.jeri.

Lately a lot of people have been telling me I should do another English Roller Disco... I'm sorry to say I don't think it's going to happen again, at least, not at our good old Skateland. I haven't been to that side of Whittier in a while. Now that we're living closer to it, we've driven past the area a couple of times, usually at night. As it turns out, one night we looked, and I couldn't see it. And then, one evening when it was still light, we looked, and it was... missing. It was gone!

I finally remembered to look it up, and it turns out it was demolished. According to the Whittier Daily News in April, "Workers clear[ed] away rubble Monday from what is left of Whittier Skateland on Whittier Boulevard. Demolition work began at the the iconic 51-year-old roller rink that fell victim to air pollution seeping into the rink from the former Omega Chemical Corp., a hazardous waste site next door. In December, rather than submit to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plan that called for the installation of an elaborate ventilation system, Skateland owner Joe Franco opted instead to sell..."

So, so sad. I have a lot of childhood memories there, as well as the roller discos. For those of you who weren't around at the time, somewhere around the college years on two different occasions, I rented out Skateland and played my own music for my own enjoyment and invited all of my friends to come along for the fun. Those were some good times, and it was awesome to have the place to ourselves and not be subjected to any 70s disco songs. It was all British rock, and people had fun even though they didn't recognize half the music.

Gone are the days!