"I hope it doesn’t happen, but it probably will,” Roe says. “I know the owners, who live in California, and I know that unfortunately, when they pass, the first thing that their kids are going to do is sell these rinks in Kelso, in Gresham, in Hillsboro and here — Skate World in Springfield.” The rink in Kelso closed in late April 2007.
For Roe, skating is the only relief from a week of work, commuting, and the general stress of life. He often spends late Sunday nights at Skate World, despite having to leave home for work at 3:00 a.m. “I love to skate. I love to fly. I love the rush, the ride, the feeling of what it gives you,” he says.
There are many other roller skaters who share a similar passion for the sport and take temporary comfort in Skate World as a last refuge for their favorite pastime.
Skaters such as Jeff du Pont, a nineteen-year-old speed skater and Olympic hopeful, zoom around orange cones after hours. Andrew Neill, a student at the University of Oregon, jamskates to rap music on the sidelines. Similar to breakdancing on skates, moves includes spins, floor dancing, and splits.
On Sunday nights, Roe disco dances on his skates as his son zooms past him. Fifty-nine-year-old Rex Betz does 180-degree spins and weaves his skates in and out on the floor. Marlow Anderson carries his skates in a black metal case bearing a dancing skeleton on skates across the front. He has owned the case for twenty-seven years.
While Skate World is home to many veterans of roller-skating, it is also home to a new roller derby league: the Emerald City Roller Girls.
Roe believes that roller derby will at least temporarily help the popularity of skating.
On Thursday evenings the rink is filled with the sound of bodies slamming into the floor and the grunts of derby girls picking themselves back up. Denim mini skirts and colorful, striped socks whirl around the rink as the girls swing each other from side to side.
“That’s freakin’ bad-ass right there,” exclaims one member of the team as she slams into the rink’s outer wall. She is covered in sweat, and her black negligee top is looking less lively than when practice began.
Prior to practice, the girls help each other with skate repairs and talk about their developing derby league. Names such as “Short Round” and “Dolly Hardon” are discussed as possibilities for derby identities.
While Roe believes that roller derby will at least temporarily help the popularity of skating, he still fears that Skate World may have to close its doors.
“I would take to the streets,” Roe says. “Yup! Even as an old dinosaur, I’d go back outside.”
Chris is not as keen on the outdoors. He says he would travel to Portland’s Oak Ridge Park, a rink that he is not too fond of and would not attend as often.
If Skate World closed, it would be Chris’ third upset. His old rink, Rollerzone, closed down last year. A few months after Rollerzone closed, the sports park in Corvallis where he used to play roller hockey converted to a soccer arena.
“I was really upset when they converted to soccer in Corvallis,” Chris says. “I love playing hockey. It’s skating, but it’s more. I love football, and I love skating, and hockey’s the perfect combination of both to me.”
For now, Chris makes his pilgrimage to Skate World almost every Sunday night. He exits his red 1985 Mustang with a gym bag in hand. Wearing an old pair of blue, black, and silver hockey pants, he walks on the red matted carpet lining the hallway to the rink. Once inside, he picks an open bench to sit on while he laces up his black inline skates. After skating for two hours, he gets into his car and drives an hour and a half back to Dallas. It is a grueling trip for a full-time student and mechanic, but he does it as often as he can.
“The love, the passion for skating,” Roe says. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got it so bad that, man, if you don’t do it, there’s just a huge part of you missing.”
If Skate World closes its doors, Roe and others who love roller-skating will have to decide whether to take to the streets or leave their skates hanging idle in the hallway.
Above: Georgette Gale of the Emerald City Roller Girls takes off her kneepads after practice. Below: Dozens of skates line the return counter after yet another turn around the rink.
