Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This was taken in 2007. Source: Google.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This was taken in 2012. Source: Google.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This was taken in 2017. Source: Google.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This was taken in 2019. It sure does look like an office building without windows. This building showed it looks like it is from the 1970s in 2008. Likely they had that look for a good 30 years. Then like everything else, it gets shorter and shorter. They painted orange here and there in mid 2000s (between 2013 and 2017) but they painted again between 2017 and 2019) by painting over orange color areas and added more colors as you can see on the dividers. Source: Google.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This was their admission foyer. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. The art work I am seeing was a little difficult because this appeared to be airbrush and it did not clearly made bold lines and statement though it was nice looking. Although it did have that graffiti look that I love to dislike. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Facing the concession stand. I love this mural on this half-wall. It was clear, bolder, and better in my opinion. Reminded me of those airbrushing T-shirts some of you may gotten at the county fair, field days, or the state fair back in 1970s to 1990s. Rarely you find them today. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Birthday room. This mural was very difficult to read or see. Bit of too busy I think. Like that other mural I mentioned in a photo graph above the previous one. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone. 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Or was it Sk8 Nation? Did I miss something here? Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This another airbrushing mural showing their home state colligate sport team, professional team from New Orleans, and a roller skating wheel. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. This another airbrushing mural showing their home state colligate sport team, professional team from New Orleans, and a roller skating wheel. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. The arcade. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Rink floor flanked by playground. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Nation 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. The rink today. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Two version. First version on the left in 1970s. The revised is on the right. It was a true HOT ROD car for the car skate on the left. Hot Rod cars and funny cars were very popular in 1970s. And with that being said, you can tell by seeing high travel suspension, multiple exhaust pipes. Dang, I wish I would have seen a race between two skates on a drag race track! haha. Their newest car is more modest, more like a speed skate shoe design and no hot rod look. Just the flames as BNG. That is all. BNG means Big New Graphics as the bloggers, commenters, and posters would say throughout the internet. Next to that hot rod skate, is the late 1970s T-bird or a Lincoln Mark III or IV. Source: Fun Nation.
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA. Skate Zone logo. Source: Fun Nation.
Next to that hot rod skate, is the late 1970s T-bird or a Lincoln Mark III or IV.
Next to that hot rod skate, is the late 1970s T-bird or a Lincoln Mark III or IV.
House of Wheels 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
Tibby's Skate Center 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
The Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
Fun Nation 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA (Current operating)
Tibby's Skate Center 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
The Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
Skate Zone 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA
Fun Nation 4518 W. Congress Street, Lafayette, LA (Current operating)
Tibby's Skate Center was at 4518 West Congress Street, Lafayette, Louisiana as well as The Skate Zone, and of course, House of Wheels. Currently running as Fun Nation.
UPDATE!
I received information as you can read below in the Update section. House of Wheel was first opened c. 1966 and was operated by Jean and Kenneth Letchworth, who had a small home right in the same building adjacent the entrance. I believe it was right on the corner of Chance Street and Bertrand but it appears the building is either gone or so heavily modified, that it’s unrecognizable now.
If I recall correctly, it was co-owned by the Letchworths and Tibby Thibodeaux, then owner of Tibby’s Roller Rink.
Did The Skate Zone had alcoholic beverages served? According to Untapped, they apparently did.
UPDATE! --31 May 2022.
I got this in the email today that is much clear explaination. Interesting to know more! Thanks J.H.
Not sure who might remember this but, the original House of Wheels Roller Rink was situated near the corner of Johnson Street and Bertrand Drive. It was opened Approx. C. 1966 and was operated by Jean and Kenneth Letchworth, who had a small home right in the same building adjacent the entrance. I believe it was right on the corner of Chance Street and Bertrand but it appears the building is either gone or so heavily modified, that it’s unrecognizable now. If I recall correctly, it was co-owned by the Letchworths and Tibby Thibodeaux, then owner of Tibby’s Roller Rink.
I recall all of this because I skated, (and near lived there) when I was 15-16 years old. I knew both Kenneth and Jean well – they treated me like their son and I spent many happy days with them, skating, floor guarding, teaching other kids how to skate and dance, and even camping with them in the bayous when they went crawdad fishing. Also spent many hours working with Jean to train a group of kids who volunteered to be the “Lafayette Skating Clowns”, who Ken took to many of the local parades around the area for the various spring festivals including Lafayette’s Mardi Gras. This wonderful group of about 15-20 kids dressed up like clowns with full makeup to skate the streets, much to the delight of many parade watchers. We even did shows and skate dance demos and Skate-a-thons in the House of Wheels rink for Christmas and other holidays.
Kenneth also rebuilt the engine in an old school bus which he used to bus in skaters from location like Opelousas, Ville Platte and New Iberia through the week. But, I digress – I have long since moved on and am now retired and living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Just thought this might be an interesting tidbit of info for you to follow up on and might even spark a few fond memories for others in the area.
Cheers,
J.H.
The Interior.
I do not know what it was like in the past especially in 1977 to 1990s.
The Skate Zone had more of a airbrush paint job murals pretty much all over the interior of the rink. but the current is really beautiful with colorful walls similar to many current rinks with the Steel Trusses dividing walls into sections of walls and each has a color of their own. The airbrush had some Graffiti style to it. Not much. They did however, had a good avoidance to heavy gangsta graffiti style and more of 1970s T-Shirt style airbrushing. Airbrush were popular in 20th Century for murals, T-shirts, and even Automotive design and Industrial / Product Design. Maybe advertising back the day.
Nice but some of the art work looks a little amateurish rather than truly professional. Maybe due to budget, time constraints, whatever the case that cased the simple art work. Some of them are far better. But on the bright side, it is less clutter, more simplicity, more flow. and balanced.
As for Fun Nation, the murals are gone, they adopted to the 2010s and 2020s look of mural-less and more of block colors design that matches or beats other rinks. Bolder, new colors of 2020s. I love those look. I mentioned this often with other rinks of this similar nature the same high quality refreshing look. I love it and it rates 11 out 10! Yes, that is right. higher than I am supposed to count. Hey, if Mensa allows higher than 100 as average for a person's mind, so I can say the same with interior and exterior design scoring.
Bright and airy inside. Really beautiful design. Many rinks have this look presently and I love the design. This is the trendy look of late 2010s and likely 2020s.
The Exterior.
From what I am seeing on Google Map, the building architecture looked very 1970s. Maybe late 1970s. Loop Net does not tell me when it was build. None of that. That is because it is under Property Record format. Not for sale. It has to be 1977 then because that is when House of Wheels first opened that year.
What I love about this design that does not look like a rink but very contemporary for its look of its day in the late 1970s. Orange-Red Bricks, vertical strips of colors, and its attempt to match with the front door with this very basic triangle extension of the roof. This style would almost match to the architectural thesis of James Wine of SITE who did the design with BEST Department stores. Check their website: SITE. I recommend they preserve the design as I recommend they do.
It did say Skate Zone on their record on the site.
Google only goes back to 2008. I see in early years of Google Map showed plain White walls squares and trim above the walls. Then later, they had Orange trims on those wall squares and some of the walls on the dividers in front. Then later as Fun Nation, they painted in Royal Blue on where the Orange used to be. But also colorful stripes up front.
The trim above only goes for the front, not all the way toward the back. See photos above.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear Polyurethane coated Maple. Floor Layout: Fan but as Fun Nation - LOG Cabin.
Building Size: 24,000 SF. Built: N/A. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 0.6930 Acre. (Doesn't sound right)
Operated: Registered January 3,1977 to present.
House of Wheels: Registered January 3,1977, opened c. January / February 1977 to 1982
Tibby's Skate Center: 1982 to NA
The Skate Zone: N/A to June 24, 2017 (also known as Skate Zone)
Fun Nation: June 24, 2017 to Present. Check them out! Support local rink of yours!
Reason for Closure: N/A.
House of Wheels: N/A.
Tibby's Skate Center: N/A.
The Skate Zone: N/A. (also known as Skate Zone)
Fun Nation: Still operational. Check them out at their website, Fun Nation.
Wanted: Information regarding old photos since 1977, both interior and exterior, exact dates of open and closed. Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Fun Nation - website, current rink (go support them!)
Loop Net
Facebook - Skate Zone
Buzzfile - House of Wheels
Dun & Bradstreet - House of Wheels
Cortera - House of Wheels
Untapped - The Skate Zone
Yelp - Fun Nation (still operational)
Four Square - The Skate Zone
SITE - Architectural style of James Wines
Facebook - Fun Nation
Biz Standing - House of Wheels
email - J.H. (31 May 2022)
Worth to visit:
YES, check out Fun Nation!
Date of issue: Early 2021.
Update: 31 May 2022.
For office use only: 1
Disclaimer: 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 differences result between two 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.
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. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7
UPDATE!
I received information as you can read below in the Update section. House of Wheel was first opened c. 1966 and was operated by Jean and Kenneth Letchworth, who had a small home right in the same building adjacent the entrance. I believe it was right on the corner of Chance Street and Bertrand but it appears the building is either gone or so heavily modified, that it’s unrecognizable now.
If I recall correctly, it was co-owned by the Letchworths and Tibby Thibodeaux, then owner of Tibby’s Roller Rink.
Did The Skate Zone had alcoholic beverages served? According to Untapped, they apparently did.
UPDATE! --31 May 2022.
I got this in the email today that is much clear explaination. Interesting to know more! Thanks J.H.
Not sure who might remember this but, the original House of Wheels Roller Rink was situated near the corner of Johnson Street and Bertrand Drive. It was opened Approx. C. 1966 and was operated by Jean and Kenneth Letchworth, who had a small home right in the same building adjacent the entrance. I believe it was right on the corner of Chance Street and Bertrand but it appears the building is either gone or so heavily modified, that it’s unrecognizable now. If I recall correctly, it was co-owned by the Letchworths and Tibby Thibodeaux, then owner of Tibby’s Roller Rink.
I recall all of this because I skated, (and near lived there) when I was 15-16 years old. I knew both Kenneth and Jean well – they treated me like their son and I spent many happy days with them, skating, floor guarding, teaching other kids how to skate and dance, and even camping with them in the bayous when they went crawdad fishing. Also spent many hours working with Jean to train a group of kids who volunteered to be the “Lafayette Skating Clowns”, who Ken took to many of the local parades around the area for the various spring festivals including Lafayette’s Mardi Gras. This wonderful group of about 15-20 kids dressed up like clowns with full makeup to skate the streets, much to the delight of many parade watchers. We even did shows and skate dance demos and Skate-a-thons in the House of Wheels rink for Christmas and other holidays.
Kenneth also rebuilt the engine in an old school bus which he used to bus in skaters from location like Opelousas, Ville Platte and New Iberia through the week. But, I digress – I have long since moved on and am now retired and living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Just thought this might be an interesting tidbit of info for you to follow up on and might even spark a few fond memories for others in the area.
Cheers,
J.H.
The Interior.
I do not know what it was like in the past especially in 1977 to 1990s.
The Skate Zone had more of a airbrush paint job murals pretty much all over the interior of the rink. but the current is really beautiful with colorful walls similar to many current rinks with the Steel Trusses dividing walls into sections of walls and each has a color of their own. The airbrush had some Graffiti style to it. Not much. They did however, had a good avoidance to heavy gangsta graffiti style and more of 1970s T-Shirt style airbrushing. Airbrush were popular in 20th Century for murals, T-shirts, and even Automotive design and Industrial / Product Design. Maybe advertising back the day.
Nice but some of the art work looks a little amateurish rather than truly professional. Maybe due to budget, time constraints, whatever the case that cased the simple art work. Some of them are far better. But on the bright side, it is less clutter, more simplicity, more flow. and balanced.
As for Fun Nation, the murals are gone, they adopted to the 2010s and 2020s look of mural-less and more of block colors design that matches or beats other rinks. Bolder, new colors of 2020s. I love those look. I mentioned this often with other rinks of this similar nature the same high quality refreshing look. I love it and it rates 11 out 10! Yes, that is right. higher than I am supposed to count. Hey, if Mensa allows higher than 100 as average for a person's mind, so I can say the same with interior and exterior design scoring.
Bright and airy inside. Really beautiful design. Many rinks have this look presently and I love the design. This is the trendy look of late 2010s and likely 2020s.
The Exterior.
From what I am seeing on Google Map, the building architecture looked very 1970s. Maybe late 1970s. Loop Net does not tell me when it was build. None of that. That is because it is under Property Record format. Not for sale. It has to be 1977 then because that is when House of Wheels first opened that year.
What I love about this design that does not look like a rink but very contemporary for its look of its day in the late 1970s. Orange-Red Bricks, vertical strips of colors, and its attempt to match with the front door with this very basic triangle extension of the roof. This style would almost match to the architectural thesis of James Wine of SITE who did the design with BEST Department stores. Check their website: SITE. I recommend they preserve the design as I recommend they do.
It did say Skate Zone on their record on the site.
Google only goes back to 2008. I see in early years of Google Map showed plain White walls squares and trim above the walls. Then later, they had Orange trims on those wall squares and some of the walls on the dividers in front. Then later as Fun Nation, they painted in Royal Blue on where the Orange used to be. But also colorful stripes up front.
The trim above only goes for the front, not all the way toward the back. See photos above.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear Polyurethane coated Maple. Floor Layout: Fan but as Fun Nation - LOG Cabin.
Building Size: 24,000 SF. Built: N/A. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Warehouse Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 0.6930 Acre. (Doesn't sound right)
Operated: Registered January 3,1977 to present.
House of Wheels: Registered January 3,1977, opened c. January / February 1977 to 1982
Tibby's Skate Center: 1982 to NA
The Skate Zone: N/A to June 24, 2017 (also known as Skate Zone)
Fun Nation: June 24, 2017 to Present. Check them out! Support local rink of yours!
Reason for Closure: N/A.
House of Wheels: N/A.
Tibby's Skate Center: N/A.
The Skate Zone: N/A. (also known as Skate Zone)
Fun Nation: Still operational. Check them out at their website, Fun Nation.
Wanted: Information regarding old photos since 1977, both interior and exterior, exact dates of open and closed. Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Fun Nation - website, current rink (go support them!)
Loop Net
Facebook - Skate Zone
Buzzfile - House of Wheels
Dun & Bradstreet - House of Wheels
Cortera - House of Wheels
Untapped - The Skate Zone
Yelp - Fun Nation (still operational)
Four Square - The Skate Zone
SITE - Architectural style of James Wines
Facebook - Fun Nation
Biz Standing - House of Wheels
email - J.H. (31 May 2022)
Worth to visit:
YES, check out Fun Nation!
Date of issue: Early 2021.
Update: 31 May 2022.
For office use only: 1
Disclaimer: 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 differences result between two 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.
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. All Rights Reserved. Jn 3:3 to 16. Deut. 32:7