It’s a staple in the Chatham neighborhood a beloved skating rink that has served as a playground for generations of families and continues to do so almost 50 years later CBS 2’s Mugo digway introduces us to the rink and its new owners For Ramona and Curtis bouncy the rank is a commitment they never wanted if you had asked me like five years ago would I buy a rink I’m like no way And yet when they were approached by the former owners of the business who were ready for retirement then you know was
Not an option there’s so many stories out there of the older skaters that will tell you this Rings actually saved their life it gave them a purpose it gave them something to do rank as it’s called wasn’t always this magical up until 1974 the building on 87th Street was home to an electric
Company Then it was transformed into a skating rink and it stayed that way ever since with skaters of all ages gliding spinning and bopping on the hardwood floor we have parents to come in and they say oh yeah my my parents bought me here and now they’re bringing their children so
We’re working on three generations already the palacies enjoyed many date nights at the rank about the space in 2019 and quickly decided to make some changes so we just started off with just simple painting the building which had not been painted in a number of years then they
Resurfaced the floor put in a new carpet changed the lighting and even the big logo on the wall of course we know what comes next they have to shut down because of the pandemic but the renovations continued as restrictions eased so we said every week you’re going to see something different in here Oh my gosh this is so beautiful thank you for doing this I’m home I’m home thank you for bringing me home that reaction is exactly why the pouncies despite their initial hesitation agreed to take up this mantle to keep the rink alive in an area that’s underserved they do it for the community
You can do it fast get funky with it for folks like Kenneth stalwart who’s been coming here for 40 years for me it’s a stress reliever with everything going on this is a way for me to unwind for young people like Darius Sanders a champion roller skater everybody
Each other out it means a lot and for everyone else in between Ramona and Curtis are doing you know with the rink it’s a lot different than it was when I was a child it doesn’t end with skating either Ramona who’s a holistic nutritionist is even adding Health to the mix leading nutritional
Classes and offering healthy food options like smoothies and salads and so the commitment that once felt overwhelming is now the reward that just keeps on giving Way CBS 2 News So now that you know more about the rank why don’t you come out and check it out yourself you can meet some of us as well the CBS Chicago News team will be at the rink this Saturday from noon until 3 P.M and there are also family lessons from
10 30 to noon on Saturdays so we hope to see you out there spring Mary Quebec and I’m gonna have to bring my a game with the roller skates all I could say is Mugo skipped the part when people fall wait till we see the follow-up story after all of us
That was pretty fancy though yeah it looks great I can’t wait to see it smooth I could see how it’s a stress reliever no doubt about it
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