(Photos by Deanie Schwarz for WSB/WCN)
When WSB/White Center Now contributor Deanie Schwarz broke the news two weeks ago about reopening plans for the once-and-future Southgate Roller Rink in White Center, excitement ensued. So she has been checking back on what’s happening there. When she dropped by Wednesday, she discovered two updates – one including the sports stars who got their start at Southgate, the Rat City Rollergirls!

First, the renovation work is beginning: The photo above shows the 10,000-square-foot original maple floor under many coats of paint. A contractor with a stripping/sanding “tractor” will soon begin work; refinishing will then involve a unique urethane finish “which reacts specifically with the materials the skate wheels are made of,” Deanie reports, adding that the finishing touch will be a three-foot wall around the perimeter. Meantime, electrical work briefly exposed a bit of the old high ceiling (top right, in the photo):

That’s why it was “the Rollerdrome” in the ’30s. But its new managers do not have immediate plans to remove the newer dropped ceilings to expose the original beams; this was just a glimpse.

Now, on to the Rollergirls:

In Deanie’s photo, from left, RCRG chief operating officer Alyssa Hoppe, Jessica Ivey from the Grave Danger team, Josh Rhoads of new Southgate management, and “MaxMillion” from the Throttle Rockets team.

They told Deanie this was their first meeting to explore bringing RCRG back to the Southgate rink for special events offered to season-ticket holders (“The Rat Pack“). The discussions are in far too preliminary a stage for any details, even dates, but more talks will follow.

Ivey added: “There’s a possibility you’re going to be seeing us around [White Center] a lot more. We’re just really excited about the possibility to bring the season-ticket holders this opportunity. They’ve been asking to come to some of our events and they haven’t been able to attend because of the location at a private facility; we might be able to bring the ticket holders here to Southgate. “

She shone some light on derby’s roots at Southgate, too: “Back in the 20’s and 30’s, to ease the Great Depression, they had to be creative and were looking for new activities that were inexpensive. They would have dance-a-thons at the then-Southgate Rollerdrome, and eventually roller-skating marathons. As was the case in the dance marathons, whoever could endure and was the last skater on the floor would be declared the winner of the contest. As they extended the hours of these marathons, from 24 to 36 hours, participants would become tired and the competitors would start deliberately knocking down the other skaters to get an advantage to win the marathon contest. It was out of those physical and uber-competitive marathon skating events that derby skating arose into a spectator sport of co-ed teams.” Then came the TV heyday of roller derby, as stations tried to fill time with everything they could find in the ’50s.

A little more history, from RCRG COO Hoppe – She told Deanie that her grandmother was the Queen of the Rollerball at Southgate before WWII – forbidden by her family to attend events lest she become a “rink rat,” undesirable for a “proper young Christian woman of that era,” so she made up alibis and sneaked away with a friend to travel from Green Lake all the way to Southgate to roller-skate far from the watchful eyes of anyone they knew from the north end!

P.S. Southgate Roller Rink has launched a Facebook page with ongoing updates – you can “like” it here. More updates as the pre-reopening renovations continue in the weeks ahead.