Courtesy of the Cernik Family. This was a logo for all Skateland Skate Centers under the Frank Cernik's Skateland Skate Centers around the country. Not to be confused with many other Skateland rinks around the country not affiliated with. This logo was taken from a poster from 1980s. That was all they had. Sorry for poor quality of poster and picture. Not my fault.
Courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. I am not sure where this was taken because there were NINE Skateland rinks around the country under Skateland Skate Centers/Cernik Family. But basically the idea of that sign was common at all if not, most of the Skateland rinks. This location (I am talking about the 132nd location known as Skate Daze) had that old name and sign. Brrr! All that snow! Brr!
Courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. This photo I found has no specific location but it is a Skateland Skate Center however, if they all were the same copy (kind of like you see cookie cutters of Burger King, McD, Wendy's, Honda, Chevrolet, etc), this view of 1970s is generally the idea of what a Skateland Skate Center including the 132nd Street was like. You can tell by the lockers location, and open onto the rink from off-the-rink. Also the cinderblocks style they had.
Courtesy of the Cernik Family. This was the final rink under the Cernik Family when Scott, whose father was the founder, Frank, operated this generation. Last one opened and last one to close.
Both Google Map. Noticed evolution of sign. On left was taken by Google Map in 2011. Noticed the old fashioned sign that you put up letters to make words on a ladder. But with the new one, it makes it easier to do it from the office! Ah, those digital or electronic signs. The 2019 version showed it is gone.
Both courtesy of Google Map. You can see tiny changes. Can you spot the changes? Yes, and how many? You say one? That is a major one that was the Lazy Daze sign on the left side that was not shown in the 2011 photo. The newer one was in 2018. Unfortunately, this could be reason why the selling-- no one showed up in the newer pic unless it was in middle of day or morning during school week. (actually it says September 2016 so kids in school and the 2011 was July.) The other thing is the red letterings showed fading. Under sunshine, red dye usually bleached. Other colors usually last longer. One sign with a Coke-Cola for another dead rink showed the soda intact and the blue ball intact as well but the red name and logo were becoming Sun-Bleached Pink.
Courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. This is my personal favorite of many rink pictures. Look how the sky was when someone took this picture. Perfect timing! Second, I love the unsuual architecture style. Strangely perhaps no rinks in 1940s and 50s would dare to really be more like what McD and Burger King and Carrols restaurants would do with their Googie Architecture. This one did many years late. This is true Post-Googie Architecture because of the canopy, the materials they used, the "3D" effect sign (see both above and below), and the windows. This is true Googie Classic feel to it. Rinks!?? Be like them!
Taken by fans on Google Map pictures. Daytime and nighttime.
Taken by fans on Google Map photos. Left was the customized carpet. One of a kind. It has that metal look with the colors on and the logo name on it. it was printed for sure. The three diamond balls (mirrored balls) with starburst light that was customized. normally you would have colored bulbs on but they had small Danish UFO pendants hanging instead plus they had many lights above on the ceiling. Very flashy on the rink. You will see the photos below.
Courtesy of Google Map. Notice the nice cool vehicle wrap?! They had their vehicles. Rarely a rink would have a vehicle like this with a wrap. Normally a old used school bus they would use as promotional vehicle and to bring children to the rink and drop them off. This was a promotional vehicle clearly to visit schools, fairs, field days, etc. Real cool! It was sold for 6,500 Dollars in an auction.
All courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. Beautiful pictures.
Courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. YouTube video of the facility. Some of it a little fast to go through. But wow! They had everything more than the rink I used to go in Mattydale but their square feet is just merely 1500 SF smaller than Sports-O-Rama. How they can fit them all? Good question! That is why I like to have the blue prints!!!!
Courtesy of Cernik Family/Skate Daze. Respective publications recommended this rink. They were one of the best in nation and perhaps world. Too bad the top ranking has to close. Could have been sold and kept going because it is an entertainment center. Note: Now you can see a similar article in PDF, its HuffPost. See link in Source below.
Well, its going to be a lot harder now to start up again for a new owner in Omaha. Real sad.
Well, its going to be a lot harder now to start up again for a new owner in Omaha. Real sad.
Skateland 3616 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE
Skate Daze 3616 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE
Lazer Runner 3616 South 132nd St, Omaha, NE (part of Skate Daze)
Play Daze 3616 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE (part of Skate Daze)
Skate Daze 3616 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE
Lazer Runner 3616 South 132nd St, Omaha, NE (part of Skate Daze)
Play Daze 3616 South 132nd Street, Omaha, NE (part of Skate Daze)
It is one of those chained owned franchise of Frank Cernik's company, Skateland Skate Centers. This one was opened in 1982. But as part of the whole Cernik skating which goes far back to 1942 when Frank Cernik began with working at age 14 assisting customers with skates. Then his tent rink business in 1946 which ended a lot sooner because of a fire by a person not thinking right with his cigarette and so that lead to the purchase of Harker's Roller Rink in 1950 which lead to rinks ever since. To follow that history, check Frank Cernik Mobile Tent Rink page to start before reading here and other Skatelands that his family owned. This rink was the last rink under the Cernik Family ownership as they have closed or sold off other rinks. I counted about 9 of them!
This rink was originally called Skateland to be associated with the company and other Skatelands they owned. Not to be confused with many many unrelated Skatelands out there currently as well as those I have listed on Dead-Rinks.
But this one I have no idea when they changed the name to Skate Daze. Once again, Frank really revolutionize the appearance of a rink. Well, at least I am sure his sons who took over in 1990 changed the name and the update look. You should see how it looked. This place was really an entertainment center because it had other recreational activities including small bumper cars, a child train roller coaster, a huge snack bar area, and a laser tag game. And of course, the star attraction- the skating rink.
This place perhaps would have lasted a lot longer if they sold to their children, third generation or another rink operator to continue this because of the way this place was, it was like Disney World of roller rink. This has even brought skaters from out of town to skate there. This is why I said the Disney World of rinks. No disrespect to Walt Disney Co. nor Disney Parks Company. This is merely opinion how wow this place was!
Interesting to note that the Safe they had on 2nd floor was historic. It was bought at an auction for the former amusement park called, Peony Park. It was sold for 275 USD this time around. Most items today of April 9, 2020 are sold. You have to be present to pick them up. It would be hard now thanks to the lockdowns. I would love to buy one of those high wire stool bench. Grr. One was sold for just 5 USD! CHEAP!
This was the last rink (father) Frank opened and the last rink the family (son Scott Cernik) closed.
They even had a nice vehicle wrap on this small 2014 4 four car. Clearly a promotional car perhaps used for their county and state fairs, to go to local schools, etc. Perhaps.
UPDATE -- 29 July 2021 - from Scott Cernik (in email).
Today I receive an email from Scott about this former rink and the Fremont rink. Here is what he has to say:
My name is Scott Cernik. Love your site and thank you for what you do.
Fremont Roller Rink was on 16th and Bell st on the (Northeast) corner where the liquor store is now. At the end of the rink was the garage that was turned into a 1 bedroom house shared by my parents, sister and myself. For a couple years my dad built an outdoor trampoline center across the street from the rink also.. Lived there till 1960 when Roller Village was built by my father Frank. I was 5 or 6yrs old then. I have more pictures I will find and send. The other picture is about SkateDaze which was in a story by Huffington Post.
If you have any questions let me know. I grew up in the business with a passion for roller skating helping my father build and run the skating facilities. My wife Pam and myself created SkateDaze and carried forward our families legacy in the Roller Skating, entertainment business.
Brings to mind when we were developing the brand for SkateDaze. I said we don't want people walking in and saying this place is nice. We want people saying this place is cool!!! [Scott is correct, from what I saw in pictures, wow! Haha, yeah!]
Thank You,
Scott Cernik
Thank you so much Scott, really helpful! I will ask eventually.
The Interior.
I cannot describe any better because this is oh! The best. This rink is to what Disney World is to entertainment industry. It was the Disney World of roller rinks. The photographs clearly explains well. But those are for the Skate Daze, NOT Skateland. I have no idea what it was like before the conversion. It was very graffiti like mixed with much faux steel and black-light paints to glow. Lightings and fake torn through walls, sexy female on skate (I felt that was bit improper for children to see that).
One photo of late 1970s I found perhaps explains all Skateland Skate Center style that all were exact copy. They had 4' x 7' wood panels on the wall with Burnt Orange lockers and half-walls. It was the style back then with orange hues in the 60s and 70s. They painted in Blue perhaps in more recent times. I do not know when they remodel into the final look.
The building had expansion likely in early 1990 that they had added other recreation activities in front including new location for arcade games, kiddie playground indoors, and laser tag games. I can barely see where the playground was located because of the big windows they had up front.
The rink itself was Clear coated Polyurethane coated Maple floor with fan layout.
This rink was a wow. I would definately award them one of the best Roller Rink Design award, and most points (the most points system are for ALIVE rinks.) Likely if it was open, it would rate over 9.0. It IS a real wow factor. Like I said, This rink is the Disney World of roller skating rinks as other rinks are local amusement parks if you want to compare.
The Exterior.
This 43,800 plus size building had everything in that place. I wonder how they could fit! Having been skating a lot at Sports-O-Rama roller rink, that rink had two major section-the Bit-o-West Steakhouse restaurant with a rink behind it and the rink had diner-like "restaurant" snack bar. Then they transformed to the Sports-O-Rama of 1980 that expanded the rink, already closed up the steak house and have dance center there. Now, I tried to image with Skate Daze how they could fit a playground indoors there plus bumper cars plus a rink (about same size as Sports did), plus a huge snack bar area (about same size as Sports of 1980 to 2004) plus bounce balls and laser tag. Sports was 45,000 SF according to my former boss. I wonder and I wish I could see the blue print! Hmm, I wonder of the auction has that listed and I could buy it! Unfortunately, I do not see it for sale.
I think they had expansion after Scott, the son of the founder, purchased in 1990. He expanded to add entertainment. You can tell with top view.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Clear coated Polyurethane coated Maple Floor Layout: Fan
Building Size: 43,843 SF Built: 1982 Demolished: Still standing. No longer entertainment center.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel unique/special Building. (Free Span for rink itself).
Roof: Flat
Acres: Over 180,000 SF.
Operated: 1982 to Sunday March 31, 2019. Auctioned everything on April 23, 2020.
Reason for Closure: Frank wanted his sons to retire and sell or close the business. Took offer they could not refuse which means converted to something else.
Wanted: Information regarding exact date of open for Skateland, and date of change. Size of rink? Photos when it was Skateland before Skate Daze?
Sources: Frank Cernik Genealogy
Skate Daze (Defunct)
Xome
Local Gyms and Fitness
Auction Solutions (website down after April 23rd so its not listed)
KETV on YouTube
KMTV on YouTube,
Omaha-World Herald
Yelp
Omaha-World Herald 2
Skate Daze Blog
Scott Cernik (email)
HuffPost - America's Coolest Roller Rinks
HuffPost PDF - America's Coolest Roller Rinks
Date of Issue: Summer 2020. Updated: 29 July 2021.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved.
This rink was originally called Skateland to be associated with the company and other Skatelands they owned. Not to be confused with many many unrelated Skatelands out there currently as well as those I have listed on Dead-Rinks.
But this one I have no idea when they changed the name to Skate Daze. Once again, Frank really revolutionize the appearance of a rink. Well, at least I am sure his sons who took over in 1990 changed the name and the update look. You should see how it looked. This place was really an entertainment center because it had other recreational activities including small bumper cars, a child train roller coaster, a huge snack bar area, and a laser tag game. And of course, the star attraction- the skating rink.
This place perhaps would have lasted a lot longer if they sold to their children, third generation or another rink operator to continue this because of the way this place was, it was like Disney World of roller rink. This has even brought skaters from out of town to skate there. This is why I said the Disney World of rinks. No disrespect to Walt Disney Co. nor Disney Parks Company. This is merely opinion how wow this place was!
Interesting to note that the Safe they had on 2nd floor was historic. It was bought at an auction for the former amusement park called, Peony Park. It was sold for 275 USD this time around. Most items today of April 9, 2020 are sold. You have to be present to pick them up. It would be hard now thanks to the lockdowns. I would love to buy one of those high wire stool bench. Grr. One was sold for just 5 USD! CHEAP!
This was the last rink (father) Frank opened and the last rink the family (son Scott Cernik) closed.
They even had a nice vehicle wrap on this small 2014 4 four car. Clearly a promotional car perhaps used for their county and state fairs, to go to local schools, etc. Perhaps.
UPDATE -- 29 July 2021 - from Scott Cernik (in email).
Today I receive an email from Scott about this former rink and the Fremont rink. Here is what he has to say:
My name is Scott Cernik. Love your site and thank you for what you do.
Fremont Roller Rink was on 16th and Bell st on the (Northeast) corner where the liquor store is now. At the end of the rink was the garage that was turned into a 1 bedroom house shared by my parents, sister and myself. For a couple years my dad built an outdoor trampoline center across the street from the rink also.. Lived there till 1960 when Roller Village was built by my father Frank. I was 5 or 6yrs old then. I have more pictures I will find and send. The other picture is about SkateDaze which was in a story by Huffington Post.
If you have any questions let me know. I grew up in the business with a passion for roller skating helping my father build and run the skating facilities. My wife Pam and myself created SkateDaze and carried forward our families legacy in the Roller Skating, entertainment business.
Brings to mind when we were developing the brand for SkateDaze. I said we don't want people walking in and saying this place is nice. We want people saying this place is cool!!! [Scott is correct, from what I saw in pictures, wow! Haha, yeah!]
Thank You,
Scott Cernik
Thank you so much Scott, really helpful! I will ask eventually.
The Interior.
I cannot describe any better because this is oh! The best. This rink is to what Disney World is to entertainment industry. It was the Disney World of roller rinks. The photographs clearly explains well. But those are for the Skate Daze, NOT Skateland. I have no idea what it was like before the conversion. It was very graffiti like mixed with much faux steel and black-light paints to glow. Lightings and fake torn through walls, sexy female on skate (I felt that was bit improper for children to see that).
One photo of late 1970s I found perhaps explains all Skateland Skate Center style that all were exact copy. They had 4' x 7' wood panels on the wall with Burnt Orange lockers and half-walls. It was the style back then with orange hues in the 60s and 70s. They painted in Blue perhaps in more recent times. I do not know when they remodel into the final look.
The building had expansion likely in early 1990 that they had added other recreation activities in front including new location for arcade games, kiddie playground indoors, and laser tag games. I can barely see where the playground was located because of the big windows they had up front.
The rink itself was Clear coated Polyurethane coated Maple floor with fan layout.
This rink was a wow. I would definately award them one of the best Roller Rink Design award, and most points (the most points system are for ALIVE rinks.) Likely if it was open, it would rate over 9.0. It IS a real wow factor. Like I said, This rink is the Disney World of roller skating rinks as other rinks are local amusement parks if you want to compare.
The Exterior.
This 43,800 plus size building had everything in that place. I wonder how they could fit! Having been skating a lot at Sports-O-Rama roller rink, that rink had two major section-the Bit-o-West Steakhouse restaurant with a rink behind it and the rink had diner-like "restaurant" snack bar. Then they transformed to the Sports-O-Rama of 1980 that expanded the rink, already closed up the steak house and have dance center there. Now, I tried to image with Skate Daze how they could fit a playground indoors there plus bumper cars plus a rink (about same size as Sports did), plus a huge snack bar area (about same size as Sports of 1980 to 2004) plus bounce balls and laser tag. Sports was 45,000 SF according to my former boss. I wonder and I wish I could see the blue print! Hmm, I wonder of the auction has that listed and I could buy it! Unfortunately, I do not see it for sale.
I think they had expansion after Scott, the son of the founder, purchased in 1990. He expanded to add entertainment. You can tell with top view.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Clear coated Polyurethane coated Maple Floor Layout: Fan
Building Size: 43,843 SF Built: 1982 Demolished: Still standing. No longer entertainment center.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel unique/special Building. (Free Span for rink itself).
Roof: Flat
Acres: Over 180,000 SF.
Operated: 1982 to Sunday March 31, 2019. Auctioned everything on April 23, 2020.
Reason for Closure: Frank wanted his sons to retire and sell or close the business. Took offer they could not refuse which means converted to something else.
Wanted: Information regarding exact date of open for Skateland, and date of change. Size of rink? Photos when it was Skateland before Skate Daze?
Sources: Frank Cernik Genealogy
Skate Daze (Defunct)
Xome
Local Gyms and Fitness
Auction Solutions (website down after April 23rd so its not listed)
KETV on YouTube
KMTV on YouTube,
Omaha-World Herald
Yelp
Omaha-World Herald 2
Skate Daze Blog
Scott Cernik (email)
HuffPost - America's Coolest Roller Rinks
HuffPost PDF - America's Coolest Roller Rinks
Date of Issue: Summer 2020. Updated: 29 July 2021.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved.