynolds.
Building Contractor: Chris Reynolds. (His first project, irony, was The Skate Place)
Operated:
The Skate Place: Saturday, July 17, 1981 to 1990.
Sparkles: 1990 to present.
Reason for Closure:
The Skate Place: N/A
Sparkles: Currently operating (temp closed in March to May due to COVID lockdown).
Wanted: Information regarding Skate Place big time! Photos, why closed, dates of open and closed, And date for Sparkles opened. Old appearance of Sparkles so that too I need photos!
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Sparkles Family Fun Center, Yelp, Facebook,
© 2019-2020 Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved.
UPDATE!
Today, I received an email from the General Manager of The Skate Place, Chris Reynolds regarding information and correction. He said he and his father, a Delta Airlines Captain built the rink in 1980-81, not 1959 as some report I got.
(Hey, I flew Delta in 1990s and year 2000. Great flights, on time and all except when we had a tornado warning in GA in year 2000 after returning from San Jose, Costa Rica on a mission trip as a Deaf Camp Counselor, an American Sign Language Tutor/Assistant, and more. Our flight was delayed till next morning. Oh well.)
Anyway!
Here is what Chris said--
My name is Chris Reynolds and in 1980-81 (not 1959 as you have listed on your site), my father, Captain Stan J. Reynolds (a Delta Airlines captain), and I built The Skate Place roller skating rink in Lawrenceville, GA (Gwinnett County). We opened the doors 40 years ago today, on Saturday, July 17, 1981 (I was the General Manager and was 24 years old on opening night)! The rink was (is) slightly over 30,000 square feet - and at the time I built it, it was the largest free span building in Gwinnett County Georgia! I designed the rink and was also the General Contractor on the build (first time doing that and I learned a lot and cost my Dad a lot of money on 'rookie' mistakes)!!
You are correct that in 1990, my Dad and I sold the rink to Sparkles - which at the time was a family owned 'chain' of several rinks in the Atlanta, GA area.
I went searching for any internet ID on my former rink - again as today is the 40-year anniversary of opening The Skate Place in Lawrenceville - where our slogan was "Let the Good Times Roll" and we started EVERY skating session for ten years with The Cars song of the same name!!
Thanks for hosting this site and please update info on my rink if you have time!!
PS - here is the logo we used back then!
Today it is Sparkles family Fun Center and it also has a gas station and a car wash! This is the most unusual rink I ever heard of. Are those two related to the rink or not? The reason I said this is because it is on the same parking lot as the rink itself. No other businesses. None. The name really different than the rink. I believe it is separate business. Did Sparkles leased the gas station-car wash the space for their business? I do not know.
Let's focus on Skate Place. The name is very basic. I do not know what it looked like at the time. Anyone has photos going back to 1959? Anything? Owner, why sold to Sparkles?
The Interior.
As for The Skate Place, none I know of but for Sparkles, they really renovated big time that they made it so busy like on walls with graffiti style which I believe it encourages children to be illegal graffiti "artists" which is illegal anywhere. However, there are a lot of black-light neons on those walls, even the paint itself (non-graffiti) and 1990s style black-light neon light carpet. It has Maple floor with clear coated polyurethane protection. It has fan layout on each end.
It is roughly 30,000 Square Feet.
The Exterior.
The exterior for Skate Place is unknown. However, as for Sparkles, it has very Patriotic theme colors of American Red-White-Blue with Gold Stars long the Gable roof trim outside. I love the design that really gets you want to go in the door. But that gas station and car wash really blocked from the road as I can see on Google Map. They should have not put it there but I understand their needs I believe.
Sparkles had different sign color. Originally in Gold Yellow background with their logo but they changed to White. Much better. But I do not know what The Skate Place logo and sign was like. Anyone?
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Clear coated Polyurethane Maple. Floor Layout: Fan. (someone said it was rotunda in Skatelog Forum but not sure if this is the rink they were talking about. See here.)
Building Size: 30,000 SF Built: Likely 1981 Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Truss Stucco-walled church-like Building. It also has a gas station and a car wash on same property!
Roof: Gable
Acres: N/A
Building Designer: Chris Reynolds.
Building Contractor: Chris Reynolds. (His first project, irony, was The Skate Place)
Operated:
The Skate Place: Saturday, July 17, 1981 to 1990.
Sparkles: 1990 to present.
Reason for Closure:
The Skate Place: N/A
Sparkles: Currently operating (temp closed in March to May due to COVID lockdown).
Wanted: Information regarding Skate Place big time! Photos, why closed, dates of open and closed, And date for Sparkles opened. Old appearance of Sparkles so that too I need photos!
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Sparkles Family Fun Center, Yelp, Facebook,
© 2019-2020 Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved.