Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Beautiful architecture that reminded some of us of a certain supermarket architecture look. Source: Wheels in Motion RR Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Beautiful architecture that reminded some of us of a certain supermarket architecture look but the inside. Very much different with those lights! Very colorful and quite a light show. I believe it was one of the best lighting design ever in my opinion. Source: Wheels in Motion RR Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Very colorful interior. Very 1980s-1990s look with all that lights! Source: Fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Very colorful interior. Very 1980s-1990s look with all that lights! I love that neon light sign. Too bad the film and camera did not give enough time to expose more light. Way dark. Oh well. Source: Fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Roller World 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Courtesy of Linda Pritchard on YouTube. A camera still capture of what Roller World interior was like. Only could find it on video. It was a VHS quality video from early 1980s that was not able to get image sharper. If you watch, it is a little better quality than this gets. Source: Linda Pritchard/YouTube.
Roller World 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. He gave no credit to the newspaper what newspaper and date. This photo and article talked about the construction of brand new rink. Wow, so white inside that rink! This was the opening of Roller World. The article did state they tried to be careful not to make repeat mistakes like other rinks did. Apparently they did with the music choice. They went for Disco but Disco was already dead in 1980 around the time they did construction! Oops! Source: skater fan in Wheels in Motion Facebook group,
Roller World 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Courtesy of Daily-Record (NJ) Monday November 11, 1985(?). The story telling about the rink closing due to rising cost of insurance. Notice the original rink building look. In 1980s, insurance companies were the economy killers as how great President Ronald Reagan was and we had one of the greatest economy. Had insurance companies not do that, we would have more powerful economy. Insurance companies were at it again with Obama with his Obamacare. But with President Trump.. It was one of greatest again. Because he surpressed insurance companies. Read your history. Source: Daily-Record (NJ), Monday 11 November 1985(?)
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Frisbees and hand squeeze balls. Ohh, can I have one each please? Source: fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Frisbees! Can I please have one? Source: fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Name tag belonged to a staff name Jeff. Source: Jeff on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Signage. Source: fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Awesome brochure Front and back pages. Source: fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Awesome brochure Insert pages. Source: fans on Wheels in Motion Facebook fan page.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Source: Diana Rose/YouTube.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. Source: Diana Rose/YouTube.
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ. This was the original rink called Roller World. This was showing a shuffle contest. I figured who won by watching the video. Soource: Linda Pritchard/YouTube.
Roller World 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ
Wheels in Motion Roller Rink 316 Route 15 South, Wharton NJ
Built and opened in 1980/1981 as Roller World and it was different appearance entirely that it had Arched-Curved roof but they closed in around 1985 then it became a boat dealer, D&R Boat sales for a two years but suddenly they closed. But reopened again as Wheels in motion with new ownership in around 1988 and closed once more in 2002. It is now Branch Brook Pools who gutted the building ripped out the floor and everything else. However, there are a dispute on the dates of opening. Some Facebook fans said it was not 1988 opening of Wheels in Motion. It was 1991 and another said 1992 according to newspaper article. This will need to be iron out with proof they give me, I do not see it on line.
Alfonso Porfido and Frank Damelio invested Two Million US Dollars in 1980 to built Roller World. That price was quite expensive. For adjusted to 2020s American Dollars, it cost 3,158,118.93 USD! That is normal if you want that expensive high quality good rink to open today in 2021. Too much.
But because of insurance problems, they decided to stop skating and turn into a warehouse.
UPDATE! -- 11 December 2021.
I received an email yesterday from a skater who skated there and here is what he has to say --
Hey there. Saw your page on Wheels in Motion. It def[definitely] opened in at least [19]91 or '92. I was a kid then and my mom and I stopped by before they were open. They were still working on the place. It was a roller rink years ago (Roller World) and at some point it became Sea Ray Boats [dealer]. It went from Sea Ray Boats [dealer] to Wheels in Motion. I would say '92. The D.A.R.E. program for kids would take school students there in the 90s for skating and give food vouchers as an effort to keep kids off the street and doing drugs. Officer Scott from Rockaway was one of them.
Now it is a Bob's Discount Furniture.
Wow, thank you so much Nick! This is helpful especially on the date. Now I know what was it between the 2 rinks. A Sea-Ray Boat dealership. Interesting. This is 2nd rink I discovered that it was once a boat dealer. The other was in Arizona. Boat dealerships apparently do not last like car dealerships do. Hmm. Rockway? Another rink? Ah a furniture store there now. Oh well.
UPDATE! -- 24 May 2022
I received an email from someone with connection to the Roller World, the first rink at this location. Here is what she has to say.
My grandfather owned Roller World. Can you please correct the spelling of the owners names in your article?
Alfonso Porfido and Frank Damelio.
Al Porfido was my grandfather. Two very sweet men. May they Rest In Peace
Sincerely,
J.A.
Thank you J.A. for the spelling. Sorry, I am bad with names, really. No offense. Thank you! This is why I even mentioned my email address for more information or photos on the bottom of each profile of rinks.
UPDATE! -- 09 August 2022.
I got an email today. Diane who worked at the rink emailed me this today --
Hello, the internet sure does have just about everything in the world you'd like to search for. And wow, take me back 40 years. I used to work For Al, and Frank, who were friends of my sweetheart's dad.
I absolutely loved it there, still have my first set of skates from the pro shop, paid for them in installments and actually are in amazing condition still. The bearing never quit. Spin like crazy even after sporadic use and storage iver (sic) the years.
I had a car stolen back then and all of my personal belongings were in it as i packed to move to new home.
Is there anyone with photos from the early 1,2,3 years? I would very much like to contact anyone who can share, (at my cost) photos and memorabilia!
I was a cashier and then skate guard. I also bought tires at the store/garage place in Dover. Which Al also owned.
If there is anyway to reminisce or get some phots, or "stuff" in general, I'd love to hear about everything.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Anyone who can help Diana in what she needs, please let me know and I will get in touch with her.
Thank you!
Roller World --
The Interior.
It showed the REAL 1980s look with White background and Yellow fat stripe wrapped around the rink with White Cinderblock half-walls rails. I could not see in the video for the seating and carpet on the floor. The quality of the video was very poor back the day but this one was pretty good video quality for its time actually. Good job ladies with your Youtubes! It showed disco lights behind the half walls by the walls to shine on the wall. It was very simple in its design. The Wheels In Motion was a rebooted 1980s look or a retro look in 1990s. Huge difference it makes based on a decade you want to put in. This rink interior is excellent example to show the difference with interior compared to the rebooted.
The Exterior.
Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock-Walled Arched Curved Rink - like Building. This rink building at the time was truly classic look and from what I see, it looked like Mid-Century when they built that rink.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock-Walled Arched Curved Rink - like Building.
Roof: Segmental Arch.
Acres: N/A.
Wheels in Motion --
The Interior.
It was very colorful bright neon lights flashing there including light rings, light bars on the vaulted ceiling with Starburst light, things like that. Very colorful and in fact, my favorite part would be their unique neon light sign with the rink name, WHEELS IN MOTION on the wall. It gave the entire place a feel of late 1980s/early 1990s trendy look. From seeing those photos, it does make you feel like it is timeless. It should have not have any problem entering 2020s if they stayed in business and still have that 80s look. It does give a boost to the rink to line up with a diner with much neon lights that diners had in 1930s to 1950s and 1980s to 1995ish. So you have several trendy styles in that place.
Interior like a diner with a common 1970s Contemporary Brick Market store look. It is like you took Wegmans building and made a rink inside. No offense but it is a complimentary because you have taken styles of very popular venues and fuse it. So, this rink was a fusion I would say. Tons of fans on Facebook loved that place and I can see their hearts were in it. I can see it was very emotional for them even when they closed and sold and I say this from a fan, "it is like ripping heart out of the body" That was the heart--the rink. It seems that skaters are avoiding the furniture store. I do not blame them. I would not want to either at any of the former rinks I skated. I am talking about in Central NY. Empire Plaza. Only about three times in 2010s but not where Empire Skates was in that plaza. A different part. Sports was flattened, Camillus Rink... you get the idea. All the same I do not do business with those places that took over the former rink around here. This is exactly how I see and feel coming from the skaters. It was very loyal.
Maple wood floor as I saw in a photo how they torn up for the new store.
The Exterior.
The appearance looked very 1970s-80s look that reassembled to Wegmans Markets, a very popular grocery chain in the East Coast. That Dark Chocolate Steel walls wrapped above the canopy and wall with Brown Bricks bricks with a beautiful entrance that appeared like a movie theater entrance with many white bulbs glittering above the sidewalk. It did feel like a movie theater or going in to a Wegmans of yesteryear look that Wegmans still sporting that look although they altered a little bit minus the brand new stores that appeared so different than the rest of the Wegmans. Wegmans for sure one thing difference is it is wood but this rink had steel walled. Those living in New York State and perhaps Northern PA would know what I am talking about.
If you wanted to see what the old Wegmans look like, check here.
It was dark even on bright day you can see it was dark. The roof was flat which was huge departure from the old Roller World had with Segmental Arch which was more of half-barrel look.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear coated Maple. Floor Layout: LOG.
Building Size: N/A. Built: (renovated) 1985. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled and Brown Bricks Bric 1970s Wegmans store - like Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 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: 1980 to 1985, and 1988/1992 to October 2003. (Corrected)
Roller World: 1980 to 1985
Wheels in Motion: 1991/1992 to October 2003. (Corrected)
Reason for Closure:
Roller World: Rising insurance cost (common in 1980s for many rinks to close) force rink to close.
Wheels in Motion: 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:
Facebook - Wheels in Motion Roller Rink R.I.P.
Bizapedia - Wheels in Motion
US Inflation Dollar Adjuster
Facebook (24 May 2022) - correction on date.
Email - J.A. (to correct spelling of names, 24 May 2022).
Email - Diana. (09 August 2022).
Worth to visit:
None. It is a different business. Entirely different appearance. Nothing to see.
Date of issue: 31 December 2020.
Update: 11 December 2021.
Update: 24 May 2022.
Update: 09 August 2022.
For Office Only: 13/3
Worth to visit:
None. It is no longer a rink.
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.
Alfonso Porfido and Frank Damelio invested Two Million US Dollars in 1980 to built Roller World. That price was quite expensive. For adjusted to 2020s American Dollars, it cost 3,158,118.93 USD! That is normal if you want that expensive high quality good rink to open today in 2021. Too much.
But because of insurance problems, they decided to stop skating and turn into a warehouse.
UPDATE! -- 11 December 2021.
I received an email yesterday from a skater who skated there and here is what he has to say --
Hey there. Saw your page on Wheels in Motion. It def[definitely] opened in at least [19]91 or '92. I was a kid then and my mom and I stopped by before they were open. They were still working on the place. It was a roller rink years ago (Roller World) and at some point it became Sea Ray Boats [dealer]. It went from Sea Ray Boats [dealer] to Wheels in Motion. I would say '92. The D.A.R.E. program for kids would take school students there in the 90s for skating and give food vouchers as an effort to keep kids off the street and doing drugs. Officer Scott from Rockaway was one of them.
Now it is a Bob's Discount Furniture.
Wow, thank you so much Nick! This is helpful especially on the date. Now I know what was it between the 2 rinks. A Sea-Ray Boat dealership. Interesting. This is 2nd rink I discovered that it was once a boat dealer. The other was in Arizona. Boat dealerships apparently do not last like car dealerships do. Hmm. Rockway? Another rink? Ah a furniture store there now. Oh well.
UPDATE! -- 24 May 2022
I received an email from someone with connection to the Roller World, the first rink at this location. Here is what she has to say.
My grandfather owned Roller World. Can you please correct the spelling of the owners names in your article?
Alfonso Porfido and Frank Damelio.
Al Porfido was my grandfather. Two very sweet men. May they Rest In Peace
Sincerely,
J.A.
Thank you J.A. for the spelling. Sorry, I am bad with names, really. No offense. Thank you! This is why I even mentioned my email address for more information or photos on the bottom of each profile of rinks.
UPDATE! -- 09 August 2022.
I got an email today. Diane who worked at the rink emailed me this today --
Hello, the internet sure does have just about everything in the world you'd like to search for. And wow, take me back 40 years. I used to work For Al, and Frank, who were friends of my sweetheart's dad.
I absolutely loved it there, still have my first set of skates from the pro shop, paid for them in installments and actually are in amazing condition still. The bearing never quit. Spin like crazy even after sporadic use and storage iver (sic) the years.
I had a car stolen back then and all of my personal belongings were in it as i packed to move to new home.
Is there anyone with photos from the early 1,2,3 years? I would very much like to contact anyone who can share, (at my cost) photos and memorabilia!
I was a cashier and then skate guard. I also bought tires at the store/garage place in Dover. Which Al also owned.
If there is anyway to reminisce or get some phots, or "stuff" in general, I'd love to hear about everything.
Hoping to hear from you soon,
Anyone who can help Diana in what she needs, please let me know and I will get in touch with her.
Thank you!
Roller World --
The Interior.
It showed the REAL 1980s look with White background and Yellow fat stripe wrapped around the rink with White Cinderblock half-walls rails. I could not see in the video for the seating and carpet on the floor. The quality of the video was very poor back the day but this one was pretty good video quality for its time actually. Good job ladies with your Youtubes! It showed disco lights behind the half walls by the walls to shine on the wall. It was very simple in its design. The Wheels In Motion was a rebooted 1980s look or a retro look in 1990s. Huge difference it makes based on a decade you want to put in. This rink interior is excellent example to show the difference with interior compared to the rebooted.
The Exterior.
Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock-Walled Arched Curved Rink - like Building. This rink building at the time was truly classic look and from what I see, it looked like Mid-Century when they built that rink.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: N/A. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: N/A. Built: N/A. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Cinderblock-Walled Arched Curved Rink - like Building.
Roof: Segmental Arch.
Acres: N/A.
Wheels in Motion --
The Interior.
It was very colorful bright neon lights flashing there including light rings, light bars on the vaulted ceiling with Starburst light, things like that. Very colorful and in fact, my favorite part would be their unique neon light sign with the rink name, WHEELS IN MOTION on the wall. It gave the entire place a feel of late 1980s/early 1990s trendy look. From seeing those photos, it does make you feel like it is timeless. It should have not have any problem entering 2020s if they stayed in business and still have that 80s look. It does give a boost to the rink to line up with a diner with much neon lights that diners had in 1930s to 1950s and 1980s to 1995ish. So you have several trendy styles in that place.
Interior like a diner with a common 1970s Contemporary Brick Market store look. It is like you took Wegmans building and made a rink inside. No offense but it is a complimentary because you have taken styles of very popular venues and fuse it. So, this rink was a fusion I would say. Tons of fans on Facebook loved that place and I can see their hearts were in it. I can see it was very emotional for them even when they closed and sold and I say this from a fan, "it is like ripping heart out of the body" That was the heart--the rink. It seems that skaters are avoiding the furniture store. I do not blame them. I would not want to either at any of the former rinks I skated. I am talking about in Central NY. Empire Plaza. Only about three times in 2010s but not where Empire Skates was in that plaza. A different part. Sports was flattened, Camillus Rink... you get the idea. All the same I do not do business with those places that took over the former rink around here. This is exactly how I see and feel coming from the skaters. It was very loyal.
Maple wood floor as I saw in a photo how they torn up for the new store.
The Exterior.
The appearance looked very 1970s-80s look that reassembled to Wegmans Markets, a very popular grocery chain in the East Coast. That Dark Chocolate Steel walls wrapped above the canopy and wall with Brown Bricks bricks with a beautiful entrance that appeared like a movie theater entrance with many white bulbs glittering above the sidewalk. It did feel like a movie theater or going in to a Wegmans of yesteryear look that Wegmans still sporting that look although they altered a little bit minus the brand new stores that appeared so different than the rest of the Wegmans. Wegmans for sure one thing difference is it is wood but this rink had steel walled. Those living in New York State and perhaps Northern PA would know what I am talking about.
If you wanted to see what the old Wegmans look like, check here.
It was dark even on bright day you can see it was dark. The roof was flat which was huge departure from the old Roller World had with Segmental Arch which was more of half-barrel look.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear coated Maple. Floor Layout: LOG.
Building Size: N/A. Built: (renovated) 1985. Demolished: N/A.
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled and Brown Bricks Bric 1970s Wegmans store - like Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 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: 1980 to 1985, and 1988/1992 to October 2003. (Corrected)
Roller World: 1980 to 1985
Wheels in Motion: 1991/1992 to October 2003. (Corrected)
Reason for Closure:
Roller World: Rising insurance cost (common in 1980s for many rinks to close) force rink to close.
Wheels in Motion: 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:
Facebook - Wheels in Motion Roller Rink R.I.P.
Bizapedia - Wheels in Motion
US Inflation Dollar Adjuster
Facebook (24 May 2022) - correction on date.
Email - J.A. (to correct spelling of names, 24 May 2022).
Email - Diana. (09 August 2022).
Worth to visit:
None. It is a different business. Entirely different appearance. Nothing to see.
Date of issue: 31 December 2020.
Update: 11 December 2021.
Update: 24 May 2022.
Update: 09 August 2022.
For Office Only: 13/3
Worth to visit:
None. It is no longer a rink.
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.