Springfield roller skating center holds off reopening

A roller skating center in Springfield is not reopening yet - even though they were given the go ahead by Gov. Mike DeWine.

Rob Patterson, the owner of USA Roller Skating Center located on Valley Loop Road said they are not reopening yet due to financial reasons.

“We’re a winter sport, so we save all winter to be able to pay for summer,” Patterson said. “They closed us down right in the middle of prime season - financially we have been using our summer money to support the building.”

The roller skating center has been closed for nearly three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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“As of today going through June, we’re probably $55,000 in the the hole,” Patterson said.

He explained that they have applied for assistance, but they have not received any.

“Unfortunately they closed us at the worst time and then they wanted to let us open back up at the worst time,” Patterson added.

Patterson said that they are usually open three days a week during the summer months verses five days a week in the winter because children are doing outdoor activities.

“With July being a bust anyway, I feel by August we will kind of know where we fall,” Patterson said. “All we can do right now is hope for the best I guess.”

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He said they are planning to open in September, but he is not 100 percent sure.

In the meantime, Patterson said he has been cleaning the roller skating center and visiting other centers to see what precautions they are taking because of COVID-19.

“It’s probably the cleanest it has ever been just because that’s all we have been doing - just cleaning and trying to figure stuff out,” Patterson said.

He encourages skaters to keep an eye on their Facebook page for an opening date, but said “I feel like we have a few months to see where things will head.”

For more information, search for USA Skate Center on Facebook.

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