Taunton's Forrest's Family Fun Center closes its roller skating rink

Forrest's Family Fun Center closed its roller skating rink on Lawton Street in Taunton after an adult skate night on Tuesday, June 30, ending a longtime venue that had become part of the city’s recreation map. The rink’s farewell came with a Facebook message inviting skaters to “come on out & skate for the last time,” a clear sign that the shutdown was final, not a pause or a change in ownership.

The closure leaves Taunton-area skaters, families and birthday-party crowds with one fewer public skating option. Forrest's Family Fun Center had long marketed itself as Taunton’s premier roller skating rink, with skating sessions, birthday parties, special events, arcade games and a snack bar. Under an earlier name, Silver City Skateland, the property had already built the kind of recognition that outlasts a single business era.

The rink’s final chapter was shaped in part by a December 2025 noise complaint that drew public support from customers who rallied around the venue. Owner Forrest Welling said at the time that he was allowed to remain open until 1 a.m. and that he closed the business at that hour. That dispute unfolded against Taunton’s 2021 noise ordinance, which aimed to keep residential neighborhoods no louder than a quiet restaurant after 10 p.m.

Welling later said he was retiring and heading to Florida, and the property changed hands. The new buyer purchased the site and won approval to convert the space into an indoor soccer facility, marking a sharp turn for a building that had hosted roller sessions, birthday parties and late-night skates. For Taunton, the loss is not just the end of one business on Lawton Street. It is the disappearance of a familiar rink that had given the city a place to skate, celebrate and gather under the same roof.