Skate City part of city’s heritage
Thousands of residents remember heading to the rink, and it’s still open
❝ It’s just very special – this is my home.
— Kendall Berwick
BEFORE video games, smart phones and high-definition television, Toowoomba residents used to head to Skate City in Kearneys Spring.
But did you know it’s still running to this day?
The mainstay of the Garden City’s entertainment section looks remarkably similar to how it did when it was built and opened about 40 years ago.
Regular skater Jim Hartley remembers first visiting the rink on Ruthven St, then called Skate Haven, as an 11-year-old.
Now in his 60s, the Toowoomba resident said he fell in love with the sport once the current owners opened Skate City in 2001.
“I came a few times back when it was Skate Haven and I’ve been coming here pretty much the whole time it’s been opened – I brought my daughter here,” he said.
“If you told me 20 years ago I’d be doing this, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
Mr Hartley’s approach to skating is methodical: arriving at 10am when the rink opens, he hops on the floor and glides for up to two hours across the surface.
He said it was a chance to unwind and embrace the movement of skating.
“It’s the exercise, the motion, the loud music,” Mr Hartley said.
“I get no pain from doing this – it’s just like walking.”
Mr Hartley’s personal story is one of hundreds that manager Kendall Berwick has seen over her 17-year involvement with Skate City.
Her mother Jacqui started the business, and the 30-yearold said she treated the skating rink as her spiritual home.
“It’s a really community vibe here, and it always has been – it’s a really family-oriented business,” she said.
“It’s just very special – this is my home.”
Ms Berwick said plenty of Toowoomba residents returned to the venue they’d skated at as teenagers, only to find it was virtually the same.
Plenty of married couples who first met at Skate City would come back to revel in the nostalgia of their youth.
“There’s a huge amount of love that’s been found here over the years,” she said.
“We’ve got quite a few couples who met here as teenagers who have come back with their kids.
“We’re so retro in here. A lot of people come in and remember skating here as kids.”
At its peak, Skate City welcomed up to 600 people every week, until business started dropping off since 2011.
Ms Berwick said perceived concerns about the safety of roller skating had turned some parents off the sport for their kids, and schools stopped bringing students here.
“It’s a lot easier than people think – it’s a lot easier to progress and it is a very safe sport,” she said.
The building has been for sale since 2016, with Colliers International placing a $1.4 million price tag on it.
Skate City is open every day during the school holidays from 10am to 4pm, and the weekends for the rest of the year.