The Final Day At The Ches-A-Rena In Cheswick, PA 

Hell yeah, love that photo of you with the mirror ball!

Wow! What an awesome place with so much history! I love that they are preserving the disco ball!! ☺

A very unique building with a unique vibe, a darn shame it's getting the wrecking ball. Could've been an awesome little underground night club/arcade.

Thank you for posting this video. I was here every Saturday night during High School and a few years afterwards for roller skating. I was a regular fixture there during what they called the era of "Stride Skating" which is very similar to "Break Skating" , breakdancing on skates. I remember the figure skaters taught by the gentleman "Glenn" that the family you interviewed was mentioning. They would finish up class right as general admission session was entering, so you could watch them finish practice as you laced up your skates. I rebuilt the original sound system in the building. There used to be gigantic 7 foot tall "Earthquake" subwoofers in the corners. Would be great to find pictures of those... nobody could believe how big they were. I moved them from the roller skating rink to the Sigma Chi fraternity at Pitt University when the new system was put in. I came back to visit right before the roller skating was discontinued and the manager at that time gave me all of the remaining inventory of competition figure skate parts (which I still have). The last owner I remember was the same people who took over the also ill fated Norwin Skateland out in Irwin. I also skated and rebuilt that sound system before it was sold to the last owners. Too bad you couldn't see this place when it was a vibrant roller rink full of kids eager to release the steam of going to school all week, it was really packed. From what I see in your video, when it was converted to a concert venue, the conversion was very poor quality. The paint is bad, dark, carpentry work shoddy and overall mickey-moused. Probably that is why it never made a come-back. The new ownership only took the renovation part way and never made anything quality out of it. Again, thank you for making these videos, because many of our memories were un-filmed because they were pre-digital era. Mostly people filmed with polaroid or 35mm film, and there's no guarantee any of those photos will ever make the internet (I've been checking for years). Overall, I probably skated at about 20 different rinks around the Pittsburgh area as me and my friends would travel to battle the local skating crews at the various rinks. You may want to do a video on the Rock Springs roller rink in Delmont, PA. It was where I learned how to skate. Last I heard it is near abandoned. Could be only a matter of time before that disappears. Now I live out on the west coast and teaching my kids how to skate, the west coast still likes to get their roll on :)

You did one hell of a job on this video I'm going to watch it again.

Anyone else go rollerblading here in the 1990s? I used to go every single weekend with a friend. Can still remember the guy who handed out skates. Also, I remember buying individual now or later candies.

Wow what a deep interesting video. To bad that place won't be brought back. Everyone had a story to tell. Rip to the Ches-A-Rena gone but never forgotten

Farewell Ches A Rena Entertainment Complex you will be missed by the city of PA and also the entire world. To the Staff who worked their good luck with whatever you planned to do in the future. All of us are thinking about you

Very, very nicely done. I remember driving by when I was a kid. I had never been inside. It was sad to see the lights go out and the doors close. Thanks, Wallie.

Awesomely detailed documentation of this historic place, Wallie. Really enjoyed watching this vid!

Funny how goodwill was there. If a goodwill leaves, thats a bad sign.

I used to go skating quite a bit at Ches a Rena and this is the place where skating for me 'clicked' once the Roller Blades came out. This is the place to also try out the brand new arcade games like TMNT and SF2, along with the Terminator 2 pinball machine. I went to a handful of parties here as well. These kinds of places, which were affordable for the community, simply aren't going to exist anymore.

We had the coolest Roller rink when I was a teenager in the 1970’s...SooooooFun❤️😀❤️😀I am really enjoying this video you are very talented and have done a really good job narrating this for those of us here that had no idea what this building was or the history of it thank you so much... I absolutely love that mirror ball that was humongous❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Awesome job on this video great job interviewing those people nicely done

Grandma said she used to roller skate there, so did mom. They used to call her kutch. Miss gram so much. They are closing lots of places in cheswick and Springdale

Talk of the town sign is so awesome... like that more than disco ball, but both are great... Wallie your the man... love the videos.. stay awesome

Very touching video

Hey, another great video. I will add a direct link to this video on mine as soon as I get home from work. Thanks for the mention.

thank you so much for your love of history

I miss my local roller rink. It used to be a blast in the 90's but then in the early 00's it closed down :(

The good old days of the old roller rinks are sadly all but gone. I was lucky enough to work in one from time to time in the late 90's early 2000's. The name was (Geneva rollerdome] in the finger lake area. Really do miss those days.

I've been waiting for this one!

Great video Wallie👌if I lived there our family & friends would've skated there a lot over the years.Fortunately the two family owned roller rinks are still doing OK in our area.But your correct, interest in roller skating has declined.I'm an avid indoor & outdoor sk8r and I see it here too.Activities such as this costs money and people just don't have the disposable incomes they once did.

Fantastic seeing your channel grow! I remember when you hit 500! Keep it up with the amazing videos! 👏🏻🙌🏻👍🏻

Amazing. Thank you for documenting this!

Thanks for the video, well done.

So sad to see these places close up, liked the vid!

Awesome job per usual 😍

Wish I could go roller skating now!..great vid, Wallie😆

So cool! I never got to see inside before leaving the area, but the parking lot was a minefield of pot holes. I like to think about how these towns and venues up Freeport Road were the place to be decades ago.

That plastic (over wood) floor still looked great.

Great job Brother on the video...

That's a very nice picture of you with the Disco Ball!!!!!!!! :)

Like the Civic Arena built to withstand a bombing. They now have an Empty Lot.

duel audio at 7 mins lol

So many memories of this place. I got into my first fight here, over a game of Gauntlet on the arcade...lol

This is a great video! Good job document this video on the former Ches-A-Rena roller rink and building. Have to add your video to Dead-Rinks. You will get web traffic and I can get my traffic through yours. Thank you. Awesome job. I wish I knew about this. How you hear about the final day open to public event?

Damn what a very moving and heartfelt video. The collage of photos to start and then you really knowing how to tell a story of the place. Did you write something down or just talk, which is the gift you already have for the dead mall/retail videos. You blended many good elements on this tribute to this place. And i've noticed there are fewer roller rinks, smaller concert videos. The bowling alley on our town's border is supposed to be torn down for a Wawa! Guess people just want to stay indoors and play video games. One of your best and most awesome videos yet Wallie!

I'm sitting here in NJ at 12:30am listening to music and realized that Ches a Rena was the only place that played any type of early 90s dance music that was kept off of B94 and MixJamz100.7 for reasons (you probably know why). I don't think any music like Black Box for example was played on the radio. Ches a Rena was the only place you could hear early 90s music, way before any streaming service.

Very cool man out here in Nevada those are all gone already I was about 13 or 14 when the roller rink closed for Good..!! I'm now 32 so quite sometime now..!!

Phenomenal reporting.

Used to play roller hockey here like 20 years ago

Everybody would love to go roller skating at this skate park

WHAT..?? A ROLLER RINK..!?! I THOUGHT THOSE WHERE ALREADY WIPED OFF THE MAP..!!👍👍

Can't believe no one didn't want to buy this an operate it recently the bowling alley in my town this it's a 30 lane bowling alley was looking to close after being open sence 1945 but after an fiew months it thankfully got a buyer who is going to keep it running which will stay open as the bowling alley everyone loves!!!!

What bands were there besides Coheed and Cambria ?

I'll miss it.

that was a great video reminded me of a roller rink we had back in the 60s early 70s called Fun Spot great time there as a kid. I when in after it closed down and fell into disrepair very sad to see it like that but glad I did it. no video back then wish there was. How did you get into this and where do you find all that info you share?

Never been here but this place looked like a blast in its heyday. Shame to see it in such bad shape looks like they let it go for awhile

So Sad to Say Goodbye :-(

This is one of your best videos!!

Dammit Wallie, this long awaited video made me cry!!!! Lol. 😂 such a crying shame places like this are also dwindling, theres no place left to take my older kids, as all the venues from when I was a teen just over 20 years ago have closed up. Now they would all stay home and play Fortnite, arggg! Too bad it cant be saved and upgraded, that ceiling would make a pretty bitchin planetarium, just imagine the laser shows! Anyway, great video! 😀

I never heard of this place before

Sad to see this old building go but the casts to fix to much. 😢😭

That talk of the town neon light needs a home!

I have to forgive myself for not buying it when I had the opportunity.

I live about 20 - 30 minutes from Cheswick ! I didn't realize they had a roller skating rink ! Why did they shut down ? They need to come in and renovate it and reopen it ! They don't need to tear it down ! You know Families have no place to have fun anymore ! Stop tearing down stuff and RENOVATE !! The floor for the skaters is in really nice shape ! I say renovate renovate it

LOVE THE INTRO!

lights shut down for the final time and the doors shut

Cool place 😊

Is the disco ball from 1947 when it opened?

are they tearing it down

I would have loved to have roller skated on that floor.

Hi from the U.K. Wallie.

sad to go

Are u making a century 3 one soon???

I skated here several times a week with my boyfriend, who played the organ there. Then I took MY children there too,

What's the song?

nnice buuilding tbh

they really believe

Rip

To bad it was in such disrepair not to be classified as a historical buildings

YEaH THaT wAS Cool

looks un safe and falling apart no wonder it closed

I can moonwalk in roller skating

I hate the saying "All good things shall come to an end"

What song is this

I think ecw did wresrling there

Sad

COOL VIDEO AS ALWAYS!!!!...WEN U KNELT DOWN BY THAT DISCO BALL...IT'S BIGGER THAN ....U...LOL!!!!! LATER...🐍 SNAKE. U DO GREAT WORK!!!

Nice video! The Chicago area recently lost Orbit Skating Center in Palatine, IL(northwest of Chicago), at the end of March. On my Instagram page(prfsnlwannabe), I posted some pics of Orbit a little while back. There still are a few final pics I need to post on Instagram of Orbit, and I will create a hashtag so you can look between all pics I took of the place the first and last day I visited it(3/24/18, its final day operation was on 3/31/18 but I couldn't make it that day). I will add you WallieB26 as a friend to me on facebook if you aren't already, since I know you post on the group Dead Malls Enthusiasts. I even facebook lived from Orbit and filmed a small tour of the inside of it, the day I visited it. And you'd enjoy that video a lot. Luckily aside from Orbit, there are a few(about just over a half dozen, including a few in the south side of Chicago and south suburbs I'm forgetting) other skating rinks that still remain in the Chicago area. To name a few, there's one in Mundelein(and that same owner also operates a 2nd one in McHenry), one in Aurora, one in Lombard, one in Summit, and one in Lynwood. The one in Lynwood was used as a filming location for the movie Roll Bounce, and I hope to get there one of these days to look at it. The interior of the roller rink in Lynwood has that high ceiling and airplane hangar look that reminds me of Orbit, as well. For those who wondered why Orbit closed, it sadly was because their Cook County(IL) property taxes got very high(got to the point where it was something like $80,000 or $90,000 a year), and they sadly could no longer hang on in business. :(

I was there in 2011 to see Social Distortion

This place is run down a bit.

Who wants a pair Chicago Custom Gold Medalists from 1956 White womens size 7

Second

3RD!!

First!

I'm a RU-vidr I want someone to me how to make a video better