Mar 29, 2019 5 min read

Visually, not much has changed for Donora’s roller rink since its opening in 1983. Colorful booth tables juxtaposed with the patterned carpet surround the maple wood floor, lit with retro lighting and a disco ball that rolls you back in time. The emanating smell of concession stand pizza reaches the counter, where skaters are fitted for rental skates and are forced to answer the big question – quads or inlines?

The culture, however, couldn’t be more different now as compared to 1983. No one could know that better than Kylie Kritikos, who’s lived in roller rinks for the past 40 years.

“Now it’s just somewhere for the kids to come and hang out,” Kritikos says.

Her mother, Linda Miner, owns Valley Skating Center in Donora, and Kritikos, 45, lives in the apartment above the rink and runs the public skate sessions.

Recently, they’ve had very busy skate sessions. Some of their Saturday nights in February had close to 250 people, typically in the ages of middle and high school. They even sold out of skate rentals a few times.

She says those crowds, however, are seasonal, and will “come to a screeching halt” when the weather warms up.

Miner, who now lives in Florida, remembers a time when people went to the rink to skate, not just to post fun social media updates or hang out with friends.

“You get a handful of people that are still passionate about skating, but kids today are totally different – they come to the rink as much to listen to the music and socialize as they do to skate,” Miner says. “Some would say that’s always been the case, but during the disco era, everyone skated because the music was just so good.”

Back then, Miner’s family owned three other rinks in Washington, Canonsburg and Waynesburg, which have all since closed. The Canonsburg rink would get upwards of 600 skaters some nights.

“It was an unbelievable amount of kids that came to skate each week,” Miner says.

In those days, “roller skaters celebrate the disco way,” just like the 1979 song by Vaughan Mason and Crew. The music played a big “roll” in bringing crowds to the rink, Miner says. “That disco era was phenomenal. It was an era we’ll never see the likes of again. You opened the doors and they literally rolled in.”

Kritikos and the rink manager, Kathy Haney, say the music is one of the biggest culture changes for the rink. They have a hard time finding clean versions of today’s music, because they try not to play anything with profanity.

“Kids always request the same songs over and over,” Haney says. “And they act like they’ve never heard it before.”

Over the years, they held roller figure skating competitions, quad speed skating championships and all-night skates on New Year’s Eve, when parents would drop their kids off, go party all night, and pick them up at 6 a.m.

“We babysat the Valley’s kids,” Miner says. “We had noise makers and hats, and it was really fun. It was $10 a night, but where can you get a babysitter for $10? It was a good thing for the community.”

And it still is, Kritikos says. They have public sessions on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, and afternoon sessions Saturday and Sunday. During those sessions, they have games like Hokey-Pokey, dodgeball and toilet paper games.

They often host birthday parties during those sessions and are available for private parties. They’ve held holiday skates with Santa and Halloween sessions.

“I love the rink – the whole atmosphere,” Haney says. “It’s something for the kids to do and they’re not out causing trouble.”

Jackie Synurie, of Brownsville, brings her great-granddaughter and her friends to the rink on Fridays. “There’s not much of anything for the kids to do,” she says.

Kirrah Yeardie, Alexis Zenba and Tylie Perok, all eighth-graders from Coal Center, skate at the rink every week. They say their skating skills have improved.

“It’s either this or bowling or ice skating,” Perok says. “This is our every-week party. It’s a good hangout spot.”

As beloved as the rink is, Kritikos is ready to move on.

“I’ve been living in a rink since I was 4 years old,” she says. “In one way, I’ll be sad to walk away, but in other ways, it will be a relief. I’ve put a lot of my life on hold.”

The Valley Skating Center has been up for sale for more than three years. They’ve had people come look, but no buyers yet. Kritikos says the property would probably be worth more as something other than a skating rink.

Haney says that if, or when, the rink sells or closes, their regular families will be devastated.

“People who grew up here are bringing their grandchildren,” she says. “There’s a lot of history here. If only the walls could talk.”