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Gulfgate Roller Rink At 6839 Holmes Rd.


Ashikaga

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Cool ads, but it seems a bit racy for a drive-in theater! :blink: Thanks for posting.

I remember going home from astroworld or the astrodome late at night in the 70's and seeing nudity on the drive inn at the south loop right there at holmes road and cullen (where cherry demolition stores their debris now).

The instance that stands out in my mind is a lady standing up covered with balloons while a guy was popping them one at a time exposing select body parts. Probably pretty tame by today's standards but us kids were thrilled.

You could also get some "shots" from the Red Bluff drive inn on 225.

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I don't remember exactly where it was located but I loved going to the old Polar Wave Ice Palace for ice skating back in the '50s. My Mother had also skated there in her earlier years so I know it wasn't a new rink at that time. After it closed, they made ice skating available periodically in the old Houston Coliseum Downtown.

I read that there was another ice skating rink called Winterland that was on Norfolk near Kirby.

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I remember going home from astroworld or the astrodome late at night in the 70's and seeing nudity on the drive inn at the south loop right there at holmes road and cullen (where cherry demolition stores their debris now).

The instance that stands out in my mind is a lady standing up covered with balloons while a guy was popping them one at a time exposing select body parts. Probably pretty tame by today's standards but us kids were thrilled.

You could also get some "shots" from the Red Bluff drive inn on 225.

You can look at some aerial photos of the Red Bluff Drive-In on DriveIns.Com.

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I remember going home from astroworld or the astrodome late at night in the 70's and seeing nudity on the drive inn at the south loop right there at holmes road and cullen (where cherry demolition stores their debris now).

The instance that stands out in my mind is a lady standing up covered with balloons while a guy was popping them one at a time exposing select body parts. Probably pretty tame by today's standards but us kids were thrilled.

You could also get some "shots" from the Red Bluff drive inn on 225.

Nothing like seeing a 30ft pair of breasts when you are 10yrs. old. I recall several times having seen the same image Gnu, that is hilarious ! :lol:

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  • 1 month later...
The Bellaire Skating Rink was actually located on Chimney Rock near Gulfton. I went there plenty of times in the mid 60's. Bayland Orphange was across the street.

I remember doing the Hokey Pokey at the roller rink. If you shook your leg the wrong way, you'd fall down and bust your butt. I also remember the races, especially the ones where one person would squat down while another person would push them. Sometimes the one squatting would lose his balance during the race and would fall, causing the pusher to trip and fall as well. Sometimes it was a chain reaction with other racers. Does anyone else out there remember these events?

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I remember doing the Hokey Pokey at the roller rink. If you shook your leg the wrong way, you'd fall down and bust your butt. I also remember the races, especially the ones where one person would squat down while another person would push them. Sometimes the one squatting would lose his balance during the race and would fall, causing the pusher to trip and fall as well. Sometimes it was a chain reaction with other racers. Does anyone else out there remember these events?

Sure...along with snap the whip. It's where you would get in a long chain of skaters and the first person would grab the support pole in the middle of the rink and slingslot everyone around the end throwing off a few skaters each time. i dont know if anyone "won" that game...but we would do it.

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i remeber bowling under gulfgate mall. i was just going to post to see if i imagined it or if it was real, cool. I went to elementary school at the woodbridge baptist church next to the mall. So i remember going to a couple of movies at the gulfgate cinema too, i loved walking across that bridge over 610! most notably i remember seeing return of the jedi there, i'm only 29 in case you couldn't tell by how i might have aged myself. I remember going to the roller rink near almeda mall on the opposite side of the freeway from the mall. It's Cool recolecting these places.

i remember the push races and most notably they would play jump by vanhalen and when ever he said jump guess what happened everyone jumped, funny. that was just the mid eighties i guess. and of course couples skate, where if you had any nerve you would go ask that little red haired girl to skate with you! haha

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i remeber bowling under gulfgate mall. i was just going to post to see if i imagined it or if it was real, cool. I went to elementary school at the woodbridge baptist church next to the mall. So i remember going to a couple of movies at the gulfgate cinema too, i loved walking across that bridge over 610! most notably i remember seeing return of the jedi there, i'm only 29 in case you couldn't tell by how i might have aged myself. I remember going to the roller rink near almeda mall on the opposite side of the freeway from the mall. It's Cool recolecting these places.

i remember the push races and most notably they would play jump by vanhalen and when ever he said jump guess what happened everyone jumped, funny. that was just the mid eighties i guess. and of course couples skate, where if you had any nerve you would go ask that little red haired girl to skate with you! haha

I'm 47 and I vividly remember the underground bowling alley at then-Gulfgate Shopping City. I remember seeing that pedestrian bridge, but I never walked across it. In addition to Gulfgate, I remember us going to Globe Department Store which ran alongside Gulfgate on a street called Woodridge. There was also an amusement park called Peppermint Park. We also went to the Winkler Drive-In Theatre which was located on the corner of Winkler Drive and Flowers Street.

Sure...along with snap the whip. It's where you would get in a long chain of skaters and the first person would grab the support pole in the middle of the rink and slingslot everyone around the end throwing off a few skaters each time. i dont know if anyone "won" that game...but we would do it.

I don't remember "Snap The Whip". You say that a line of people, holding hands, would let the first person grab a pole? I don't quite understand how that worked. But it sounds like it would have been a sight to see and to experience. What, did they skate in a straight line to the pole, or were they off to the side?

I remember couple skating. I liked the one when the girls would choose a guy.

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Cool forum. I just found it a while ago.

Yes, there was a roller rink on Loop 610, just west of Gulfgate Mall at Telephone Road.

It was a trailer supply company after that and is now all rebuilt with new retail buildings.

The whole Gulfgate landscape has changed a lot in the last couple of years but you do remember the roller rink in the correct place.

Anyone remember the big oil fountain inside of Gulfgate Mall?

There was a skating rink in Greens Bayou (near Galena Park) called COOKS SKATING RINK that closed several years ago although the metal building is still there. Does anyone remember the traveling skating rinks that used to come to the outlying areas, like Channelview, once or twice a year. They set up a portable wooden rink coverd by a huge circus-like tent...like the ones they used to use for tent revivals. In fact I think sometimes they were one in the same. The skating got the kids in during the day, then they set up chairs on the rink for the nightly revival and offeing.

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Any one remember Almeda Skating Rink, It's still operating but it appears not for much longer as the building is going to be sold. The rink is near Almeda mall and 45.

Some older people I've talked to said that some roller rinks many years ago had a person playing an organ while people skated. I don't remember that even though I'm now 47. I just remember them playing records over the PA system. I remember the many times that I fell and busted my butt on the hard wood floor.

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Some older people I've talked to said that some roller rinks many years ago had a person playing an organ while people skated. I don't remember that even though I'm now 47. I just remember them playing records over the PA system. I remember the many times that I fell and busted my butt on the hard wood floor.

I'm a good deal older than 47 and I don't remember live organ music either, but the rink I used to go to was in Greens Bayou (close to the Armco Steel Plant) and not very fancy. I also suffered from the Butt-to-Wood syndrome...in fact as I get older I think I'm having a relapse!

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There was a skating rink in Greens Bayou (near Galena Park) called COOKS SKATING RINK that closed several years ago although the metal building is still there. Does anyone remember the traveling skating rinks that used to come to the outlying areas, like Channelview, once or twice a year. They set up a portable wooden rink coverd by a huge circus-like tent...like the ones they used to use for tent revivals. In fact I think sometimes they were one in the same. The skating got the kids in during the day, then they set up chairs on the rink for the nightly revival and offeing.

Cooks rink was the bomb. No a/c, just to 6ft tall fans that blew horizontally down the floor. There were also alot of metal poles for roof support, often used to as pivot point when going around corners. My parents went there as kids and said they had a lion that would stay inside at night for theft protection.

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Cooks rink was the bomb. No a/c, just to 6ft tall fans that blew horizontally down the floor. There were also alot of metal poles for roof support, often used to as pivot point when going around corners. My parents went there as kids and said they had a lion that would stay inside at night for theft protection.

Except for the lion part, that's pretty much how I remember COOKS SKATING RINK.

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Hello! Just found this wonderful place through a link from the Astroworld forum.

I read that there was another ice skating rink called Winterland that was on Norfolk near Kirby.

Indeed there was. It's where I learned to ice skate. The "WINTERLAND" sign was in script above the door with a typical 50's winter-togged skating couple to the left of the W. The rink was small and rectangular and the ice could get pretty choppy in pre-Zamboni days. Two sets of wooden bleachers flanked the rink entrance door and a party room was across from the right-hand ones. It was also the practice arena for the Central Hockey League Houston Apollo from 1965-69. I remember a classmate in 1971 who was taking figure skating lessons there, but I don't believe it lasted too long after the Galleria opened. The rink also had a notorious moment in connection with JFK's assassination: Clay Shaw trial

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have not been here in a while and really enjoyed the print ads from further up. The Weingarten's people are still into real estate.

Anyone remember the Piggly Wiggly and Weingarten's that were in Clear Lake City and Nassau Bay?

How about the radio station that broadcast classic music from the top portion of the Nassau Bay Shopping Center?

One of my high school English teachers was a DJ there and worked third shift on Saturdays. We used to crash the station and hang out with him when he was on air.

He always welcomed us into the studio.

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I have not been here in a while and really enjoyed the print ads from further up. The Weingarten's people are still into real estate.

Anyone remember the Piggly Wiggly and Weingarten's that were in Clear Lake City and Nassau Bay?

How about the radio station that broadcast classic music from the top portion of the Nassau Bay Shopping Center?

One of my high school English teachers was a DJ there and worked third shift on Saturdays. We used to crash the station and hang out with him when he was on air.

He always welcomed us into the studio.

On my way home from work today -_- i saw a pink "ROLLER DERBY" sign near culled/MLK it was an advert for a roller skaiting place.

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  • 1 month later...
ame='enviromain' date='Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 @ 8:41pm' post='72641']

I used to go to the Bellaire Skating Rink with my best friend every Friday. We would eat chili-pies, play air hockey, and skate with the boys when they turned out the lights. Those were the days! :)

I just thought I'd express my personal opinion about this topic. I haven't seen too many roller rinks recently. They used to be the place for the youth to congregate. I think that they are not as popular because of VCRs, video and computer games, and more things that make the young stay at home more. But I may be wrong.

That was my same reasoning as to why there are hardly no drive-in movie theatres anymore. If the Starlite Drive-In Theatre in Porter folds in another year or two, my belief might be valid.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Depends where on Bellaire you are talking - Out in Alief there was a skating rink called Great Skate between Cook and Kirkwood - First place I ever held a girls hand

The Great Skate was my junior high hang out. My first boyfriend got down on one knee in the middle of the rink and asked me to "go" with him. How romantic. :P

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  • 1 month later...
roller rinks are few and far between here, although there is a growing roller derby crowd...

as far as old print ads, i believe PCfixit owns the papers.

Yes, but I didn't think of until now to ask: Are there still any roller rinks operating in Houston? Or did they die out like the drive-in movie theatres?

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Yes, but I didn't think of until now to ask: Are there still any roller rinks operating in Houston? Or did they die out like the drive-in movie theatres?

I think Dairy Ashford roller rink is still up and running. I have not been in there since I was 13, but I would love to check it out (maybe on a weekday when nobody is there).

Houston Area Rinks

Airline Skate Center *New* 7/19/04

10715 Airline Drive

Houston, Texas 77037

(281) 448-7845

Adult Session: Sunday 7:30 to 10:00

Almeda Super Rink Center

10750 Almeda Genoa Road

Houston, Texas

(713) 941-7000

Adult Skate: Sunday 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Music: R/B, OldSchool, Hip/Hop

Dairy Ashford Roller Rink

1820 S. Diary Ashford St.

Houston, Texas

(281) 493-5651

Lockwood Skating Palace

3323 E. Lockwood Dr.

Houston, Texas

(713) 673-2232

Pasadena Roller Rink

2606 Cherrybrook Lane

Pasadena, Texas

(713) 943-8530

The “Z” Zenith Roller Rink

8075 Cook Road

Houston, Texas

(281) 575-7655

(281) 568-5138

Adult Skate: Saturday

Edited by Trophy Property
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There is still one in Katy off Mason Rd near Kingsland (on Applewhite Rd, I think) that still does a good business. I think it's called Mason Road Skate Center. My nephew had a birthday party there a few years back.

I think there may also be one still off Highway 6 north (near Copperfield).

Yes, the Dairy Ashford one is still open (or it was last week when I drove by -lol).

Yes, but I didn't think of until now to ask: Are there still any roller rinks operating in Houston? Or did they die out like the drive-in movie theatres?

There are several new drive-ins in the Houston area that have opened recently. We drove by the one in this link a few months ago and plan on going one evening soon - a great way to see movies with a toddler -lol.

http://www.theshowboatdrivein.com/

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There is still one in Katy off Mason Rd near Kingsland (on Applewhite Rd, I think) that still does a good business. I think it's called Mason Road Skate Center. My nephew had a birthday party there a few years back.

I think there may also be one still off Highway 6 north (near Copperfield).

Yes, the Dairy Ashford one is still open (or it was last week when I drove by -lol).

There are several new drive-ins in the Houston area that have opened recently. We drove by the one in this link a few months ago and plan on going one evening soon - a great way to see movies with a toddler -lol.

http://www.theshowboatdrivein.com/

I have ask since we lived parrallel lives. Did you ever couple skate at the Dairy Ashford Rink. I was usually too busy gearing up for the races they had. My buddy and I always won the derby race (one person crouches and another pushes)- I was the pusher !!! . I was pretty good at the all around speed skate, but there was some apartment kid who always won. I wonder what happened to him. Probably drank himself to death after all that early success.

My Friday's at the Rink were great. Now my friday's usually mean I am drinking a few glasses of wine and posting on this site. LOSER ALERT. :o

Edited by Trophy Property
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I have ask since we lived parrallel lives. Did you ever couple skate at the Dairy Ashford Rink. I was usually too busy gearing up for the races they had. My buddy and I always won the derby race (one person crouches and another pushes)- I was the pusher !!! . I was pretty good at the all around speed skate, but there was some apartment kid who always won. I wonder what happened to him. Probably drank himself to death after all that early success.

My Friday's at the Rink were great. Now my friday's usually mean I am drinking a few glasses of wine and posting on this site. LOSER ALERT. :o

No special couple skating memories that I can remember except maybe when we had a skate night with classmates in jr. high. Oh, I also think my friends and I went a few times in early high school for kicks, so most likely couples skating with some of them but no one else. I remember those games too. I didn't have your racing abilities though -lol. Did you also limbo? I think I attended a lock-in there once too. We skated there quite a bit, but we also skated in our church gym for free when we were younger -esp. on Wednesday night while my mom was at choir practice.

Friday nights with wine and internet sound like a parent thing to me. We spend many Friday nights at home too these days. We are thinking about hitting the new drive-in so we can see new movies on the big screen w/o getting a sitter for our son. I think he's old enough that he'll like it. We can watch the first movie and then hope he drifts off to sleep so we can stay for the 2nd. I've only been to a drive-in once - to see Pretty Woman with a boyfriend in high school (have no idea where in this city it was, but it was far from us), but thought it was a lot of fun and would love to go again. Maybe soon...

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