Its a sad day for skating lovers. After more than 60 years in business in its Fort Lauderdale location, The Gold Coast Roller Rink is closing down for good. The rink, which is located on federal highway, south of state road 84 is known for hosting events such as Intoxiskate Tuesdays, the Gold Coast Derby girls along with birthday celebrations.
Miles Miron, the manager of the rink confirmed the closing to The New Times, saying "The rink will be closing August 14 after the last session on that Sunday night. Members of the Gold Coast Roller Rink facebook page were sadden when the news surfaced about the rink's closing. Members expressed their feelings on the popular facebook page. The last major event will be held tonight for "The Final Gay Skate," which has been held every Tuesday since 1968. The historic rink will be demolished after closing.Miles Miron did an exclusive interview with the County Grind, where he spoke on the closing and the new business that will replace the rink. Read the interview below:
Was the closing a financial decision?
I'm not the owner, but I think it definitely is. If you're on top of things when they happen, it's easier. It's like a car. If you have a problem and you put that problem off, you create another problem, and another problem. You start to have the domino effect. Then it's "Oh my God, look how much it's going to cost to fix it." We had a death in our family. That person was never replaced. He should've been replaced. It created more problems. There's no one here during the daytime. Logistically it became a nightmare. I could bad-mouth for 25 minutes all of the issues I have. One man ran it as his livelihood, and one ran it as a business.
Any other factors play into that? Are fewer people skating because of the internet?
It's a different economy today. You don't have as many people skating as you did in the '80s and '90s. I don't blame the internet for that. We've had a couple of parties that were successful because of the internet. For the gay community, it was a place to congregate before everything came out of the closet, in plain English. We used to sit here between two gay bars. We used to have the Copa and used to have the Coliseum. On a Tuesday night, it was a great place to come out and congregate. Now you have to travel because the bars aren't gay anymore. You could take your ticket stub and get a free drink at one of the bars.
When Huizenga decided to put up the Mercedes Benz dealership, that took away from the neighborhood too. That was all houses back there. Everybody was buying up land on the east side of town, and you lost people that way. There's many different factors.
What is the date of demolition?
I don't know when exactly. [Owner Joseph Latona] hasn't put that in.
What do you have planned for the final days?
If you wanna skate, I recommend you do it before it's too late. August 14 will be our last session between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Probably you're looking at $5 admission as a last hurrah. That will include skate rental as needed. Don't expect much in the building, because they've already started removing things that don't belong here. They want to have the building pretty much cleared out by the 10th. It's a sad situation. We haven't scheduled any birthday parties, and I'm not scheduling any parties. If you go to a restaurant and you know that it's their last day, the menu's very thin. We're not going balls to the wall. It's at the end. It's winding down. [On Tuesday evening, the 43-year-old gay skate night -- dubbed Intoxiskate in recent years -- will host its final running, and you can read more on that here. Expect Sweat Records' Lolo Reskin and friends in the building.]
Are there plans for the space after the building is demolished?
Eventually, rumor has it that they're putting up a... not a pet motel but something similar to that. Instead of dropping your dog off at the pet motel, you drop 'em off here, hop on a plane, and pick 'em up when you get back. A convenience situation. A holding facility? That's the rumor. We're literally going to the dogs!
What will you remember most about the rink?
A lot of the people who skated here, skated for 20-plus years. We've all grown 20 years older together. It's an extension of your family. It wasn't your typical business. If you came in and you were a couple of bucks short, can I get you the next time? It's like the corner bar. You know them.
What's the last night of business going to be like for you?
I'll probably sitting at the front door cashiering, instead of doing what I should be doing -- walking around thanking people for coming out all these years. It's a strange situation.
Are you going to put on your skates one last time?
I probably won't. I've already taken my skates out of the building. The hardest part is that we haven't been told when to gear ourselves for what's coming and when it's going to happen. The owner's being really quiet about it. We don't know what to expect next.
Side note: Remember, the rink closes Sunday August 14. So, get your skating on until closing time.
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