Legendary Sioux Falls Roller Rink Just Turned 50 Years Old
If you're from the Sioux Empire and you spent any time inside a roller rink during the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s chances are it was at Carousel Skate, now known as Skate City.
Skate City just turned 50 years old this past weekend, and people from all over the Sioux Falls area stopped out to help them celebrate the big anniversary on Saturday night, (September 21).
Carousel Skate has a storied history in Sioux Falls from the early 70s through the mid-2010s.
Carousel Skate was first started in 1974. For the great majority of its years, it was owned and operated by Chris Erickson.
Erickson told Dakota News Now, it feels like deja vu looking back at what skating has meant to the Sioux Falls community.
According to Erickson, "We must have done something right because we lasted 41 years and Kevin is still into it, and he’s doing a great job. The community really supported the facility and skating. There’s probably not a kid or a parent that didn’t know Carousel Skate back in the day."
If you have been a long-time resident of the Sioux Falls area, you no doubt remember when Carousel Skate changed its name to "Skate City" on (August 1) 2015. That's the day Erickson sold the rink to Skate City, a company with several other locations throughout the United States. The current owner, Kevin Curtis was brought in to manage things at that time.
Curtis told Dakota News Now, We took over in 2015 and our hope was just to carry on the business and the community has supported us just like they did when Chris was running Carousel Skate."
50 years later Skate City is still going strong, offering weekly skating sessions, special skating nights, skating lessons, and a variety of skating parties and events.
You can see everything that Skate City has to offer here.
Source: Dakota News Now/Skate City
Sioux Falls: Then and Now
Gallery Credit: Andy Gott