SOUTH BRUNSWICK - After more than 50 years of attracting roller skaters of all skills, the wheels will stop spinning at the Kendall Park Roller Skating Rink on Sunday.
Located on Route 27 in Kendall Park, the facility originally was a bowling alley before being bought in 1964 by America On Wheels, a roller rink chain.
Professional roller skater Cliff Nazzaro, of North Brunswick, became the rink's manager in 1968. He was a national title-holder for speed skating. "I was a speed skater from 1954 to 1968," he said.
What he didn't know was that he would one day own the rink.
The 76-year-old, who now lives in Las Vegas, has seen the generational ebb and flow of roller skating's popularity.
"I managed for 20 years and then I owned the business for 15 years, leasing the property, and then I bought the property," he said. In 2002 he became the owner and then sold the property three years later..
"The roller rink business lasted through many, many years," he said. "The peak was during the disco era. I remember any Saturday afternoon I would have 1,100 people in there."
It was the late 1970s and there were lights and music and "everybody wanted to try it," Nazzaro remembered.
Now, the popularity has waned, but its importance to the community is just as strong, he said.
"People need some form of recreation to keep them off the streets. So you need roller skating, you need the movies, different forms of entertainment," he said. "Today, roller skating is not as busy as it used to be, but it maintains itself."
Mike Nazzaro, Cliff's nephew, who works as a manager at the rink, can attest to the changes over time.
"All my life I skated, and when I turned 17 I stared working here," recalled Nazzaro, who lives in Edison and is 42.
"Roller hockey was very good for the business for awhile," he said, "but it was like a fad; all the rinks had it, then all the rinks didn't have it."
He's had a lot of memories both on and off the rink .
"I'm pretty sentimental about it," he said. "It's an end of an era."
Many others who have enjoyed skating at the rink share the same sentiment.
"The kids are going to miss the experience of roller skating," said Sha-Ron Karr, of Sayreville.. She's been making the trip from Sayreville to the rink for six days a week for the 35 years.
"This is like my second home," she said.
"Champions came through here," said Bill Davis, 67, of Jersey City. "One time or another, anybody who went on roller skating in the upper echelon found their way through Central Jersey through this rink."
"There's people all over the country that know this rink is closing," said Jim Kennedy, 69, of the Monmouth Junction section of South Brunswick. "This is a pretty famous rink around the country."
He's been teaching at the rink for 25 years and was skating at the Kendall Park rink before then.
"It's sad," Kennedy said. "Generations of people who skated here, their kids won't get a chance to skate it like their parents did and grandparents."
Philip Ianno has been working at the rink off and on for 40 years.
"It's sad, but you know, everything changes," he said. "I'm glad my kids got to come and I got to come."
"Everybody is emotionally upset," Karr said. "I can't tell you how many generations of clubs have gone through here."
Cliff Nazzaro said he has run into people in Las Vegas who knew about the Kendall Park Roller Rink. He knew the closure was inevitable, but with the closing date around the corner, he's feeling nostalgic.
"I knew that over the years that this would come," Nazzaro said. "I was there for a long time — that's a lifetime, 40 years — I enjoyed the business."
The last skating session will be conducted Sunday, Nov. 26 from 2 to 5 p.m.
Staff Writer Nick Muscavage: 908-243-6615; [email protected]
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