Rollerama Skating Center opened its doors on October 6, 1972. Last Thursday, owners, staff and community members celebrated 50 years in business.
“It’s crazy. A lot of businesses can’t handle that much, let alone be closed for Covid,” said owner Jennifer Dichter. “That’s right, we appreciate the Brighton community being here and continuing to be here. Without the customers, we wouldn’t be here.”
The price was reduced from $12 when the business opened in 1972 and $5 for a skate rental to $1.25 for admission and a 50-cent skate rental.
In 50 years, the business has passed through many owners. About 10 years ago, Jennifer Dichter and her husband, Dave, and Mike Hammade bought the skating center, among other places, after the business went bankrupt.
Apart from the eight months it was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the venue has remained open.
“We’ve had generations of families on this side,” Jennifer Dichter said.
Also, in the last 10 years, there have been a lot of improvements and updates to come.
“We’ve remodeled the entire facility. It’s always a work in progress, but when we started we really started, so it’s like 2013,” Jennifer Dichter said. “It’s 80 by 160 and it’s still the original hardwood floor, we just painted it.”
Roller skating is a hobby and an added attraction, she said, for keeping them open all these years.
“You have to have more than one attraction at a roller skating rink these days,” Jennifer Dichter said.
In 2014, additional attractions such as a play zone and bumper cars were added.
For many, the Rollerama Skating Center is like a second home. Kaylee Brogan has spent the last six or seven years coaching roller skating and competing for 11 years before that, including more than two of those on Team USA.
“I started skating here when I was six years old. I’ve been skating here for 18 years,” said Brogan.
Others who owe a lot to the center include Rollerama Skating Center employee Joshua Brian, who has worked at the facility for the past 6 years but started at the center when he was 10 years old playing floor hockey.
“This place means a lot to me. It’s been a big part of half of my life. It’s great for me to celebrate 50 years,” Brian said.
In the year It is the second home of the Fisher family, who moved to the United States in 2012. Their father, Peter Fischer, is Swiss and their mother, Anja Jacob Fischer, is German.
Peter Fisher said roller skating is popular in Europe and the couple wanted to teach their children Kaden and Caitlin Fisher about it, but there are no indoor skating rinks in Europe.
When they all came to America, they started going to Rollerama Skating Center. Siblings compete in inline skating individually and as a pair.
“We’ve survived 50 years and hope to survive another 50,” Hamadeh said. In the year It’s amazing that we’re still alive after everything we’ve been through in the (economic) crash of 2008 and the recent pandemic.
