Tara Skating Club 7335 GA-85 Riverdale, GA.. Old 1970s style sign and photo taken that time. Source: Tara Skating Club group on Facebook.
Tara Skating Club 7335 GA-85 Riverdale, GA
Tara Skating Club was a skating rink at 7335 GA-85 Riverdale, GA. The address I got on Google Map was in Jonesboro, not Riverdale. I got the same number but it was at wrong location. It pointed to a medical center which was wrong on Google Map.
UPDATE! -- 16 August 2022.
I received an email to explain about the address and other things on this rink. Here is what it says--
Tara Skate Club was in Riverdale on GA Hwy 85 and Church St. (SW corner of that intersection).
This site has long ago been completely redeveloped and is unrecognizable as the site it once stood on. Constructed [around] 1973-74. Simple asphalt parking lot. Entrance on north side of building running east/west. (I found on Google Map and the sun glare on old tech picture horrible and you cannot see the entire place! I did see the skate on top of the sign though but the photos are horrible since it was taken in 2007!)
The building was a standalone, stylized Quonset hut style structure with Maple skate floor. The ticket/lobby area was concrete with ticket window, interior double doors opened onto dark red carpeted area that surrounded skate floor. To the left, a tall DJ booth (fully carpeted) towered above skating area (and directly behind ticket booth). To the right and behind a black steel railing/gated area was a rather large snack bar serving pickles, pizza, and especially fine hot dogs. This snack bar area also surrounded the west turn of the skating surface, meaning skaters could skate near the outside edge of the turn, and handslap friends eating in the snack bar. The potential for flirtation was seemingly limitless.
Further east of the DJ tower was more red carpet, multicolored "mushroom" (I call them "High Wire spools") seats (fully carpeted), a skate center/pro shop/extended skate rental counter). The darkest corner in the rink was northeastern-most, and on Friday nights, smoochers would be lounging in the corners--with the occasional visit from the referee or the bright lights of the races momentarily interrupting teenage couples.
The skate shop was very good, stocking Canadian-8 wheels and other goodies for your quads. Many of us regulars wore skate wrenches around shoelace necklaces (just in case some damsel might need assistance with her trucks). These were also convenient after lost races, since you could limp to the corner with your wrench to "fix the axles" that "cost you the race". Skate wrenches we're available at the pro shop for $2.00. Blister pads were 50 cents each.
The rink was well equipped with disco ball and flashing lights, and large Cerwin Vega speakers. Fidelity was very good.
The parking lot held approximately 75-100 cars.
Most popular times: Friday/Saturday nights 630p-1130p, Saturdays 10a-5p.
Opened in 1973, unknown closing date.
May have been operated in 90's as Sparkles 2; Sparkles was in College Park starting in the 1980's.
Thank you for your email. However, the address I got for this rink and the name I thought would be connected to the article found in Clayton News-Daily about the shooting.
You see, I found this rink through searching for more information on the former Sparkles/Buster's rink and found Tara Skating Club on the list and opened to Facebook. Also when I was reading about Buster Cato in an interview with a reporter saying about kids were being shot and I found one that was at a rink that the police and reporter NEVER said the name of it but the address. But never said what city. Funny how this happens. I realized 1 and 1 equals to same place.
Thank you for your email. However, the address I got for this rink and the name I thought would be connected to the article found in Clayton News-Daily about the shooting. Readers, please read article. The address is there. Anyone know the name of that rink?
Interesting name for a shopping plaza and the skating rink. Tara is a female name and the proper way to say it Tar-a. Not Tier-a. No. Not that unless she tells you otherwise.
The shopping plaza is dying as I can see on Google Map. But the heydays of the rink was known and I am sure the plaza was bustling well at the time.
The building was demolished in 2007 to make way for a new dealership. Google Map showed the old rink looked abandoned in 2007 and in 2009, its all sparkling new dealership with used cars parked there.
Tara rink was opened in late 1970s to early 1980s (according to Facebook) but operated till around 2007.
Size of place and rink floor? Anything would be helpful.
"Wild" Bill managed the rink.
The Interior.
Clear coated Maple floor. I do not know what layout it was. I do not have much pictures to see from Facebook group for this rink.
The Exterior.
I do not know what it was like. Nothing. Only that sign I see was old school style lettering housing for sign big letters- ROLLER SKATING then below, it says Tara Skating Club in much smaller font size.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear Maple Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Renovated: None. Demolished: 2007. Now a car dealership.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Truss Steel Walled Warehouse like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Operated: 1970s to late 2000s.
Reason for Closure: N/A. (Possible the shooting hurt business).
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:
Clayton News-Daily on shooting.
Facebook - Tara Skate Club.
email - 14 August 2022.
Date of issue: 2019.
Update: 16 August 2022.
For office use only: 1.
Worth to visit:
None. It is a car dealership now.
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.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.
UPDATE! -- 16 August 2022.
I received an email to explain about the address and other things on this rink. Here is what it says--
Tara Skate Club was in Riverdale on GA Hwy 85 and Church St. (SW corner of that intersection).
This site has long ago been completely redeveloped and is unrecognizable as the site it once stood on. Constructed [around] 1973-74. Simple asphalt parking lot. Entrance on north side of building running east/west. (I found on Google Map and the sun glare on old tech picture horrible and you cannot see the entire place! I did see the skate on top of the sign though but the photos are horrible since it was taken in 2007!)
The building was a standalone, stylized Quonset hut style structure with Maple skate floor. The ticket/lobby area was concrete with ticket window, interior double doors opened onto dark red carpeted area that surrounded skate floor. To the left, a tall DJ booth (fully carpeted) towered above skating area (and directly behind ticket booth). To the right and behind a black steel railing/gated area was a rather large snack bar serving pickles, pizza, and especially fine hot dogs. This snack bar area also surrounded the west turn of the skating surface, meaning skaters could skate near the outside edge of the turn, and handslap friends eating in the snack bar. The potential for flirtation was seemingly limitless.
Further east of the DJ tower was more red carpet, multicolored "mushroom" (I call them "High Wire spools") seats (fully carpeted), a skate center/pro shop/extended skate rental counter). The darkest corner in the rink was northeastern-most, and on Friday nights, smoochers would be lounging in the corners--with the occasional visit from the referee or the bright lights of the races momentarily interrupting teenage couples.
The skate shop was very good, stocking Canadian-8 wheels and other goodies for your quads. Many of us regulars wore skate wrenches around shoelace necklaces (just in case some damsel might need assistance with her trucks). These were also convenient after lost races, since you could limp to the corner with your wrench to "fix the axles" that "cost you the race". Skate wrenches we're available at the pro shop for $2.00. Blister pads were 50 cents each.
The rink was well equipped with disco ball and flashing lights, and large Cerwin Vega speakers. Fidelity was very good.
The parking lot held approximately 75-100 cars.
Most popular times: Friday/Saturday nights 630p-1130p, Saturdays 10a-5p.
Opened in 1973, unknown closing date.
May have been operated in 90's as Sparkles 2; Sparkles was in College Park starting in the 1980's.
Thank you for your email. However, the address I got for this rink and the name I thought would be connected to the article found in Clayton News-Daily about the shooting.
You see, I found this rink through searching for more information on the former Sparkles/Buster's rink and found Tara Skating Club on the list and opened to Facebook. Also when I was reading about Buster Cato in an interview with a reporter saying about kids were being shot and I found one that was at a rink that the police and reporter NEVER said the name of it but the address. But never said what city. Funny how this happens. I realized 1 and 1 equals to same place.
Thank you for your email. However, the address I got for this rink and the name I thought would be connected to the article found in Clayton News-Daily about the shooting. Readers, please read article. The address is there. Anyone know the name of that rink?
Interesting name for a shopping plaza and the skating rink. Tara is a female name and the proper way to say it Tar-a. Not Tier-a. No. Not that unless she tells you otherwise.
The shopping plaza is dying as I can see on Google Map. But the heydays of the rink was known and I am sure the plaza was bustling well at the time.
The building was demolished in 2007 to make way for a new dealership. Google Map showed the old rink looked abandoned in 2007 and in 2009, its all sparkling new dealership with used cars parked there.
Tara rink was opened in late 1970s to early 1980s (according to Facebook) but operated till around 2007.
Size of place and rink floor? Anything would be helpful.
"Wild" Bill managed the rink.
The Interior.
Clear coated Maple floor. I do not know what layout it was. I do not have much pictures to see from Facebook group for this rink.
The Exterior.
I do not know what it was like. Nothing. Only that sign I see was old school style lettering housing for sign big letters- ROLLER SKATING then below, it says Tara Skating Club in much smaller font size.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear Maple Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Renovated: None. Demolished: 2007. Now a car dealership.
Type of Building: Free Span Steel Truss Steel Walled Warehouse like Building.
Roof: Gabled.
Acres: N/A.
Organ: N/A.
10 Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Duck Pins Bowling Lanes: None.
Candlestick Bowling Lanes: None.
Pocket Billiard Tables: N/A.
Amusement Rides: None.
Driving Range Slots: None.
Miniature Golf Course: None.
Arcade: (Number unknown)
Skee-Ball: N/A.
Fascination: None.
Restaurant: None.
Cocktail lounge: None.
Laser Tag: None.
Bounce Houses: None.
Bumper Cars: None.
Go-Kart: None.
Motel: None.
Swimming Pool: None.
Jungle Gym Playground: None.
Skate Park: None.
Operated: 1970s to late 2000s.
Reason for Closure: N/A. (Possible the shooting hurt business).
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:
Clayton News-Daily on shooting.
Facebook - Tara Skate Club.
email - 14 August 2022.
Date of issue: 2019.
Update: 16 August 2022.
For office use only: 1.
Worth to visit:
None. It is a car dealership now.
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.
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks, an International Commercial Archeology Preservation© Group. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7.