Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Someone said this was 1950s. You will see the next two photos are out of order but very similar. Just only major changes were to the diner. In this carination, the diner's name was Skateland Fountain. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. The diner had a major renovation seen in this photo. It is bit hard to read the name because of the truck parked in the way. It looked Spanish name. This photograph was said to be from the 1960s. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. This one said to be in 1940s. They even had nice looking diner-like on the corner. I believe it was literally a diner. Rarely, a rink had a diner with direct access from outside. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Taken from up the hill near the Cliff House. Zoomed in. It was clearly shown that the faux wall. The roof was much lower. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. What a rare sight to see in color! This photo was chopped in half because someone was kneeing with his dog to focus on the rink itself. He said he saw on the back it says 1973. Perhaps not because the park was still operational seen on the right of the photo. Likely 1972. Can you verify, skaters or car fans, because you can tell me about cars? That can help date the photo. I think that is the Pinto which is on the left behind the pole. They started to manufacture that car in 1971 Model Year as early as 1970. Source: Facebok.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Yes, rinks like this one had a lacing area! That is, you get in the booth and hold on to the bars while the "skate boy" as they were called back then to lace your shoes. Nice! I am sure those men made money. And that woman on the right with blond hair. Gorgeous! I am wayyy too late! Haha. Joking! Sad today rinks do not have lacing area anymore. But I am willing to lace up for a nice lady at a rink someday... Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. The organ was played on a very high platform. I believe there were two organists shown in the photo. One playing and the other looks up or was going to replace the organist. They wore tuxedos playing the organs! Nice! The organ room had either glass or Plexiglas. This is only good photo showing the trusses. It is called Heavy Timber Trusses and posts Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. The photograph was folded in half. That is a no-no. Must be someone had a copy given to at the rink and he/she folded it. You can see in background that it was quite crowded! Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Video still. Can you find Skateland at the Beach? Yes, you can! Bit hard to see but do you see the massive sign saying, "Surf Club" building in Violet or Off-Pink color? The rink was right next to that on the right of the Surf Club. Source: YouTube.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Photo of rink operator Red Shattuck standing before his rink. Source: Ellie Shattuck.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Photo of groundbreaking with big names as described in newspaper above. Source: Ellie Shattuck.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Some of the teens and young adults loitering on the parking lot. You will notice the UPS van parked neatly. Something is not right. Usually UPS along with FedEx, USPS, and now, Amazon are supposed to parallel park on sidewalk near the door. You are not supposed to park neatly in the parking lot, always park near no parking zone, parallel parking with the sidewalk to make a quick delivery. I said it twice on purpose. I think its way too late to inform UPS about this. AND the door was left open easily to get parcel stolen but hey, this was 1960s that parcel piracy was almost non-existence. Source: Playland at the Beach - website.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Photo of a hitchhiker on the Main Highway wanting to leave SF, I believe. She looked like she was wearing very heavy dark clothes. Her head down. Clearly signed of Depression. Please do NOT hitchhike! It is outlawed now. If you have any suicidal thoughts, please do not hesitate to call 988. Click the number and you are making the call. If you are a runaway, please call 911 for help. Source: Outsideland.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. You can see the rink behind the crane. It was being demolished in its entirely to turn back to marshes. Being demolished in 1973. The demolishing part was not the rink. It was the Surf Club. I see it was Scissor Wood Trusses for the Surf Club. Source: SF Gate.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Taken in 2008. Before the bicycle lane and bike racks. The metal thingy you see on sidewalk was to gate off for something going on. Perhaps an event they had or was going to. Source: Google.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Taken in 2022. Now there are bicycles and a bike lane. It is a park. Marshes! Not amusement! Source: Google.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Source: Billboard - 24 February 1951, page 42, 1st and 2nd column.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Source: San Francisco Classroom Teachers Journal, page 6. (date not given).
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Source: RonB681/YouTube.
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. Excellent video 30 mins. Must see this video. Pictured at first is Laughing Sal. Source: San Francisco Public Library/YouTube.
San Francisco Public Library
San Francisco Public Library
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA. One of the earliest commercial archeology photographer like you find a lot on Facebook. Well, Bobby Castro took those pictures as they were being demolished. Wow, what a beautiful art. Bobby, have you considered publishing a book on those photographs like a coffee table book? I would buy it. Great job, Bobby! The demolishment was illegal as matter of fact. Source: Bobby Castro/YouTube.
Skateland at the Beach
Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA
Playland of the Beach Amusement Park Great Highway, San Francisco, CA
Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, Great Highway and Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA
Playland of the Beach Amusement Park Great Highway, San Francisco, CA
Skateland at the Beach Playland of the Beach Amusement Park, 298 Great Highway, San Francisco, California. Skateland at the Beach was part of Playland of the Beach. Originally, it was The Annex, a pavilion at that corner of Great Highway and Balboa Street. The Google Map easily can be moved to the beach side although you would find the pin in the middle of that street in the city, not by the beach. Try this address-- 298 Great Highway, San Francisco, California. It is a big marsh field now that they restored to the original ground. That is back to nature.
Before Playland, it was a 19th-century squatter's settlement, "Mooneysville-by-the-Sea".
By 1884, a steam railroad was in place to bring people to the first amusement ride at the City’s ocean side — a "Gravity Railroad" roller coaster, and to the Ocean Beach Pavilion for concerts and dancing. By 1890, trolley lines reached Ocean Beach — the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad, the Park & Ocean Railroad, and the Sutro Railroad — that encouraged commercial amusement development as a trolley park. The Cliff House, which opened in 1863, and Sutro Baths, which opened in 1896, drew thousands of visitors.
And this was a Trolley Park at the time in 1884 to 1921.
All of the rides at Chutes at the Beach were purchased new or built new at Ocean Beach, including the Shoot-the-Chutes. The first official name for the amusement in the area was Chutes at the Beach. That began all the names including "at the Beach" for any ventures.
In around 1913, Arthur Looff leased a piece of land for a carousel and its house, the Looff Hippodrome, located next to John Friedle's concessions. Friedle and Looff become partners in Looff’s Hippodrome and began to buy other concessions to realize their vision of creating "the grandest amusement park on the Pacific coast." So, by 1921, they had ten rides, including the Chutes at the Beach.
Attractions included Arthur Looff’s roller coaster the "Bob Sled Dipper" which was also known as "the Bobs" built and opened in 1921), the Looff-designed Big Dipper Roller Coaster the following year (1922), Chutes at the Beach (Shoot-the-Chutes), the Looff’s Hippodrome (Carousel), Aeroplane Swing, the Whip, Dodg 'Em, the Ship of Joy, the Ferris Wheel, Noah’s Ark, and almost a hundred concessions for games, refreshments, and food. It was then became an Amusement Park.
It was said that a quick develop photographs photo shop was first developed at this very amusement park! In 1923, George and Leo Whitney opened a photographic concession that year, pioneering a fast photo-finishing process that allowed people to take pictures home rather than having to wait days for the film to be developed and images printed. Polaroid was not first, they did in 1923!
The Whitney Brothers then opened or bought out a few concessions and slowly took over operations by 1926 as a General Manager. He changed the name of the park to Playland at the Beach. But by late 1920s and 1930s, because of the Great Depression, the Whitney Brothers bought out all of the rides and concessions because they were failing due to the Depression. So, they combined the park.
The Whitneys bought the roller coaster in 1936 and the merry-go-round in 1942.[8] Playland took up three city blocks and, in 1934, the Midway had 14 rides, 25 concessions, and 4 restaurants besides Topsy's Roost.
Although Playland's attractions originally sat upon leased land, the Whitneys eventually purchased the land beneath Playland, as well as several adjacent lots for future expansion. In 1937, George Whitney, Sr. purchased the vacanted Cliff House from the Sutro estate and reopened it as an upscale roadhouse that same year. George Whitney was nicknamed as “The Barnum of the Golden Gate” as he purchased the concessions and even bought the Sutro Baths in 1952. He bought out his brother's interest in 1952 and continued to operate the area on his own until his death in 1958.
Despite this expansion, the post-war years was never the same. They took down the Shoot the Chutes in 1950 and the Big Dipper five years later. After George Whitney Sr. died in 1958, Playland was never quite the same.
You see, after George Whitney's death, Playland was operated by his son, George K. Whitney, Jr. Later sold to prolific developer Bob Fraser who responsible for more than 30 major projects in the city of San Francisco which alternated many skylines in San Francisco. It was eventually sold to Jeremy Ets-Hokin who was a millionaire developer in 1971.
Jeremy Ets-Hokin closed and torn down Playland on 04 September 1972. Condominiums were built on the Playland property. There is a permanent art project commemorating Playland was installed in 1996 according to Wikipedia.
The carousel was sold at the Playland auction in 1972 to a private collector and stored in Roswell, New Mexico for restoration until 1984, when it was sold to the city of Long Beach, California. San Francisco bought the carousel in 1998, and it is now located off Fourth Street downtown in Yerba Buena Gardens.
The popular concession was the Fun House, originally called the Bug House, erected in 1923-24. Laffing Sal was the laughing automated character whose cackle echoed throughout the park. After Playland was closed, one of the original animatrons was relocated to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as the Laughing Sal from the Fun House is now located in the Musée Mécanique (Mechanical Museum) in San Francisco.
Now Skateland -- Because Skateland was part of Playland at the Beach. But originally for the park, it was The Annex Pavilion. which became the skating rink in 1927.
Opening in 1947, Skateland was owned and operated by "Red" Shattuck, known by many as "Pops."
Having said, the Skateland at the Beach was in the area where Playland at the Beach was but only the rink George Whitney Sr or any operators after him never operated.
Skateland was very popular up until the last years.
Skateland was built on an empty Northeast corner lot on Balboa and Great Highway. The corner had been used for rides for many years, while the back area was once used for the Rocket speedway. The corner was originally part of the Pavilion, called The Annex.
Interesting facts--
George Whitney Jr., the son of park owner, George Whitney, was Walt Disney's employee number 7 at Disneyland. Walt Disney visited Playland as to explore possibilities for his theme parks and he liked this Playland at the Beach because they had theme sections. So, technically Playland was the first theme park, not Disneyland. Because Playland at the Beach was built long before Walt built his in 1955.
Local high school yearbooks featured Skateland (and I am sure Playland) as memory pages where they skated or had fun respectively. Did your yearbooks have any skating rinks mentioned? Sadly mine did not.
The Interior.
It had Maple wood floor for the roller rink.
The Exterior.
The building had several Gabled roof and partial flat. It was rather non-traditional building. Originally the sign SKATELAND was on Balboa Street side under the big Gabled roof but in later years in late 1960s or early 1970s photograph, it was placed over to the highway side of the building plus they painted. Black and White photos do not do any good because of the appearance looked entirely white walls. But I believe it was colorful. In this early 1970s photograph, it showed kind of Brown Mustard color on some of the walls, and other parts dark color. I will explain each in the gallery above so roll back up and you will see.
The building was demolished along with the Playland at the Beach Amusement Park and for sure pieces from the rink were sold in an auction.
The style of architecture was a mix. The frontage and the sign were Late Art Deco. More properly as Moderate - Mid-Century style. The side on Balboa was bit unsightly.
The diner section first was truly Art Deco and was in dark colored. Was it Black? If it was, that was really unique to have it in that color especially for late 1940s architecture themes back then. Later, in 1960s, it was renovated into Modernism look that displayed 1950s-60s look with pillars, and more plainly. Then renovated once more slightly. They had a window frame on each wall by the corner...that looked like part of a building onto the wall. More frame like. I love the look they had that black-colored diner section. If rinks today need financial support, they should have restaurants with an access directly to outside but not into the rink. Make it a pizza shop, burger fast food, hotdog fast food, whatever and people can eat in there or pick it up or even now, a drive through. The other side of the restaurant skaters can also access to. I thought of this idea at least a year before I wrote this. Red Shattuck pioneered this concept. Only other rink did this to my knowledge was Sports-O-Rama in Mattydale in 1959, a full dozen years after Skateland at the Beach had a diner with direct access. However, Sports-O-Rama changed that in 1979 with their new extension and the restaurant Bit-O-West closed in the plaza and it became concession stand there. Please read that profile.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple? Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1927. (rebuilt): 1947. Renovations: 1947. Demolished: 5 September 1972.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: 10.0000 acres (40,000 m2) Includes the Playland at the Beach.
Organ: Brand unknown.
This is part of the Playland at the Beach:
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: (Number of lanes unknown).
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: Figure 8 roller coaster, Big Dipper Roller Coaster, Arthur Looff’s Bob Sled Dipper (the Bobs) (1921), the Looff-designed Big Dipper (1922), the Shoot-the-Chutes (Chutes at the Beach), the Looff’s Hippodrome (Carousel), Aeroplane Swing, The Whip, Dodg 'Em, the Ship of Joy, the Ferris Wheel, Noah’s Ark, Skyliner, Rocketship, Big Slide, Dodg 'Em (bumper cars), Limbo (dark house), Kookie Kube, Dark Mystery (a Dark ride which started as an African-themed dark ride but was redone in the 1950s with a Dali-esque surrealistic façade), the Mad Mine (a dark ride that literally covered over Dark Mystery), Scrambler, Twister, and Kiddie Bulgy and the Diving Bell, a metal chamber that took guests under water and then returned them to the surface with a big splash. This ride originated at the 1939-40 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Penny Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: (Number unknown)
Fascination: (Number unknown)
Restaurant: (Number unknown) The Cliff House, said to be 100 concessions (some may be restaurants), Even a restaurant at the rink (order food from outside on the corner!) Skateland Fountain, and replaced restaurant with Spanish name (could not tell in the photo).
Cocktail lounge: Likely Cliff House.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: Yes. How many cars? Unknown.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1947 to Labor Day weekend Monday, 04 September 1972.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
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 Dead-Rinks. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Playland Film Short - Facebook.
Facebook - Skateland at the Beach.
SF Gate - About Playland at the Beach.
Outlander - Photo gallery. Please do click forward/backward on the page, not task bar on top. YOu can see photos of the rink along with photos of the Playland.
Found SF - Playland history.
Playland at the Beach - website.
Wikipedia - Playland at the Beach.
Playland NOT at the Beach Museum - website. (They closed the museum. Same fate).
Billboard - 24 February 1951, page 42, 1st and 2nd column.
Date of issue: 15 August 2022.
For office use only: 20/3.
Worth to visit:
You can if you want to see where it stood once and enjoy a walk on the beach. That is the only thing remains today. There are rented bicycles at that corner where the rink used to be. The parking lot remains however, it has been cut in half due to installing the main highway cutting through the coastline.
DISCLAIMER:
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.
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.
As for “For Office Only” is for my reasoning and private legal reason for that.
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All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks 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: Dead-Rinks List.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.
Before Playland, it was a 19th-century squatter's settlement, "Mooneysville-by-the-Sea".
By 1884, a steam railroad was in place to bring people to the first amusement ride at the City’s ocean side — a "Gravity Railroad" roller coaster, and to the Ocean Beach Pavilion for concerts and dancing. By 1890, trolley lines reached Ocean Beach — the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad, the Park & Ocean Railroad, and the Sutro Railroad — that encouraged commercial amusement development as a trolley park. The Cliff House, which opened in 1863, and Sutro Baths, which opened in 1896, drew thousands of visitors.
And this was a Trolley Park at the time in 1884 to 1921.
All of the rides at Chutes at the Beach were purchased new or built new at Ocean Beach, including the Shoot-the-Chutes. The first official name for the amusement in the area was Chutes at the Beach. That began all the names including "at the Beach" for any ventures.
In around 1913, Arthur Looff leased a piece of land for a carousel and its house, the Looff Hippodrome, located next to John Friedle's concessions. Friedle and Looff become partners in Looff’s Hippodrome and began to buy other concessions to realize their vision of creating "the grandest amusement park on the Pacific coast." So, by 1921, they had ten rides, including the Chutes at the Beach.
Attractions included Arthur Looff’s roller coaster the "Bob Sled Dipper" which was also known as "the Bobs" built and opened in 1921), the Looff-designed Big Dipper Roller Coaster the following year (1922), Chutes at the Beach (Shoot-the-Chutes), the Looff’s Hippodrome (Carousel), Aeroplane Swing, the Whip, Dodg 'Em, the Ship of Joy, the Ferris Wheel, Noah’s Ark, and almost a hundred concessions for games, refreshments, and food. It was then became an Amusement Park.
It was said that a quick develop photographs photo shop was first developed at this very amusement park! In 1923, George and Leo Whitney opened a photographic concession that year, pioneering a fast photo-finishing process that allowed people to take pictures home rather than having to wait days for the film to be developed and images printed. Polaroid was not first, they did in 1923!
The Whitney Brothers then opened or bought out a few concessions and slowly took over operations by 1926 as a General Manager. He changed the name of the park to Playland at the Beach. But by late 1920s and 1930s, because of the Great Depression, the Whitney Brothers bought out all of the rides and concessions because they were failing due to the Depression. So, they combined the park.
The Whitneys bought the roller coaster in 1936 and the merry-go-round in 1942.[8] Playland took up three city blocks and, in 1934, the Midway had 14 rides, 25 concessions, and 4 restaurants besides Topsy's Roost.
Although Playland's attractions originally sat upon leased land, the Whitneys eventually purchased the land beneath Playland, as well as several adjacent lots for future expansion. In 1937, George Whitney, Sr. purchased the vacanted Cliff House from the Sutro estate and reopened it as an upscale roadhouse that same year. George Whitney was nicknamed as “The Barnum of the Golden Gate” as he purchased the concessions and even bought the Sutro Baths in 1952. He bought out his brother's interest in 1952 and continued to operate the area on his own until his death in 1958.
Despite this expansion, the post-war years was never the same. They took down the Shoot the Chutes in 1950 and the Big Dipper five years later. After George Whitney Sr. died in 1958, Playland was never quite the same.
You see, after George Whitney's death, Playland was operated by his son, George K. Whitney, Jr. Later sold to prolific developer Bob Fraser who responsible for more than 30 major projects in the city of San Francisco which alternated many skylines in San Francisco. It was eventually sold to Jeremy Ets-Hokin who was a millionaire developer in 1971.
Jeremy Ets-Hokin closed and torn down Playland on 04 September 1972. Condominiums were built on the Playland property. There is a permanent art project commemorating Playland was installed in 1996 according to Wikipedia.
The carousel was sold at the Playland auction in 1972 to a private collector and stored in Roswell, New Mexico for restoration until 1984, when it was sold to the city of Long Beach, California. San Francisco bought the carousel in 1998, and it is now located off Fourth Street downtown in Yerba Buena Gardens.
The popular concession was the Fun House, originally called the Bug House, erected in 1923-24. Laffing Sal was the laughing automated character whose cackle echoed throughout the park. After Playland was closed, one of the original animatrons was relocated to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk as the Laughing Sal from the Fun House is now located in the Musée Mécanique (Mechanical Museum) in San Francisco.
Now Skateland -- Because Skateland was part of Playland at the Beach. But originally for the park, it was The Annex Pavilion. which became the skating rink in 1927.
Opening in 1947, Skateland was owned and operated by "Red" Shattuck, known by many as "Pops."
Having said, the Skateland at the Beach was in the area where Playland at the Beach was but only the rink George Whitney Sr or any operators after him never operated.
Skateland was very popular up until the last years.
Skateland was built on an empty Northeast corner lot on Balboa and Great Highway. The corner had been used for rides for many years, while the back area was once used for the Rocket speedway. The corner was originally part of the Pavilion, called The Annex.
Interesting facts--
George Whitney Jr., the son of park owner, George Whitney, was Walt Disney's employee number 7 at Disneyland. Walt Disney visited Playland as to explore possibilities for his theme parks and he liked this Playland at the Beach because they had theme sections. So, technically Playland was the first theme park, not Disneyland. Because Playland at the Beach was built long before Walt built his in 1955.
Local high school yearbooks featured Skateland (and I am sure Playland) as memory pages where they skated or had fun respectively. Did your yearbooks have any skating rinks mentioned? Sadly mine did not.
The Interior.
It had Maple wood floor for the roller rink.
The Exterior.
The building had several Gabled roof and partial flat. It was rather non-traditional building. Originally the sign SKATELAND was on Balboa Street side under the big Gabled roof but in later years in late 1960s or early 1970s photograph, it was placed over to the highway side of the building plus they painted. Black and White photos do not do any good because of the appearance looked entirely white walls. But I believe it was colorful. In this early 1970s photograph, it showed kind of Brown Mustard color on some of the walls, and other parts dark color. I will explain each in the gallery above so roll back up and you will see.
The building was demolished along with the Playland at the Beach Amusement Park and for sure pieces from the rink were sold in an auction.
The style of architecture was a mix. The frontage and the sign were Late Art Deco. More properly as Moderate - Mid-Century style. The side on Balboa was bit unsightly.
The diner section first was truly Art Deco and was in dark colored. Was it Black? If it was, that was really unique to have it in that color especially for late 1940s architecture themes back then. Later, in 1960s, it was renovated into Modernism look that displayed 1950s-60s look with pillars, and more plainly. Then renovated once more slightly. They had a window frame on each wall by the corner...that looked like part of a building onto the wall. More frame like. I love the look they had that black-colored diner section. If rinks today need financial support, they should have restaurants with an access directly to outside but not into the rink. Make it a pizza shop, burger fast food, hotdog fast food, whatever and people can eat in there or pick it up or even now, a drive through. The other side of the restaurant skaters can also access to. I thought of this idea at least a year before I wrote this. Red Shattuck pioneered this concept. Only other rink did this to my knowledge was Sports-O-Rama in Mattydale in 1959, a full dozen years after Skateland at the Beach had a diner with direct access. However, Sports-O-Rama changed that in 1979 with their new extension and the restaurant Bit-O-West closed in the plaza and it became concession stand there. Please read that profile.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Maple? Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: 1927. (rebuilt): 1947. Renovations: 1947. Demolished: 5 September 1972.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Trusses Steel - Walled Warehouse - like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: 10.0000 acres (40,000 m2) Includes the Playland at the Beach.
Organ: Brand unknown.
This is part of the Playland at the Beach:
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: (Number of lanes unknown).
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: Figure 8 roller coaster, Big Dipper Roller Coaster, Arthur Looff’s Bob Sled Dipper (the Bobs) (1921), the Looff-designed Big Dipper (1922), the Shoot-the-Chutes (Chutes at the Beach), the Looff’s Hippodrome (Carousel), Aeroplane Swing, The Whip, Dodg 'Em, the Ship of Joy, the Ferris Wheel, Noah’s Ark, Skyliner, Rocketship, Big Slide, Dodg 'Em (bumper cars), Limbo (dark house), Kookie Kube, Dark Mystery (a Dark ride which started as an African-themed dark ride but was redone in the 1950s with a Dali-esque surrealistic façade), the Mad Mine (a dark ride that literally covered over Dark Mystery), Scrambler, Twister, and Kiddie Bulgy and the Diving Bell, a metal chamber that took guests under water and then returned them to the surface with a big splash. This ride originated at the 1939-40 Golden Gate Exposition on Treasure Island.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Penny Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: (Number unknown)
Fascination: (Number unknown)
Restaurant: (Number unknown) The Cliff House, said to be 100 concessions (some may be restaurants), Even a restaurant at the rink (order food from outside on the corner!) Skateland Fountain, and replaced restaurant with Spanish name (could not tell in the photo).
Cocktail lounge: Likely Cliff House.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: Yes. How many cars? Unknown.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Operated: (Overall)-- 1947 to Labor Day weekend Monday, 04 September 1972.
Reason for Closure: N/A.
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 Dead-Rinks. Thank you. You can also use this form.
Sources:
Playland Film Short - Facebook.
Facebook - Skateland at the Beach.
SF Gate - About Playland at the Beach.
Outlander - Photo gallery. Please do click forward/backward on the page, not task bar on top. YOu can see photos of the rink along with photos of the Playland.
Found SF - Playland history.
Playland at the Beach - website.
Wikipedia - Playland at the Beach.
Playland NOT at the Beach Museum - website. (They closed the museum. Same fate).
Billboard - 24 February 1951, page 42, 1st and 2nd column.
Date of issue: 15 August 2022.
For office use only: 20/3.
Worth to visit:
You can if you want to see where it stood once and enjoy a walk on the beach. That is the only thing remains today. There are rented bicycles at that corner where the rink used to be. The parking lot remains however, it has been cut in half due to installing the main highway cutting through the coastline.
DISCLAIMER:
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.
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.
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 Dead-Rinks are not the property of Dead-Rinks therefore we do not own the rights to the music.
All photos you submitted or we retrieved becomes property of Dead-Rinks 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: Dead-Rinks List.
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