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Family-owned roller skating rink in Grapevine closes after 24 years

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Time to put up the skates. Yelp

After 24 years, SkateTown, a family-owned and -operated roller-skating place in Grapevine, is closing its doors.

Owners Mike and Kathy Vouklizas announced the closure on the facility's Facebook page, stating that they sold the property "to pursue retirement."

The rink will close on August 21.

The couple opened the rink at 2330 William D. Tate Ave. in June 1997.

"Our story begins when our owners were just teenagers," they say on their website. "They both grew up with a love for skating, and competed in speed skating competitions until they were in their mid-twenties. They decided to get married and have children and move to the Grapevine area to pursue their dream of one day opening a skating rink of their own."

The venue was a popular destination for parties, and they also gave skating lessons, at a bargain price of $7 for beginner lessons every Saturday at 12 noon. They also offered private lessons, one-on-one with an instructor, starting at $20 for half an hour.

A spokesperson said that the instructors would be relocating to another rink, still to be announced.

The property had been on the market, but the actual sale was somewhat abrupt. The rink was still advertising lessons on July 30, and after the closure was announced, the owners commented that they were forced to cancel a number of parties scheduled back in May, stating, "There are things that we cannot control when selling real estate and that is basically what happened here."

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