White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. Showing top view of the rink behind 2 buildings (Bank and Art studio), In the front of the rink on the left is the Googie style architecture Whataburger in previous life which now is the art studio. Used to be, Whataburger fast food restaurant franchise. Source: Google Map.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. This one shows it was taken in 2008. Wow, I am impressed Google for nice photo in 2008! And the next one in 2015 with the Googie style architecture for the art studio on the left (partial shown) Used to be, a Whataburger fast food restaurant franchise. Source: Google Map.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. Taken in 2015 with the Googie style architecture Whataburger for the art studio. Used to be, Whataburger fast food restaurant franchise. Likely because of the architecture style, the canopy and size of kitchen and eatery area. The color is so proper for 1940s-50s: Salmon Pink and Slight Olive Green. Source: Google Map.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. . I think Chuck Conner (no relations to the Rifleman actor, Chuck Conner) took this special lens photo to give it panorama view. Source: Redbubble.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. You remember those plastic chairs like those in classrooms or at the airport or bus stations back the day in 20th Century. Yes, it was from that 20th Century! 1973 to be precise. That was good they had stands for fans to sit and watch. Sadly 99.9 percent of the rinks have no stadium seating and many ice rinks has them all. Source: Yelp.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. Wow, lockers without locks! Many cubicles for skaters to put their shoes away and their jackets if they have any. Very old 1950s concept. It would not work for today because of thieves would steal expensive shoes and all. And the appearance look good for its time. Wow, that red carpet! Looks like it was laid in, in 1980s because of the color trends back the day. Unless that was original! Yes, I see the red fading on the carpet and you see that white scratch on that carpet. Make that THREE of them. Really old! Source: Yelp.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. Hard to see this photo that was blurred. Very interesting table and stools! Very unusual! I never seen those anywhere! Must be custom made for the rink if that was true. Anyone? Source: Yelp.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. Hard to see with disco lights on but you can see bold lines on the wall. Source: Yelp.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX. You can see bold lines on the wall. And beautiful floor! Source: Yelp.
White Rock Skating Center 10055 Shoreview Rd, Dallas, TX
White Rock Skating Center was a rink at 10055 Shoreview Road, Dallas, Texas. They ran for a long time. 43 years they ran the rink. Charles Connor's three children gave their father a business advice in 1971. Charles was a partner in Company, which built levees, and he had decided to sell his ownership in the business. "He said, 'I need to reinvest the money. Do you want a car wash or a skating rink?" says his daughter-in-law Laura Connor.
The result of that conversation was White Rock Skate Center, one of most popular roller skating rinks in Dallas, Texas, which opened in '73 and closed on Oct. 16, 2016. Although the rink was sold to Charles Conner Jr., the only son of Charles, the founder of the rink in 1980. Charles Connor, the father and founder of the rink died in 2005.
The Summer of 2016, Charles Conner Jr. and his wife sold the property so they could retire and travel. The rink quickly became a Lake Highlands institution. The Conners and the rink experienced its roller coaster of business cycles of up and down and up and down. They did well during the Disco Era but downturned and the Inline Skates in the 1990s brought back the popularity and toward the end, half of the skaters use inline skates which helped the rink survived.
There is an interest for you because the location of this other building right in front of the White Rock Skate is a Googie Architecture design. Someone on Flickr said it was a What-A-Burger. However, I know what a What-A-Burger architecture is. I am a Googie Fan and my other interests are the Googie Architecture, drive-ins restaurants, diners, and fast food history. Well, What-A-Burger usually a long A-Frame design, not like this one. This one by the rink is short A-Frame length wise, not height. And the rest showed very long Diamond roof. Does not sound like a What-A-Burger design. Unless I am mistaken, if that was the case, it was perhaps one of rarest design that chain had used.
They sold the rink that summer of 2016 and finally closed their deal in November 02, 2016 according to Realty Trac.
UPDATE! --
I received an email from a skater who skated there. This is funny and interesting read for you and I. Here is what Jesse has to say.
I have very fond memories at this roller rink seeing those pictures brought it all back I left the area around 15 years ago so when I hear they had shut down it was a shot in the heart for my childhood 💔 but the memory will live on thank you .. and yess. I too loved the 80s red carpet. It had scratches and cuts all over from the skates catching and tripping unknowing kids. Great bit of laughs hahaha. And yes it was all rolled carpet I remember one area of the floor where kids tried pulling the carpet up and exposed the pure concrete underneath they got kicked out and they just glued it back down.
Hahaha. Oh man! I cannot believe kids would pull the carpet up! Good, they got kicked out. I hope their mommies and daddies punished them.
In today's world, if some kids pulled up carpet... Ohh, They will be processed at the Juvie hall for booking! Appear at family court.. Destruction of any private and public properties not yours have consequences! Never do that. If you want to destroy something, destroy your own room! How about that! Then clean it up afterwards. It is 21st Century, not 20th which people were more forgiven but today.. its bad. So, you do not want that on records or you will never go to college and you will end up being a dishwasher or trash collector. Understand? Please, respect the owners and their properties.
Speaking of properties. Let me tell you a quick story. In 1977, 3 little daredevils at a residential school for the Deaf were punished for something I do not know and what I remembered I was in this group of boys living in the dormitory at the school. We all (25 boys) had an emergency meeting to tell that those 3 boys were seriously in trouble. Then we were sent to our rooms. Then bed. I remembered during the meeting that those 3 said they would dare to run away. Sure, they meant it because at 4 in morning, they packed up their luggage and walked out while everyone else asleep and the overnight watchman was doing rounds. It was February with fresh snow falling. Quite a bit of snow. Then they sneak out and walked like 7 suburb size blocks from the school to the main street where all commercial buildings are. They got tired already with luggage, heavy coats on, etc. They saw a running pick up truck that the man was opening up his garage and he has snow plow on it. The boys sneaked and stole the truck.
They were 13 years old boys! Crazy! They made it out about 2 miles, maybe 3 from the corner where that man and his truck were at (now some cell phone company store there).
Then they decided to go to my hometown on their way to Mexico. But they crashed the truck into a pole on the side of the highway.
A cop came by and knocked on the window, the 3 wise guys saw him and roll down the window and the cop said, "Ok, wise guys, what are your names?!" The 3 boys shook their heads no and pointing to their ears that they are deaf. The police thought they were runaway from the mental development center cross the street from the crash (that place became a prison). The police took those boys there and then the staff said those boys were not theirs then the police figured it was the deaf school. They took those boys to the police department. Then the police called the school and the parents to come up and bail them and pay a third each for the damages and fines. Their consequences were to be punished for TWO FULL months of standing in the corner during after school and in morning before we all go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Those boys had to make 100 BEDS each morning neatly and tucked in then off to eat breakfast alone then tutor classes separate from their regular class because they started school late due to making our beds for 2 months. They had lunch and dinner separate times as well. None of us allowed to talk with those boys as they stood in corners from 3 pm to 6 pm, then eat dinner, then homework, then back to corner standing till bed time.
So, the lesson here is not to damage anybody properties and do NOT go in any abandoned rinks for video for your YouTube channel or photographs for me or my competitors. NEVER do that without permission for filming!
Thank you Jesse for your awesome testimony! And that humor about how crazy those carpet rippers did.
The Interior.
It was decorated with a disco ball and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling;. There was also a money tornado booth where hopeful kids can grab for coupons and cash swirling in the air. You may have seen those at the state fairs and trade shows.
It is a beautiful 1970s feel to it with much of bold stripes and turns. It does reminded me of those stripes I recalled on vehicles, snowmobiles, RVs, motorcycles, boats, etc. back in the 1970s. Very dramatic art work on the wall which is awesome in my opinion that the rink had solid 70s feel. It matched to the interior. Sky blue wall background with Red, White, Blue colors. One wall is Olive Green. Really different.
Speaking of that wall, the V-shaped wall clearly showed very unique and abstracting as if it is Googie! In 1970s? Googie was more common in 1950s to 1960s. The line of that wall is parallel with the half wall for the eating area. That eating area had laminated floor titles with American Patriotic colors of Red, White, and Blue to match the rest of the place.
The Exterior.
It is a beautiful 1970s feel exterior with Natural pebbles walls around the rink building. This was somewhat common in 1960s and 1970s on buildings. It was a trend at the time. The rink was conceived in 1971 but opened in 1973 because he had it drawn by an architect and built after approval from zoning and town board. Anyway, the style was attractive for its time and it still does.
I love the way it was designed with the awning with the white letters for the name of the rink on off Plum Purple-ish color on Steel Sheet walls with narrow vertical columns. Very 1960s - early 1970s look before style changed. It had a zen feel to it because of the stones and the materials on the wall. For sure it was cinder-blocks walls they used.
It was sort of hidden behind two commercial buildings, a one-time credit union housed there on the right and the left, the Art studio building with unique 1950s - 1960s A-Frame and diamond roof style Googie look. Likely that was a drive-in restaurant back the day because of the appearance of canopy like Tiny Naylor's Drive-in that was demolished in California and the A&Ws and the Sonic Drive-ins have theirs today. Since this is about history, and this Googie Architecture building right in front of the rink, qualifies as preservation of history and usually restaurants are right by the rink for skaters to stop there before on the way home.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear polyurethane coat Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 19,380 SF. Built: 1972. Demolished: Still standing, abandoned. Likely will tear down to make room for new development as you can see next door where the former plaza was (check it out on Google Map).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Business office - like Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 1.93 Acres.
Operated: 1973 to October 16, 2016..
Reason for Closure: Retirement, couple wants to travel.
Wanted: Information regarding photos of interior. Exact date of open. size of rink.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Yelp
Dallas Observer
Red Bubble (fans, get your shirts and stuff here!)
Realty Trac
Email
Email from Jesse.
Date of Issue: 2020. Update: Late 2020. Update: 30 October 2021.
For Office Only: 11
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.
The result of that conversation was White Rock Skate Center, one of most popular roller skating rinks in Dallas, Texas, which opened in '73 and closed on Oct. 16, 2016. Although the rink was sold to Charles Conner Jr., the only son of Charles, the founder of the rink in 1980. Charles Connor, the father and founder of the rink died in 2005.
The Summer of 2016, Charles Conner Jr. and his wife sold the property so they could retire and travel. The rink quickly became a Lake Highlands institution. The Conners and the rink experienced its roller coaster of business cycles of up and down and up and down. They did well during the Disco Era but downturned and the Inline Skates in the 1990s brought back the popularity and toward the end, half of the skaters use inline skates which helped the rink survived.
There is an interest for you because the location of this other building right in front of the White Rock Skate is a Googie Architecture design. Someone on Flickr said it was a What-A-Burger. However, I know what a What-A-Burger architecture is. I am a Googie Fan and my other interests are the Googie Architecture, drive-ins restaurants, diners, and fast food history. Well, What-A-Burger usually a long A-Frame design, not like this one. This one by the rink is short A-Frame length wise, not height. And the rest showed very long Diamond roof. Does not sound like a What-A-Burger design. Unless I am mistaken, if that was the case, it was perhaps one of rarest design that chain had used.
They sold the rink that summer of 2016 and finally closed their deal in November 02, 2016 according to Realty Trac.
UPDATE! --
I received an email from a skater who skated there. This is funny and interesting read for you and I. Here is what Jesse has to say.
I have very fond memories at this roller rink seeing those pictures brought it all back I left the area around 15 years ago so when I hear they had shut down it was a shot in the heart for my childhood 💔 but the memory will live on thank you .. and yess. I too loved the 80s red carpet. It had scratches and cuts all over from the skates catching and tripping unknowing kids. Great bit of laughs hahaha. And yes it was all rolled carpet I remember one area of the floor where kids tried pulling the carpet up and exposed the pure concrete underneath they got kicked out and they just glued it back down.
Hahaha. Oh man! I cannot believe kids would pull the carpet up! Good, they got kicked out. I hope their mommies and daddies punished them.
In today's world, if some kids pulled up carpet... Ohh, They will be processed at the Juvie hall for booking! Appear at family court.. Destruction of any private and public properties not yours have consequences! Never do that. If you want to destroy something, destroy your own room! How about that! Then clean it up afterwards. It is 21st Century, not 20th which people were more forgiven but today.. its bad. So, you do not want that on records or you will never go to college and you will end up being a dishwasher or trash collector. Understand? Please, respect the owners and their properties.
Speaking of properties. Let me tell you a quick story. In 1977, 3 little daredevils at a residential school for the Deaf were punished for something I do not know and what I remembered I was in this group of boys living in the dormitory at the school. We all (25 boys) had an emergency meeting to tell that those 3 boys were seriously in trouble. Then we were sent to our rooms. Then bed. I remembered during the meeting that those 3 said they would dare to run away. Sure, they meant it because at 4 in morning, they packed up their luggage and walked out while everyone else asleep and the overnight watchman was doing rounds. It was February with fresh snow falling. Quite a bit of snow. Then they sneak out and walked like 7 suburb size blocks from the school to the main street where all commercial buildings are. They got tired already with luggage, heavy coats on, etc. They saw a running pick up truck that the man was opening up his garage and he has snow plow on it. The boys sneaked and stole the truck.
They were 13 years old boys! Crazy! They made it out about 2 miles, maybe 3 from the corner where that man and his truck were at (now some cell phone company store there).
Then they decided to go to my hometown on their way to Mexico. But they crashed the truck into a pole on the side of the highway.
A cop came by and knocked on the window, the 3 wise guys saw him and roll down the window and the cop said, "Ok, wise guys, what are your names?!" The 3 boys shook their heads no and pointing to their ears that they are deaf. The police thought they were runaway from the mental development center cross the street from the crash (that place became a prison). The police took those boys there and then the staff said those boys were not theirs then the police figured it was the deaf school. They took those boys to the police department. Then the police called the school and the parents to come up and bail them and pay a third each for the damages and fines. Their consequences were to be punished for TWO FULL months of standing in the corner during after school and in morning before we all go to the cafeteria for breakfast. Those boys had to make 100 BEDS each morning neatly and tucked in then off to eat breakfast alone then tutor classes separate from their regular class because they started school late due to making our beds for 2 months. They had lunch and dinner separate times as well. None of us allowed to talk with those boys as they stood in corners from 3 pm to 6 pm, then eat dinner, then homework, then back to corner standing till bed time.
So, the lesson here is not to damage anybody properties and do NOT go in any abandoned rinks for video for your YouTube channel or photographs for me or my competitors. NEVER do that without permission for filming!
Thank you Jesse for your awesome testimony! And that humor about how crazy those carpet rippers did.
The Interior.
It was decorated with a disco ball and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling;. There was also a money tornado booth where hopeful kids can grab for coupons and cash swirling in the air. You may have seen those at the state fairs and trade shows.
It is a beautiful 1970s feel to it with much of bold stripes and turns. It does reminded me of those stripes I recalled on vehicles, snowmobiles, RVs, motorcycles, boats, etc. back in the 1970s. Very dramatic art work on the wall which is awesome in my opinion that the rink had solid 70s feel. It matched to the interior. Sky blue wall background with Red, White, Blue colors. One wall is Olive Green. Really different.
Speaking of that wall, the V-shaped wall clearly showed very unique and abstracting as if it is Googie! In 1970s? Googie was more common in 1950s to 1960s. The line of that wall is parallel with the half wall for the eating area. That eating area had laminated floor titles with American Patriotic colors of Red, White, and Blue to match the rest of the place.
The Exterior.
It is a beautiful 1970s feel exterior with Natural pebbles walls around the rink building. This was somewhat common in 1960s and 1970s on buildings. It was a trend at the time. The rink was conceived in 1971 but opened in 1973 because he had it drawn by an architect and built after approval from zoning and town board. Anyway, the style was attractive for its time and it still does.
I love the way it was designed with the awning with the white letters for the name of the rink on off Plum Purple-ish color on Steel Sheet walls with narrow vertical columns. Very 1960s - early 1970s look before style changed. It had a zen feel to it because of the stones and the materials on the wall. For sure it was cinder-blocks walls they used.
It was sort of hidden behind two commercial buildings, a one-time credit union housed there on the right and the left, the Art studio building with unique 1950s - 1960s A-Frame and diamond roof style Googie look. Likely that was a drive-in restaurant back the day because of the appearance of canopy like Tiny Naylor's Drive-in that was demolished in California and the A&Ws and the Sonic Drive-ins have theirs today. Since this is about history, and this Googie Architecture building right in front of the rink, qualifies as preservation of history and usually restaurants are right by the rink for skaters to stop there before on the way home.
The Stats:
Rink Size: N/A. Floor: Clear polyurethane coat Maple. Floor Layout: N/A.
Building Size: 19,380 SF. Built: 1972. Demolished: Still standing, abandoned. Likely will tear down to make room for new development as you can see next door where the former plaza was (check it out on Google Map).
Type of Building: Free-Span Steel Truss Steel-Walled Business office - like Building.
Roof: Flat.
Acres: 1.93 Acres.
Operated: 1973 to October 16, 2016..
Reason for Closure: Retirement, couple wants to travel.
Wanted: Information regarding photos of interior. Exact date of open. size of rink.
Anyone has pictures and/or information please let me know at [email protected]. Thank you.
Sources:
Yelp
Dallas Observer
Red Bubble (fans, get your shirts and stuff here!)
Realty Trac
Email from Jesse.
Date of Issue: 2020. Update: Late 2020. Update: 30 October 2021.
For Office Only: 11
© Copyrighted by Dead-Rinks. All Rights Reserved. God Matters. Jn 3:16.