ROMEOVILLE – A popular and traditional rollerskating rink in Romeoville is closing after 42 years.
The USA Skate Center, 1303 Naperville Drive in Romeoville, will hold its last skate session Sunday night from 6 to 9 p.m. before it closes for good, co-owner Donna Turner said.
Turner and her husband bought the skating rink in 2003 because she loved to skate and she always wanted to own a rink.
"We've sold it," Turner said. "It was one of those things where we weren't looking to sell it. But a good opportunity came. It was a personal decision."
New owners plan to renovate the rink into an auto body shop, Turner said.
Wilmington resident Dave Morgan said he lived in Romeoville when the rink opened in 1973.
"It's tearing me apart," Morgan said. "We're losing a piece of Romeoville's history."
Morgan, who skated every day after school in the 1970s when he was a teenager, and has skated three to four days every week for the past eight years, said the skating rink provided a safe place for kids.
"Kids in town would go there," he said. "There were no recreational centers back then."
Morgan said there was talk among frequent skaters to set up a fund or petition to persuade the owners to not sell the rink. But the deal already was completed.
Turner said the couple got a deal that was "too good to pass up."
Morgan said he understood why the owners might want to secure their future with the sale.
Turner didn't comment on the deal, but said it was a hard decision and the owners originally didn't intend to sell.
The owners allowed Morgan to take a booth he sits at every time he comes in as a souvenir after the rink closes.
Morgan has encouraged skaters to sign the booth as they come in. He plans to donate it to the Romeoville Historical Society.
A reunion skate night was held Friday night for people who skated at the rink back in the 1970s and 1980s with the same disc jockey who ran the music back then, Morgan said.