Featured photo by Alex Speight
By Kareem McMichael
June 1, 2026 – At Lake Mayer Park, the steady hum of roller skates against concrete provides the soundtrack to a booming community space. The park serves as a cross-section of the county itself, bringing together beginners taking their first strides, to more advanced skaters mastering complex transitions, and veteran skaters who have spent decades refining their craft. No matter what skill level, though, everyone is coming together for the love of skating, whether for recreation or sport, and for the friendship built from the community.
But beneath the music and the motion lies a feeling of grief, resilience and political mobilization. For nearly a year, Savannah’s lively roller-skating community has been adrift, left to brave the scorching sun, sudden downpours, and cracked outdoor pavement.
According to the Roller Skating Association (RSA) estimates, the number of rinks has dropped by 10% from 1,250 pre-pandemic to around 1,125 by August 2025. Common reasons for closures include the COVID-19 pandemic, rising real estate costs/rent spikes, and expired leases.
When Star Castle, the city’s lone indoor skating rink, closed in summer 2025, it displaced a cornerstone of Savannah’s local culture. The Savannah Derby Devils and Savannah Jr. Roller Derby continued renting the building out for their practices and games until Oct. 7. The new owners, Savannah Children’s Theatre, moved in after that.
Today, a grassroots movement led by a local nonprofit and local veteran skaters is working to change the narrative around skating culture and preserve their heritage. Advocates maintain that indoor rinks provide essential community benefits, acting as sanctuaries for mental health and positive outlets that actively deter youth violence.
For generations of Savannahians, Star Castle on Mall Boulevard was more than a commercial business; it was a cornerstone of community life. The business first opened as an arcade on White Bluff Road in 1984. The last location on Mall Boulevard had been in operation for 25 years. The venue was the birthplace of the Savannah Derby Devils adult roller derby league, a developing ground for the city’s unique skating subculture, and a multi-generational fixture where parents who skated there in the 1980s eventually taught their own children to skate.
“It felt like losing a huge piece of our community, like history repeating itself,” said Hannah Walker, a local mother whose life was greatly changed by the rink. “For a lot of people, skating is generational. Families grew up there together. Friendships, traditions, and memories were all connected to that space. It was the loss of a gathering place, a safe outlet, and a cultural space that meant something deeply personal.”
Walker didn’t start out as a grassroots organizer. She was a mother watching her daughter transform. “I watched skating give her so much confidence,” Walker said. “It gave her new friendships, structure, and motivation. It became something she genuinely looked forward to and felt proud of. Not every kid thrives in the same environment, and skating gave her a space where she could fully be herself.”
When the closure was finalized, Walker refused to let that transformative environment fade into memory. She concentrated her grief into action, founding the 912 Skaters Coalition, a grassroots nonprofit explicitly committed to fostering unity and advocating for a permanent, safe, and inclusive home for Savannah’s wheel-bound community.
The void left by Star Castle’s closing hit many in the skating community deeply. For skaters like 32-year-old Alex Speight, the closure took away a lifelong artistic outlet. Speight has been rolling since his father gifted him a first pair of skates at four years old. By the time he hit his late teens, the hobby had evolved into a serious discipline.
“I’ve definitely taken roller skating a lot more seriously as a whole,” Speight explains. “And just respected and admired the craft and the art behind roller skating and how expressive and how free it is for the person, mentally and physically. Once you find that niche, it’s harder to let it go.”
For Speight, who also videos and photographs many of the coalition’s pop-up gatherings, the closure of Savannah’s final indoor rink represents a disruption that goes beyond losing a place to skate.
“It’s a huge hole. It’s honestly a void that’s been hard to put things in place to fill. Because when you lose a roller rink—especially when it’s the last one in Savannah—it’s hard to find other outlets like that to be able to express yourself freely the way that you really want to.”
While casual observers may view roller skating strictly as just recreation, the 912 Skaters Coalition frames the sport as a critical public health resource. According to the group, indoor rinks address widespread issues of youth isolation and social fragmentation by serving as multi-generational spaces where older skaters naturally mentor younger generations.
Becky Marchant, an adult skater who returned to it in her thirties to find a sense of personal identity outside of her career and marriage, found an unexpected lifeline on the rink floor.
“It’s hard to make friends at a certain age when you’re just working,” said Marchant. “But this way, I’ve had a whole world of people that I would never want to know, and they’ve become great friends—like close, great friends. Younger, older… and I try to be there for the young kids too. This is originally about the young kids being able to come and have kind of a mentorship thing… it’s having that family.”
Marchant highlights that the mental and physical relief provided by a dedicated skate session is probably what some get when they are working out at the gym.
“When I come into this space and I am skating, whatever I got going on, I’m leaving it at the door. My mind right now is on the floor, on the music, I’m moving and I am sweating… it has been such a great thing to have a workout that I’m not noticing. I didn’t notice it at all.”
That feeling is also echoed by the one of the community’s musical heartbeat, DJ Live Child. A veteran of the music booth who has spent nearly a decade curating the auditory experience for Savannah’s skaters, he got his start working as a floor guard at the old Skate City and Skate Marine rinks. Today, he views his role as a mix of community support and cultural preservation.
“I just want to see anybody have a good time, and music will bring everybody together,” says DJ Live Child, who skillfully blends R&B, hip-hop, house, and reggae to control the tempo and emotional freedom of the room. Since Star Castle shut down, his social media feeds have been flooded with heartbreak.
“It’s been hard. I’ve seen people post on Instagram, people call and talk to me all the time about how much they miss Star Castle…it’s healing, it’s therapy. It’s therapeutic, and a good way of exercise.”
Faced with administrative indifference and city plans that heavily favor tourist-centric development over neighborhood infrastructure, the 912 Skaters Coalition decided to bypass superficial complaints and offer a comprehensive, structural solution.
The coalition has drafted a formal civic proposal targeting the historic Savannah Sports Arena, located at 2027 E. Gwinnett St. in East Savannah.
Built in 1956 by Aaron Newman, the now-vacant facility holds significant local historical value. During the mid-20th century, the arena hosted major musical acts, including James Brown, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley.
Before the Savannah Civic Center opened its doors in the 1970s, the Savannah Sports Arena served as the city’s primary entertainment and sports hub. Decades later, advocates argue the dormant facility is uniquely positioned for a comeback. Coalition assessments indicate the original rink floor and core structure are structurally sound and highly suited for conversion into a community-centered venue. The push comes at a critical transitional moment for the city: with the planned demolition of the MLK Arena at the Civic Center underway, officials see this as an opportunity to distribute public resources more evenly by shifting recreational facilities out of the downtown core and into Savannah’s residential communities.
“Importantly, the structure has not lost its ability to function, it has only been repurposed temporarily,” the Coalition’s proposal reads. By removing a few non-structural interior walls added over the years, the city could adaptively reuse an existing asset for a fraction of the cost of building a new venue from scratch.
Reactivating 2027 E. Gwinnett Street perfectly aligns with the City’s Comprehensive Plan by shifting recreational resources directly into historically underserved, neighborhood-scale corridors rather than tourist zones.
The grassroots movement has also drawn support from national athletic organizations. Reggie Brown, Chair of Team USA under USA Roller Sports (USARS)—the national governing body recognized by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee—has contacted local officials regarding municipal perspectives on the sport.
In a letter sent to local cultural resource officials, Brown noted that his current research project at Harvard University documents roller skating as an established cultural art form with deep roots in performance and Black cultural history.
“The programming proposed by the 912 Skaters Coalition is not recreational skating,” Brown stated. “It is structured cultural arts programming that includes historical context, musical interpretation, movement analysis, performance, and community engagement; the same foundational elements present in dance, theater, and music programs already deemed appropriate for your facility. To categorically exclude skating from a cultural arts space reflects a misunderstanding of the discipline.”
The coalition’s civic proposal also links the revitalization of the sports arena to place-based public safety and violence-reduction models. Organizers point to urban planning and criminological research, which indicates that crime and neighborhood instability tend to concentrate in areas experiencing long-term civic disinvestment.
“If the goal is safer communities, the approach must go beyond response,” the Coalition’s proposal highlights. “Law enforcement plays an important role, but it is inherently reactive. Prevention looks like consistent access to safe spaces, opportunities for connection and belonging, and environments that give people—especially young people—something to invest in. Research consistently shows that investing in people and places reduces violence more effectively than enforcement alone.”
In addition to USA Roller Sports (USARS) the coalition has also received letters of support from the Rhythm Skating Academy & Commission and Service Brewing Co. whih have hosted the coalition at their venue for events and said their experiences have been “consistently positive.”
While formal legislative decisions remain pending, Savannah’s skating community maintains its visibility. The coalition continues to host weekly pop-up sessions at Lake Mayer, adapting to sometimes harsh outdoor weather to keep the culture active. Their efforts are backed by their Change.org petition that has drawn over 1,400 signatures—with 64% of the support originating directly from local neighborhood ZIP codes such as 31419, 31405, and 31406.
The physical demands of skating on outdoor asphalt continue to pose challenges for participants. While Marchant recalls the experience of skating outdoors with some humor, her focus shifts when addressing safety concerns.
“It’s difficult for experienced skaters so I know it is for newer skaters and people wanting to try,” Marchant said. “It’s hard out there, and you’ve got the elements. An indoor space would be better for safety.”
Marchant also highlighted the ongoing efforts of coalition organizer Hannah Walker, noting that she has been working on the initiative for more than a year.
“She has the will of a bull,” Marchant added. “She’s going to make this work.”
For Speight, documenting the passion of the skaters through his camera lens has become a parallel mission.
“Every roller-skating event, I definitely try to make the effort to capture everything that I possibly can,” Speight said. “I’ve always loved being able to capture all of the vibes…pictures can tell the story. People look at pictures, they’re able to immerse themselves in those pictures and it gets people inspired to come to the next thing. To pick up a pair of skates and just go for it. It’s never too late.”
With Speight and many others creating documentation of a safe and vibrant culture, it helps combat some of the harsh negative perceptions of skate culture.
Despite a decline in brick-and-mortar roller rinks, roller skating is experiencing a cultural and commercial resurgence. Data show that roller skate sales surged by 300 percent in both the United States and France between 2020 and 2022. Analysts attribute the sustained interest to a heightened public focus on physical fitness, the viral spread of skating trends on social media platforms, and a wave of retro nostalgia that has successfully bridged the gap between veteran enthusiasts and younger generations.
As the 912 Skaters Coalition works on plans to present its proposal to Mayor Van Johnson, the Chatham County Commission, and the Savannah City Council, Hannah Walker remains grounded by the faces she sees every week on the pavement. She envisions a future five years from now where 2027 E. Gwinnett Street is an active community asset filled with after-school programs, wellness initiatives, local vendors, and artistic expression.
“Hope matters. Consistency matters,” Walker insists. “Community isn’t just built at packed events. Community is built when you keep showing up with the same energy even when there’s only four people there, because maybe they really needed it that day, and maybe next time they bring a friend.”
To the next generation of skaters who are watching this movement unfold and wondering if there will still be a place for them to skate in Savannah, Walker has a direct message:
“We are fighting because you deserve places where you can grow, express yourself, connect with others, and create memories the same way generations before you did,” Walker said. “No matter how long it takes, people are working to make sure skating still has a future in Savannah. Your voice matters, and this is a great time to use it—because the bright side of starting from scratch is we have nothing but opportunity.”
Kareem McMichael is a filmmaker, documentarian, writer, and multimedia content creator. The Macon native enjoys entertainment and sharing with locals and visitors’ stories about Savannah’s art and culture scene. When he is not working, he enjoys relaxing at the beach, grabbing a beverage, hitting a fun art event. You can find his work at https://kmcmichael.weebly.com
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