Rollerskating Returns to Danbury for a Limited Run and the Public is Excited

Back in the day, if you wanted to go rollerskating in the Greater-Danbury area, you were headed to Danbury, CT.

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Danbury was the home of a rink known as Rollerland and when that was gone Fun Station replaced it. What's old is new again, roller skating is back for a limited run in a new location, the Danbury Ice Arena. Danbury Ice Arena General Manager Nick Garofalo was a guest of the I-95 Morning Show on Monday (6/12/23) and we asked him how all of this was going to play out.

The Ice arena has roller skating now?

"Yes, that's it. In fact every year we melt our ice and get it ready for the next upcoming season but this year we decided to take a few extra weeks to do some repairs. With the open space we decided to do some roller skating and you know what, the community is certainly taking hold of it, there is a lot of excitement for it. We're going to be starting this Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th. Friday will be 3-9 pm and Saturday will be 10:30 am - 4:30 pm. Get out here with you own skates, in-line skates, four wheel skates or you can rent skates from us for $5 and if you pay your ticket fee of $17, you can go out there and skate the whole time." 

Which rink is it the main rink or the one in the back?

"Yeah, it's our game rink too so that is the other exciting part, you'll be on the same sheet that our Hat Tricks team won a championship on."

This is a big deal for Danbury, back in the day we were a destination for roller skating with Roller Land and later Fun Station..

"Yeah there is a lot of nostalgia in that and that is honestly where I created the thought from working with our team internally. But, hey there was rollerskating here in Danbury before and it was a big hit so let's bring it back. You can certainly see that excitement in our social media, everyone is just reminiscing and we wanted to recreate those memories." 

Are you guys going to rent mustaches because the roller skating was big in the 70's and 80's, you can have the butterfly collars and tight pants. 

"That's it, we'll get the disco music going too." 

How much did you say it was? 

"So the cost of the ticket is $17, the best part about that is you can literally skate for 6 hours. You can get all your steps in for the day and then some, on skates."

Where do you get tickets on the Ice Arena website?

"Actually what we're doing right now is walk-in only. The only reason we're doing that is because we are a little bit limited on our skate inventory. But, we actually had our first session on Saturday and it was a nice turnout. The thing that I noticed was we had a lot of individuals bring their own skates which is highly recommended. I saw some in-line skates, I didn't see too many old school 4-wheels out there. The only suggestion that I would have is to anyone bringing their own skates just take a look at the wheels and make sure that they're meant for outdoor or cement because there are different wheels."

How long is this going? You said three weeks?

"We're doing out Friday/Saturday mentality and we're going to have that extend all the way until July 8th. So, we'll have the whole month of June to rip around." 

WHO: You

WHAT: Roller Skating

WHEN: Fridays from 3-9 pm & Saturdays from 10:30 am - 4:30 pm Until July 8th

WHERE: Danbury Ice Arena

WHY: Fun

HOW: Walk into the Danbury Ice Arena with $17 and a dream

Here is some of the comments from the Danbury Arena Facebook page:

Jennifer L.U.: "This is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to come skate! Woohoooo old school! Hope there's old school music too!"

Sara A.R.: "Will be there bright and early!"

Missy G: "Yayyyyy. No more going to Waterbury. I’ll be your first customer!!!"

Lisa Q: "Ohhhhhh yesssssss im so excited. I hope it is a permanent rink!!!! Would be so fun to have one back here. I miss Rollerland!!!!!"

Listen to our full interview with Nick below.

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