Glide & Go Skate City opens, adds first dedicated rink to Iowa City
Iowa City finally got its first dedicated roller rink, a 19,000-square-foot concrete surface inside a former JOANN box at 676 Sycamore St.
Glide & Go Skate City gave Iowa City something its skating scene had long been missing: a full-time rink built for more than a quick lap and a snack run. The new venue opened at 676 Sycamore St. inside Iowa City Marketplace, taking over the former JOANN Fabrics space and turning a 27,000-square-foot retail shell into a 19,000-square-foot concrete skating floor.
The timing matters because Iowa City already had the appetite. Alicia Crews, who moved to town in 2022 after living in several places, including Atlanta, saw a market that was active but incomplete. The city had multiple roller derby teams, free skate nights at Robert A. Lee Recreation Center and plenty of skaters, but no dedicated roller rink. Glide & Go is aimed at filling that gap as a place for lessons, family skating and the kind of regular rink culture that can keep people coming back.
The project, first announced in August 2025, officially opened on March 13, 2026 after a delay from an original January target. Crews said the setback came from personal family issues, fire-code compliance work and later funding problems. Even with the slowdown, she described the response as strong, and the business was built with a community-minded pitch rather than a simple one-off entertainment play.
That pitch shows up in the details. Glide & Go includes private party spaces, themed family lounges, a kids’ zone, a kid-only skating area and a sensory lounge with lower lighting and noise. The operation also plans concessions and a ghost kitchen so customers can order from local partner restaurants. Admission is set at $12 for skating and $5 for general admission, with the general-admission ticket converting into a same-day $5 concession coupon. Special pricing includes a city pass for nonprofits and Iowa City Community School District students, staff and faculty.
Financing came together through a $5,000 Synergies Work loan, with the chance for another $5,000 after 90 days of stable operations and up to $30,000 total, plus donations and help from Sherwin-Williams, The Home Depot, Ollie’s, Iowa City ReStore and other supporters. Crews also said she hopes to hire teenagers and build a training program, a sign that she wants the rink to function as both a business and a feeder into the local skating ecosystem.
That ecosystem already runs deep. The City of Iowa City has offered indoor roller skating at Robert A. Lee Recreation Center on Saturdays through April 25, 2026, and the IC Bruisers call themselves the nation’s first and only free junior roller derby team. Glide & Go now gives Iowa City a permanent home base, and if the rink can draw the estimated 350 to 400 people per weekend session, it could become the city’s central stop for lessons, family time and local skate culture.
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