Courtesy of The Rink of Bergenfield/Krista Merscshrod. The exterior of the rink right by the road. Beautiful detail of mural by the arch that showed a skater and the city skyline.
Photo courtesy of Kenny Amos/Facebook The Rink in Bergenfield, NJ group. It is said the very sign is saved from demolished. Whew!
Button and photo by Steve Hards. Button for The Rink. Font looks very early 1980s. Likely that is the case.
All photos courtesy of Kenny Amos/Facebook The Rink at Bergenfield, NJ group page. Even the Youtube as well (see below).
The Rink, 450 S Washington Ave, Bergenfield NJ. Youtube video. Source: YouTube.
The Rink, 450 S Washington Ave, Bergenfield NJ
The Rink, simply called The Rink which was held in Bergenfield, NJ. The Rink was a popular destination for skaters in 1980s and 1990s in the Greater Newark/New York City Metro area.
It ran for 17 years in a 33,000-square-foot Segmental Arch roof building with unique design that really would be worth to look at the photos above. You will see the photos.
The Rink, not the rink, The Rink had functions such as concerts with big names such as Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J Notorious B.I.G. and Run-DMC played at The Rink. That was a rare commodity for rinks to host big names to play at skating rinks back the day because it was not like mid-Century or even prior to WWII that they had bands playing there. Some Rinks in NYC/Long Island even had bands playing there. One rink in NYC was converted to just concert hall/night club.
The building was a beautiful Arched building with murals on the glass. It appeared to be 1950s look building but unfortunately, they went out of business and a dying department store bought the place and torn it down only to close that very store in 2010s. It was Sears Hardware Store. A history about that certain department store and all other department stores in another website another time.
But The Rink was really unique with its design. The Arch, the mural upon dark plane windows that stiletto the look. White walls. Beautiful design. Surrounding the concrete arch was flat roof making it like it was an extension of the building.
The interior. They had beautiful Maple floor under the Arch but the rest of the building with flat roof were such as restrooms, snack bar, eating area, games, and skate rental. I found several photos of The Rink both in NJ.com and its fan page on Facebook. To click on links, see Sources below.
It had carpetiles on the floor and carnival blinking lights by the snack bar and eating area and on one end of the rink while the DJ booth was in center with the diamond ball just hovered above the DJ booth. The design that Robert Dill had in mind to be like a mix of a night club and a roller rink. I would call this rink in its classification- Skating rink night club. This is a rare occurrence. There is one example still in the running and that is in Staten Island in New York. Another is also still running is in between Buffalo and Rochester, New York.
The wall had 1980s Miami Vice colors including Miami Pink, Purple Rain, and Tron Turquoise colors.
Besides the big names in concerts, there were, of course, controversies at The Rink. The police, the hours, violence, big name concerts, police presence at The Rink. Yes, I said it twice about the police. There was an article I found in a photograph explaining in 1996 why the owner closed The Rink. It was cost of operations, not controversies forcing him to close a popular destination for skaters. Likely they were closed in late June 1996.
Back the day, insurance were high hurting rinks (still hurt for EVERYONE thanks to Obamacare and insurance companies), people prefer cell phones and playing games or watching streaming and shopping at home online. Not only that, the expensive business plan for concerts. They do eat up profits pretty much as I am familiar with how it function from being Self-Employed as a Freelance Designer.
Anyway, I am sure it would have been still around today if it was not the cost issues.
It was first opened on Thanksgiving Eve November 25, 1981. This is why the article was featured today on NJ.com. The owner and manager were shocked to see quite a crowd on that opening day. Apparently malls closed early on Thanksgiving Eve at the time (which they do now open late) that mall rats could not go to the mall but they put on their rented or owned skates and skated at The Rink.
It was so popular since that opening day that it was on the nerve on the police that they had to bring in other police departments in surrounding areas to come in for help control the crowd. But also the city councils were nervous about this as well. By 1992, the council had crack down by being anti-loitering. It was bad that the owners Robert and Marianne Dill hired as many as 20 off-duty police officers to help with busy sessions such as “adult” nights on Tuesdays. That drained the cost of operating. The couple, 20 officers, plus admission staff, skate rental staff, and snack bar staff and liability insurance and electric bills.
In 1992 or so as I learned from my friend on how to operate a rink as he owned one (Empire Skate West), and he said just 4 nights open with 2 afternoons sessions without any concerts, it cost him 500 Dollars for electric bill per month At the time, my bill was a measly 80 dollars in my apartment during winter months and 60 during the day (includes fees which is about 30 dollars). Image that in NJ in 1980s and 1990s? Translate 500 Dollars to year 2020 money, it would be around 1500 Dollars in my opinion. Maybe more.
The Rink was a big place.
There was an ordinance that the owner thought it was to aim crack down on The Rink limiting the hours of operations. You see, The Rink was open till 1 AM during the week and 3 AM on weekend. They could not do that to the bars and night clubs because that is state law. So, there was a lawsuit regarding the hours made against the city. It was dragging on for a few years then finally settled in 1996 after a three years battle about the hours but the owner believed it was aimed at the certain ethic groups. Yes, many skaters were from New York City cross over to Jersey to skate at The Rink.
There was a riot in early 1995 that 80 police officers were called to the scene at The Rink where the police thought where that riot was. It was just broken windows and merchandise were stolen from Radio Shack. Then 10 days after the letter Robert Dill wrote to the editor in The Record, there was a huge turnout that this DJ who had DJing at the Greekfest in Long Island told people to go over to The Rink and the police heard about it and then 10 police departments had to send officers over to The Rink to turn away skaters. 700 skaters were turned away because of the crowd limits. That forced the owner to cut hours for sure.
That settled out in court between him and the city.
The council despite The Rink and the Dills had to close down in June 1998 because of the roof problems. It was leaking and was old. The Rink building previously was known as a bowling alley before it was opened as The Rink in 1981. That Segmental Arch. It has to be 1930s to 1950s look. Roughly around there.
So, the Dills closed the rink because he would not afford to pay 600,000 USD for roof repairs, instead, Sears took over and demolished The Rink that year and then Sears as part of its downsizing to close the department store chain, closed the Hardware Store and Dill sold the property in 2007. The new Sears building still stands according to Google Map. A sad note.
It also had a mini-golf course in the rear of The Rink.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Maple Floor Layout: Fan with DJ booth and resting area with rails surrounded the center.
Building Size: 33,000 SF Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span Steel-Trusses Segmental Arch Building
Roof: Segmental Arch with Flat roof surrounded the Arch.
Acres: N/A
Operated: Thanksgiving Evening November 25, 1981 to late June 1996.
Reason for Closure: Cost and roof leaking would cost 600,000 USD and loss of business time with six months of closing to repair roof. Not worth the effort to repairs. Leased to Sears for their store and Sears closed as well.
Wanted: Information regarding More interior photos without people, Exact date of closure. Size of rink.
Sources: Facebook.
NJ.com.
Date of Issue: Thanksgiving 2019. Updated: 12 August 2021.
For Office Only: 8, 1v.
© Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3, 16.
It ran for 17 years in a 33,000-square-foot Segmental Arch roof building with unique design that really would be worth to look at the photos above. You will see the photos.
The Rink, not the rink, The Rink had functions such as concerts with big names such as Stevie Wonder, LL Cool J Notorious B.I.G. and Run-DMC played at The Rink. That was a rare commodity for rinks to host big names to play at skating rinks back the day because it was not like mid-Century or even prior to WWII that they had bands playing there. Some Rinks in NYC/Long Island even had bands playing there. One rink in NYC was converted to just concert hall/night club.
The building was a beautiful Arched building with murals on the glass. It appeared to be 1950s look building but unfortunately, they went out of business and a dying department store bought the place and torn it down only to close that very store in 2010s. It was Sears Hardware Store. A history about that certain department store and all other department stores in another website another time.
But The Rink was really unique with its design. The Arch, the mural upon dark plane windows that stiletto the look. White walls. Beautiful design. Surrounding the concrete arch was flat roof making it like it was an extension of the building.
The interior. They had beautiful Maple floor under the Arch but the rest of the building with flat roof were such as restrooms, snack bar, eating area, games, and skate rental. I found several photos of The Rink both in NJ.com and its fan page on Facebook. To click on links, see Sources below.
It had carpetiles on the floor and carnival blinking lights by the snack bar and eating area and on one end of the rink while the DJ booth was in center with the diamond ball just hovered above the DJ booth. The design that Robert Dill had in mind to be like a mix of a night club and a roller rink. I would call this rink in its classification- Skating rink night club. This is a rare occurrence. There is one example still in the running and that is in Staten Island in New York. Another is also still running is in between Buffalo and Rochester, New York.
The wall had 1980s Miami Vice colors including Miami Pink, Purple Rain, and Tron Turquoise colors.
Besides the big names in concerts, there were, of course, controversies at The Rink. The police, the hours, violence, big name concerts, police presence at The Rink. Yes, I said it twice about the police. There was an article I found in a photograph explaining in 1996 why the owner closed The Rink. It was cost of operations, not controversies forcing him to close a popular destination for skaters. Likely they were closed in late June 1996.
Back the day, insurance were high hurting rinks (still hurt for EVERYONE thanks to Obamacare and insurance companies), people prefer cell phones and playing games or watching streaming and shopping at home online. Not only that, the expensive business plan for concerts. They do eat up profits pretty much as I am familiar with how it function from being Self-Employed as a Freelance Designer.
Anyway, I am sure it would have been still around today if it was not the cost issues.
It was first opened on Thanksgiving Eve November 25, 1981. This is why the article was featured today on NJ.com. The owner and manager were shocked to see quite a crowd on that opening day. Apparently malls closed early on Thanksgiving Eve at the time (which they do now open late) that mall rats could not go to the mall but they put on their rented or owned skates and skated at The Rink.
It was so popular since that opening day that it was on the nerve on the police that they had to bring in other police departments in surrounding areas to come in for help control the crowd. But also the city councils were nervous about this as well. By 1992, the council had crack down by being anti-loitering. It was bad that the owners Robert and Marianne Dill hired as many as 20 off-duty police officers to help with busy sessions such as “adult” nights on Tuesdays. That drained the cost of operating. The couple, 20 officers, plus admission staff, skate rental staff, and snack bar staff and liability insurance and electric bills.
In 1992 or so as I learned from my friend on how to operate a rink as he owned one (Empire Skate West), and he said just 4 nights open with 2 afternoons sessions without any concerts, it cost him 500 Dollars for electric bill per month At the time, my bill was a measly 80 dollars in my apartment during winter months and 60 during the day (includes fees which is about 30 dollars). Image that in NJ in 1980s and 1990s? Translate 500 Dollars to year 2020 money, it would be around 1500 Dollars in my opinion. Maybe more.
The Rink was a big place.
There was an ordinance that the owner thought it was to aim crack down on The Rink limiting the hours of operations. You see, The Rink was open till 1 AM during the week and 3 AM on weekend. They could not do that to the bars and night clubs because that is state law. So, there was a lawsuit regarding the hours made against the city. It was dragging on for a few years then finally settled in 1996 after a three years battle about the hours but the owner believed it was aimed at the certain ethic groups. Yes, many skaters were from New York City cross over to Jersey to skate at The Rink.
There was a riot in early 1995 that 80 police officers were called to the scene at The Rink where the police thought where that riot was. It was just broken windows and merchandise were stolen from Radio Shack. Then 10 days after the letter Robert Dill wrote to the editor in The Record, there was a huge turnout that this DJ who had DJing at the Greekfest in Long Island told people to go over to The Rink and the police heard about it and then 10 police departments had to send officers over to The Rink to turn away skaters. 700 skaters were turned away because of the crowd limits. That forced the owner to cut hours for sure.
That settled out in court between him and the city.
The council despite The Rink and the Dills had to close down in June 1998 because of the roof problems. It was leaking and was old. The Rink building previously was known as a bowling alley before it was opened as The Rink in 1981. That Segmental Arch. It has to be 1930s to 1950s look. Roughly around there.
So, the Dills closed the rink because he would not afford to pay 600,000 USD for roof repairs, instead, Sears took over and demolished The Rink that year and then Sears as part of its downsizing to close the department store chain, closed the Hardware Store and Dill sold the property in 2007. The new Sears building still stands according to Google Map. A sad note.
It also had a mini-golf course in the rear of The Rink.
Rink Size: N/A Floor: Maple Floor Layout: Fan with DJ booth and resting area with rails surrounded the center.
Building Size: 33,000 SF Built: N/A
Type of Building: Free Span Steel-Trusses Segmental Arch Building
Roof: Segmental Arch with Flat roof surrounded the Arch.
Acres: N/A
Operated: Thanksgiving Evening November 25, 1981 to late June 1996.
Reason for Closure: Cost and roof leaking would cost 600,000 USD and loss of business time with six months of closing to repair roof. Not worth the effort to repairs. Leased to Sears for their store and Sears closed as well.
Wanted: Information regarding More interior photos without people, Exact date of closure. Size of rink.
Sources: Facebook.
NJ.com.
Date of Issue: Thanksgiving 2019. Updated: 12 August 2021.
For Office Only: 8, 1v.
© Dead Rinks. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3, 16.