Starlite Skate Center. Logo with heartbeat. Yes, roller skating is excellent for cardiac exercise and one of the safest sports and fitness to do.
Google Map. Noticed the two differences? Yes, the sign. The 1950s/60s style sign disappeared. I love those look on the exterior wall. Really refreshing update look. The next one you see below is the updated look which was reversing the period to more like 1970s look. Those were not really windows in those photos above. They are decorative blocks that were common in the Mid-Century. It may have been windows behind it. I am not sure.
Both photo stills of WIBW. The exterior of the rink in this updated look. Yuck. I love the look before it was painted over!
Four photos Google Images. Clean open spaced and feels very spacious with excellent colors and murals all each are themed. With this type of art, it makes the place look bigger. One of the best designed for clean open or airy space such as this rink which is not that very big rink. The carpet on the other hand...
Courtesy of SkaterVideoGuy's Videos / Photos. All music in the video are not his and not mine. long list of music sources are on his YouTube channel below this video there. 48 minutes of video. Sadly not many people skated and this was in 2006!
Starlite South Skate Center 301 S.E. 45th Street, Topeka, KS
Starlite South Skate Center recently closed in 2020 which was held at 301 S.E. 45th Street, Topeka, KS, the original home for Ken and Ruby Sasek who began this rink in 1966. The reason Ken and Ruby chose to build in South Topeka so they would be close to then Forbes Air Force Base. At that time base was active military and roller skating was a favorite past time of service personnel. Very true at many towns that had roller rinks where there are military bases.
Later, Ken and Ruby decided that the city Topeka could use yet another roller skating facility. They built their Starlite West Skate Center at 815 S.W. Fairlawn Rd in 1970.
In 1976, Pappy Winkler, a one time Radio Shack store owner where his store was in Kansas City, purchased Starlite South Skate Center from the Sasek’s. Ken would occasionally come in to purchase items for his rinks in Topeka and Kansas City. They became good friends. Eventually, Pappy shared with Ken that he was interested in purchasing a skating rink and the two of them came to an agreement that Starlite South Skate Center was a good fit.
Over the next 4 years the two rinks thrived (Disco Era peaked), and in 1980 Pappy purchased Starlite West Skate Center from the Sasek’s. In1990 Pappy sold Starlite South Skate Center to Loretta Long. In the summer of 2020, Starlite South Skate Center closed its doors, and was sold to another business. It would no longer be a roller skating establishment.
As for Starlite West Skate Center, in1989, a woman known to all of 31 years later, Tina Robertson (affectionately called Miss Tina) went to work for Pappy. Six years later, in 1995, Tina purchased Starlite West Skate Center from Pappy. For many years, you could still go to the rink on the weekends and see Pappy hanging around and making his presence known. He loved making balloon animals for the kids. The smiles he brought to our youth over the years were priceless.
In 1998, Miss Tina renamed the rink to Skate-A-Way Skate Center and in 2001 she changed it to Sk8away, Inc. and it remains under that name even in September of 2020.
All information source from Sk8away website.
What a history for this rink and the sister rink. Sadly the original is closed and its not a roller rink anymore. And sadly it is not original name, Starlite anymore. It was sold to a beer brewery business which is converting at the time of writing,
Loretta Long, the final owner of this specific rink had to close permanently after it was temporarily closed due to COVID that hurt the business. This situation caused Loretta to decide to retire instead.
There is a major conflict of interest if you look it up wrong. There is a Starlite Skate Center of same name but in Salina, Kansas and they are closing at the same time! This one will turn into a car wash. This Starlite must be entirely different competitor with the same name. They opened in 1963 as well. Everything very close similar but it is entirely different rink. Someone should have known not to name the same name in same state because of a certain law you cannot use same name if you are going to open as a competitor in the same state This Starlite being open in 1963 came first with that name, not the Starlite on this profile which was in Topeka. The Salina version was actually first.
The Interior.
I love the interior! The floor, of course, in Navy Gray Concrete floor but the walls were very catchy. I love that 1970s feel that I believe it was refreshing look. The interior looks more recently done than it was in 1960s or 1970s. I am not sure if that was true it remained the same since then however, the interior walls were really attractive. I love them all. Each side were really different. Well, actually the long sides of walls were similar color however, the back wall on the rink was showing stars and stripes that reminded me of some advertisement back in 1970s as I recalled. Several stores and businesses had that look in their ads. The Stars and Stripes were, of course, popular in the 1970s because of the American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. Stars and Stripes everywhere right down to the fire hydrants patriots painted for a contest. It was fun year. Are you ready for the American Revolution Sestercentennial Celebration in 2026? I sure am!
Well, the tone colors were in the Blues and Purples against white backdrop. The left wall showed more of 1930s Art Deco because of the curves and lines. and the other wall, on the right, was more of 1980s lines and semi circles. So you are seeing this awesome place as timepiece because of the display of multi-decades on the wall. Clearly this was more recent job than in 1970s. Those long walls had slightly different sets of same color. The 1930s walls proudly displayed John Deere Green and Deere Yellow with Black outlines. But the 1980s wall as I call that had Lime Green and Neon Yellow with Black. It made sense with the Deere colors because Kansas is a Mid-West state--one of the farm states.
This rink I would have gone for sure for many times. I love the comfort of the look. Very clean design. Bravo to all the former owners for this look. God truly bless them.
The Stars and Stripes side changed very slowly. Watch the YouTube video and you will see what colors and then compared to those photos posted above.
The Exterior.
I love that sign! Starlite Skate Center sign that proudly displayed by the parking lot near the street. It was truly 1950s/1960s Mid-Century/Googie style signage. Unfortunately Google did not do a good job in 2007 and it was a little blur. It has that inverted curve for Starlite and the font was 1950s style script. Skate was very clear word to see in middle part of the sign and bottom part was Center. The whole thing was truly iconic at the time.
But the Google Map showed in September 2012 that the sign was gone. But not the rink. I do not know why the sign was removed in 2012 or before that. Could have stayed there till 2020.
I love the very colorful sections on the exterior as you can see in the photos above. The new one truly ruined it with straight lines. I love sectional color mix. Truly catching than the updated look.
The exterior architectural design is very similar to the Starlite West Skate Center which apparently was designed by the same architect and was under same management back then.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Navy Gray Painted Concrete. Floor Layout: Standard.
Building Size: 17,370 SF. Built: 1967. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblocks and Bricks-Walled Commercial - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 84,430 SF / 1.938244 Acres
Operated: 1966 to August 11 2020.
Reason for Closure: Retirement due to COVID pandemic forced shut down (Actual). Real reason--likely financial cause by the COVID lockdown (opinion).
Wanted: Information regarding actual dates of open, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Sk8away website; 13 WIBW; Yelp; Enriched Real Estate; 13 WIBW - New Brewery; Facebook;
Local Gyms & Fitness; 13 WIBW - Video;
© 2019-2020 Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.
Later, Ken and Ruby decided that the city Topeka could use yet another roller skating facility. They built their Starlite West Skate Center at 815 S.W. Fairlawn Rd in 1970.
In 1976, Pappy Winkler, a one time Radio Shack store owner where his store was in Kansas City, purchased Starlite South Skate Center from the Sasek’s. Ken would occasionally come in to purchase items for his rinks in Topeka and Kansas City. They became good friends. Eventually, Pappy shared with Ken that he was interested in purchasing a skating rink and the two of them came to an agreement that Starlite South Skate Center was a good fit.
Over the next 4 years the two rinks thrived (Disco Era peaked), and in 1980 Pappy purchased Starlite West Skate Center from the Sasek’s. In1990 Pappy sold Starlite South Skate Center to Loretta Long. In the summer of 2020, Starlite South Skate Center closed its doors, and was sold to another business. It would no longer be a roller skating establishment.
As for Starlite West Skate Center, in1989, a woman known to all of 31 years later, Tina Robertson (affectionately called Miss Tina) went to work for Pappy. Six years later, in 1995, Tina purchased Starlite West Skate Center from Pappy. For many years, you could still go to the rink on the weekends and see Pappy hanging around and making his presence known. He loved making balloon animals for the kids. The smiles he brought to our youth over the years were priceless.
In 1998, Miss Tina renamed the rink to Skate-A-Way Skate Center and in 2001 she changed it to Sk8away, Inc. and it remains under that name even in September of 2020.
All information source from Sk8away website.
What a history for this rink and the sister rink. Sadly the original is closed and its not a roller rink anymore. And sadly it is not original name, Starlite anymore. It was sold to a beer brewery business which is converting at the time of writing,
Loretta Long, the final owner of this specific rink had to close permanently after it was temporarily closed due to COVID that hurt the business. This situation caused Loretta to decide to retire instead.
There is a major conflict of interest if you look it up wrong. There is a Starlite Skate Center of same name but in Salina, Kansas and they are closing at the same time! This one will turn into a car wash. This Starlite must be entirely different competitor with the same name. They opened in 1963 as well. Everything very close similar but it is entirely different rink. Someone should have known not to name the same name in same state because of a certain law you cannot use same name if you are going to open as a competitor in the same state This Starlite being open in 1963 came first with that name, not the Starlite on this profile which was in Topeka. The Salina version was actually first.
The Interior.
I love the interior! The floor, of course, in Navy Gray Concrete floor but the walls were very catchy. I love that 1970s feel that I believe it was refreshing look. The interior looks more recently done than it was in 1960s or 1970s. I am not sure if that was true it remained the same since then however, the interior walls were really attractive. I love them all. Each side were really different. Well, actually the long sides of walls were similar color however, the back wall on the rink was showing stars and stripes that reminded me of some advertisement back in 1970s as I recalled. Several stores and businesses had that look in their ads. The Stars and Stripes were, of course, popular in the 1970s because of the American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. Stars and Stripes everywhere right down to the fire hydrants patriots painted for a contest. It was fun year. Are you ready for the American Revolution Sestercentennial Celebration in 2026? I sure am!
Well, the tone colors were in the Blues and Purples against white backdrop. The left wall showed more of 1930s Art Deco because of the curves and lines. and the other wall, on the right, was more of 1980s lines and semi circles. So you are seeing this awesome place as timepiece because of the display of multi-decades on the wall. Clearly this was more recent job than in 1970s. Those long walls had slightly different sets of same color. The 1930s walls proudly displayed John Deere Green and Deere Yellow with Black outlines. But the 1980s wall as I call that had Lime Green and Neon Yellow with Black. It made sense with the Deere colors because Kansas is a Mid-West state--one of the farm states.
This rink I would have gone for sure for many times. I love the comfort of the look. Very clean design. Bravo to all the former owners for this look. God truly bless them.
The Stars and Stripes side changed very slowly. Watch the YouTube video and you will see what colors and then compared to those photos posted above.
The Exterior.
I love that sign! Starlite Skate Center sign that proudly displayed by the parking lot near the street. It was truly 1950s/1960s Mid-Century/Googie style signage. Unfortunately Google did not do a good job in 2007 and it was a little blur. It has that inverted curve for Starlite and the font was 1950s style script. Skate was very clear word to see in middle part of the sign and bottom part was Center. The whole thing was truly iconic at the time.
But the Google Map showed in September 2012 that the sign was gone. But not the rink. I do not know why the sign was removed in 2012 or before that. Could have stayed there till 2020.
I love the very colorful sections on the exterior as you can see in the photos above. The new one truly ruined it with straight lines. I love sectional color mix. Truly catching than the updated look.
The exterior architectural design is very similar to the Starlite West Skate Center which apparently was designed by the same architect and was under same management back then.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Navy Gray Painted Concrete. Floor Layout: Standard.
Building Size: 17,370 SF. Built: 1967. Demolished: Still standing.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblocks and Bricks-Walled Commercial - like Building.
Roof: Gable.
Acres: 84,430 SF / 1.938244 Acres
Operated: 1966 to August 11 2020.
Reason for Closure: Retirement due to COVID pandemic forced shut down (Actual). Real reason--likely financial cause by the COVID lockdown (opinion).
Wanted: Information regarding actual dates of open, size of rink, rink materials. Also photos.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources: Sk8away website; 13 WIBW; Yelp; Enriched Real Estate; 13 WIBW - New Brewery; Facebook;
Local Gyms & Fitness; 13 WIBW - Video;
© 2019-2020 Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.