Skating rink manager rolls on

Bennie Parr has been skating throughout his life but has not been skating by in his almost a quarter of a century in the roller rink business. He has been a promoter and entertainer for more than two decades at Fun Spot Skating Center in Belleville. In his current job, as the general manager of Spin City Skating Center, formerly known as The Great Skate, Parr has helped rejuvenate a rink that had been left vacant. He recently sat down with business writer Will Buss to talk about the current off-season renovations, the upcoming reopening and his life in roller skating:

Why is the skating rink closed right now?

“In the summertime skating rinks are not very busy. So we take that opportunity to close the doors and come in and do all of the repairs that need to be done because these buildings get a lot of wear and tear. Just the paint on the walls get a lot of wear and tear, so we do all of that and repaint everything. We always try to add new features every year. Last year we added TVs and video screens and a new dee-jay system that you could actually text in your requests and plays music videos and things like that.”

What’s new this year?

“This year, we added new carpet. The building is, we’re guessing, about 15 years old, and it had original carpet in here, which was pretty worn down. So we replaced it with neon-responsive carpet. We have black lights hitting this very bright carpet. Some of the other things we have done is maintenance on the skating floor. This year, we’re recoating the skating floor, so that means hours and hours of prep work making sure there’s no gum or dirt or oil on the floor so we can recoat it. And when the kids come back, it looks like a brand new skating floor with new carpet, fresh paint and we try to add new little twists here and there.”

How long do you close for the summer?

“We closed the last week of June, and that’s customary. Some rinks in the Midwest would close for a month, month and a half. Fun Spot, years ago, used to close for two months. They’ve been there since 1968, so they’ve acquired a lot of business through the years. So they’re able to stabilize throughout the summer because they have enough business that will keep them going. With most rinks, on a normal Friday or Saturday night, we’d be skating 180 kids, and at this time of year, we’d see 30 to 50. So it’s better to close and restart. It gets the kids amped up to come back and see what’s new and fresh.”

When will you reopen?

“On Aug. 7.”

When did you start working in this business?

“I started skating when I was in the third grade at Fun Spot. I was never big into sports, I just started skating and it just kind of bit me and I stuck with it all through grade school, junior high and high school. I begged and begged them for a job and finally got a job there when I was 18. So I worked there and I started dee-jaying and kind of became the head dee-jay and then a manager. I worked there for 10 years as a manager and then I married the owner’s daughter and become more a part of it as a business owner with them.

“I continued to work there until about two-and-a-half years ago. Four years ago, I got a divorce and decided I would stay there for a year. Then, I heard that the Tri-Township Park District (in Troy) had this building that they bought. They acquired this building and it sat empty for about three years and they decided to purchase it and try and use it for something. When I heard about it, I contacted them and said I have 21 years of experience (in skating) and sent them a random e-mail, and within a half hour they called me back. We spoke on the phone for a few minutes and then had a meeting with them, and they said, ‘Yes, we want to do this.’ There are a lot of ins and outs that people don’t realize that you have to do.”

Such as?

“When you play music, you have to pay for music licensing. There is a Roller Skating Association that over 300 rinks belong to. There are some international rinks now that belong to the RSA. Just being a part of that gives you more knowledge to learn about the tricks of the trade. For all of my years at Fun Spot, I always went to their conventions and played a part in that and even participated in seminars. I was on the promotions committee for the RSA to help them plan out their promotions for the year. So I had lots of experience in that. Through all of that, I discovered dee-jaying and I do some outside dee-jaying at special events. Within the rink, we really try to bring that specialized dee-jaying, which is being more fun and more interactive and keeps the kids captivated.”

What goals would you like to achieve in your current position?

“Our goal is that the skating will basically fund this. There will be no outside tax dollars or anything else that has to do this. It’s the park district giving back to the community. Troy desperately needs things for kids to do. We have an awesome park here, but you don’t see a lot of kids outside these days. The park has an amazing sports program. On days when they have baseball or soccer out there, the park is just jammed packed. They also have the skate park, which is next door, and a lot of kids utilize that. But the idea is to give the kids something else to do rather than sitting at home playing the video games and things like that.”

What do you enjoy most about your job?

“The biggest thing is that, they say that if you enjoy what you’re doing, you’ll never work a day in your life. I didn’t work for 21 years, if you look at it in those terms. I had a rough year and then once I came here, I’m back to not working, again, in a sense, although I’m probably working the hardest I ever have. But getting a new business together is a lot different than running an existing one. There’s a lot of hurdles and things. At Fun Spot, I didn’t do the payroll and I didn’t do the schedule. My job was to open doors and entertain people and do the off-the-wall marketing things. Here, I am the person who does everything and I just delegate. I love the people and have a love for skating.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Skating rink manager rolls on."