Skateland Memories

“[My] favorite memories [of Skateland] would be my friends. I met a couple of my friends that are still my friends today there. I want to actually call them and be like, “We should go to Skateland this weekend where it started.” So, that’s a good memory right there . . . That was the first place I could actually get up as a kid and go somewhere by myself. So that was a good memory, to know my parents trusted me to go somewhere. And that was definitely always like the best, so that started me. I feel like that was my childhood start. Me getting off the porch.”
—Mikhail S.

“[These photos] have a common denominator . . . not only of space or place, but of joy. So, it’s one thing that runs through all the pictures. It’s like they’re in the same place, totally different people, totally different times in their lives, lots of different decades, but they’re all in the same place, and most people just look really happy. And, it emanates from the pictures. It’s cool.”
—Barrett G.

“[Skateland was] most definitely [important to the community] . . . I think that young people or families need to get together and do things like that. It was very important, and we looked forward to it because in Buffalo, particularly in the wintertime, there really wasn’t that much to do except for going to movies or going bowling, but the thing that we enjoyed the most was, of course, going to Skateland.”
—Stephanie Y.

“I think in my childhood [Skateland] was important to me because at like a point in time, me and friends would always look forward to Saturday nights. They had skating from 6 to 9, and it was for kids that were like, I believe, 12 and up. So once me and my friends turned 12, that was something we would want to go to. And also a lot of times, my family had birthday parties there, so it was important in my childhood. It’s where I learned how to skate.”
—Jessica

“I enjoyed New Skateland. Definitely the memories on the pictures, and when they took pictures of you on your birthday or anything, it made you feel good to come in there the next time to see, “Oh, they hung my picture up.” It felt like a family. It wasn’t like you’re going skating, it’s like you’re going to your second home or something.”
—Mikhail S.

“Just knowing that a lot of these photographs are some of the only photographs ever taken of these people . . . we’re talking about an historically disadvantaged neighborhood, economically disenfranchised, etc., so a lot of people don’t even have cameras, so some of these pictures will have little missing cutouts of relatives or probably people who aren’t even around anymore. A lot of these are just like super unique pictures that are one of a kind.”
—Barrett G.

“[Skateland] was [important to me] because I kind of kept to myself when I was younger, and it helped me to come out of my shell a little bit. It was easy to be sociable when there was a lot of my peers there to relate to, and with so many to relate to, to kind of help you feel, come out of your shell and not to be so much to yourself.”
—Tim S.

“I probably first went to Skateland at 4–5 years old, and I was taught by mom how to skate.”
—Jessica

“All of my brothers and sisters [taught me how to skate]. We all went as a family. There was seven of us, so we all went skating together.”
—Tim S.

“I think in my childhood [Skateland] was important to me because at like a point in time, me and friends would always look forward to Saturday nights. They had skating from 6 to 9, and it was for kids that were like, I believe, 12 and up. So once me and my friends turned 12, that was something we would want to go to. And also a lot of times, my family had birthday parties there, so it was important in my childhood. It’s where I learned how to skate.”
—Jessica

“The things that come to my mind are the hardwood floors. It was pretty dark . . . of course, they would change the lighting depending on what type of music that they were playing. We had one of the mirror balls that scattered the light all over the place, that changed colors with different types of music, whether it be fast or slow. There was pictures of people skating on the walls, and it’s an atmosphere of fast skaters and slower skaters, beginners and professionals all on the floor at the same time. It was really kind of like a skating party every time we went.”
—Tim S.

“There was a bunch of pictures on the wall from like different parties, or just Saturdays, or just days that kids came and skated. They were taking pictures and stuff and hang them on the wall or in picture frames.”
—Jessica

“Normally they have a skate for whoever the birthday person is. Then, they’ll have like a race skate; they’ll have a boys’ skate, a girls’ skate, and an older skate for all the adults and everything.”
—Mikhail S.

“I think in my childhood [Skateland] was important to me because at like a point in time, me and friends would always look forward to Saturday nights. They had skating from 6 to 9, and it was for kids that were like, I believe, 12 and up. So once me and my friends turned 12, that was something we would want to go to. And also a lot of times, my family had birthday parties there, so it was important in my childhood. It’s where I learned how to skate.”
—Jessica

“I didn’t own my own [skates], so I always had to rent them.”
—Stephanie Y.

“I always wanted my own pair [of skates]. I just never got into it to get my own pair. I always rented and no matter what, when you threw on those rental skates, it still did the job for me.”
—Mikhail S.

“The things that come to my mind are the hardwood floors. It was pretty dark . . . of course, they would change the lighting depending on what type of music that they were playing. We had one of the mirror balls that scattered the light all over the place, that changed colors with different types of music, whether it be fast or slow. There was pictures of people skating on the walls, and it’s an atmosphere of fast skaters and slower skaters, beginners and professionals all on the floor at the same time. It was really kind of like a skating party every time we went.”
—Tim S.

“I think in my childhood [Skateland] was important to me because at like a point in time, me and friends would always look forward to Saturday nights. They had skating from 6 to 9, and it was for kids that were like, I believe, 12 and up. So once me and my friends turned 12, that was something we would want to go to. And also a lot of times, my family had birthday parties there, so it was important in my childhood. It’s where I learned how to skate.”
—Jessica

“Normally they have a skate for whoever the birthday person is. Then, they’ll have like a race skate; they’ll have a boys’ skate, a girls’ skate, and an older skate for all the adults and everything.”
—Mikhail S.

“We would have worn jeans, a nice casual top . . . no sweaters because you would get hot from skating, so we didn’t normally wear sweaters.”
—Diamond R.

“Oh yeah, we sure did [meet friends or make new friends at Skateland]. Because a lot of us that were teenagers, we ended up . . . well, you know how it goes as teenagers. The girls would be standing against the wall looking pretty, and all the guys would be trying to look cool trying to find somebody to skate with. So, it was really kind of a social event.”
—Tim S.

“They had lockers, so we could put our jackets in our lockers, so you wouldn’t have to worry about if it was wintertime and we had to go in our winter coats and stuff like that. We could have our stuff locked up and secure.”
—Diamond R.

“The things that come to my mind are the hardwood floors. It was pretty dark . . . of course, they would change the lighting depending on what type of music that they were playing. We had one of the mirror balls that scattered the light all over the place, that changed colors with different types of music, whether it be fast or slow. There was pictures of people skating on the walls, and it’s an atmosphere of fast skaters and slower skaters, beginners and professionals all on the floor at the same time. It was really kind of like a skating party every time we went.”
—Tim S.

“You’re about to have a lot of fun. There was no fighting because if you got caught fighting, you got kicked out. So, nobody wanted to get kicked out, so you did not fight. Everything was peaceful. If you did have a problem with someone, it was fixed right away.”
—Diamond R.

“[Skateland] was [important to me] because I kind of kept to myself when I was younger, and it helped me to come out of my shell a little bit. It was easy to be sociable when there was a lot of my peers there to relate to, and with so many to relate to, to kind of help you feel, come out of your shell and not to be so much to yourself.”
—Tim S.