Tri-Cities rink Rollarena celebrates more than 70 years of skating

Rollarena Skating Center still pulls the Tri-Cities back to 849 Stevens Drive with the kind of staying power most entertainment venues never reach. Built in 1953 by Howard and Grace Bacon, the barrel-roof rink opened in a Richland that was still under federal ownership, and it has now survived long enough to be advertised as a “fun place to be since 1953.”

That longevity is not an accident. Rollarena worked because it served more than one job at once: a first rink for kids, a date-night stop for young adults, a family outing spot, and a place where lessons and parties kept the floor busy even as skating trends changed. Howard and Grace Bacon ran the business until 1977, when their son Alan Bacon took over. Today, Alan, Judy, Joy and Kelsey Bacon continue the operation, keeping the rink in the same family that built it.

The history page tells the story of why the place mattered beyond Richland’s city limits. In the 1950s, evening skaters were often young adults, and many future spouses met there. By the late 1950s and 1960s, Rollarena was part of a strong Washington State dance circuit that brought in national names like Fats Domino, The Drifters and The Animals, along with Northwest acts including Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Kingsmen, The Wailers and The Sonics. Then came the late 1970s and early 1980s disco wave, which the rink says produced its biggest crowds since skating was invented.

That kind of durability tracks with Richland’s own history. The U.S. government acquired the town in 1943 to support the Hanford Site workforce, turning it into a planned community built around a temporary wartime mission. Rollarena arrived a decade later and gave that postwar town a lasting gathering place that did not depend on one generation of skaters.

The rink has kept adapting to stay relevant. It now offers public skating, private parties, birthday parties, large group events, a pro shop, skate sales and repairs, and lessons for any age and ability. Lesson sessions run October through May on Saturday mornings from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m. and cost $48 for four weeks, with skate rental or use of your own skates included. Buyers of a pair of skates also get one month of free skating, a small but smart incentive that keeps new skaters coming back.