Donora skating rink owner ready to roll out of town
Linda Miner, owner of Valley Skating Center in Donora, stands in the center of the 30,000-square-foot complex that is for sale.
A painted wall at Valley Skating Center in Donora
Linda Miner has been a lord of the rinks since the Eisenhower administration.
Roller skating has been virtually a lifelong avocation and vocation for her, beginning with her childhood in Washington, peaking with her development into a champion, and continuing – for decades – with her roles as instructor, event organizer, facility operator and overseer of the sport she loves.
Now she is involved in real estate. Miner, 69, is selling Valley Skating Center, which she and her family have owned since 1983. The building and surrounding property, three-plus acres in Donora Business Park, are listed with Coldwell Banker Real Estate for $1.114 million.
It hit the market this fall and has attracted interest, but not enough to forge a deal.
For Miner, who lives upstairs from the rink, it is simply time: time to sever the skating ties, time to move to Daytona Beach, Fla., to assist her 88-year-old mother.
“I’m getting tired. It’s been a great ride,” she said, laughing.
She will not roll out of town prematurely, though. “I’m staying till this is sold.”
The centerpiece of the property, of course, is the 30,000-square-foot skating center – 130 feet wide, 230 feet long. And the centerpiece of the centerpiece is the skating floor, which is massive – 85 by 185 feet.
The floor, despite three decades of pounding, is worn but has no dents. It shimmers from a spring resurfacing, further illuminated by flashing lights and a rotating disco ball when the music plays.
Replacing the surface, Miner said, would cost about $500,000. That is prohibitive for an owner striving to curb costs.
She does want to sell, but laments the possibility that the buyer will renovate the place for a different purpose. She said her center provides a viable recreational outlet.
“Kids need a place,” Miner said. “There are so many reasons why skating is not what it was. One thing is this … “
She twittled both thumbs, mimicking the feverish video game player that has become prevalent.
Valley Skating Center also is competing financially with proliferation of sports and other activities that are now available.
But the center, Miner added, is doing “OK.” It just entered its prosperous period of the year, including the annual New Year’s Eve bash Thursday into Friday.
“We should be good now until May,” Miner said, adding that the succeeding months tend to be slower. “I have to keep open in the summer because I need the cash flow.”
Donora Borough certainly has a storied history, especially in industry and athletics. So does Valley Skating Center.
It was built where U.S. Steel Corp. operated a mill for many years, on what is now Galiffa Drive. Early in the 1980s, the Washington County Redevelopment Authority asked the Shoups whether they were interested in building a roller rink in Stan the Man’s hometown. They went for it, paying $1.3 million for the land.
Miner said a number of future Olympic ice skaters, including Tara Lipinski and Chad Hedrick, competed in roller championships there. For 26 years, the center was host of the Donora Invitational Skating Championships, which, according to Miner, were the largest roller figure skating championships in the nation.
Though Stan Musial didn’t skate there, a young Ken Griffey Jr. did before he evolved into a baseball superstar. His father, Ken Sr., grew up in Donora and was a diamond standout as well. “I have a baseball signed by both,” Miner said proudly.
She likewise was a sporting luminary, a five-time national champion. Linda Shoup (pronounced “showp”) grew up in Washington, her family home above a roller rink on West Beau Street near the Washington County Courthouse. Her father, Floyd, was a skilled skater who owned the rink and taught the sport to Linda and his other child, Marcia.
“When I was at the rink in Washington, I never slept,” Linda said.
She entered her first competition at age 5, in 1951, and initial national event at 9. Linda won five national titles in little more than a decade.
“My sister won one and quit,” she said of Marcia. “It’s really difficult when your father is a coach. That was his passion.”
Over time, the competition and intense skating practice exacted a toll on Linda, who ultimately had knee and ankle surgery.
The Shoup clan owned three rinks before launching Valley Skating Center: in Washington, Canonsburg and Waynesburg. Marcia, who died at age 43, ran the one in Canonsburg; Linda handled Interstate Skateland in Waynesburg.
All three are now closed.
Wired, which opened about a month ago in South Strabane Township, is the only other roller skating location in Washington County. Greene has one: Mon View Roller Rink in Greensboro.
Now Linda Miner, mother of two adult children, is selling a place that she still embraces, but not tightly enough to stay. She will relocate to Florida at some point, pledging to continue working at least part time.
She hopes the future owner keeps the rink, but realizes that may not happen.
“I’ve baby-sat all the kids in the Valley,” she said, laughing her easy laugh. “We try to work with kids. It’s been a safe place for kids.”
It’s been a great place for her too. And, yes, it’s been a great ride.