Colorado-Based Chain, Skate City Academy, Offers More Than Just Roller Skating Venues
Roller skating remains a popular activity across the world with many people starting as children and continuing into adulthood. Most kids growing up in America have been to a roller skating rink at least one point in their lives for a school field trip or perhaps a birthday party.
According to Statista, in 2021 there were 11.3 million people ages 6 and older who participated in some type of roller-skating activity. Roller skating on four wheels was reported to be slightly more popular than inline skating.
Springs Residents Celebrate 50 Years of Roller Skating at Skate City Academy Location
The earliest roller skates originated in Europe in the 18th Century, according to Wikipedia. The first recorded use of roller skates was in 1743 during a London stage performance.
In the U.S., roller skates started getting mass-produced in the late 19th Century. The sport gained more popularity in the 1930s through the 1950s during the era known as the “Golden Age of Roller Skating.”
In Colorado Springs, the tradition started in the city 50 years ago when the Pikes Peak region gained its first rink. On May 8, Skate City Academy (the roller skating rink located at the intersection of North Academy and Constitution) celebrated its 50th anniversary. The event included a night of roller skating and a birthday cake to celebrate the occasion.
According to Jeff Ingrum (who owns the Skate City brand, six skating rinks in the Denver and Colorado Springs areas, and the Xfinity Roller Sports Arena) the rink packed in 338 skaters to celebrate the event. Ingrum welcomed Charles Murdock, his first DJ, and visitors who were at the rink when it opened in 1973.
The History of the Skate City Franchise
Today, Skate City is a national chain with rinks all across the country. But the business started decades ago with one location in Denver.
Ingrum has owned the Skate City Academy location (which is the oldest rink that is still running in the state) for 35 years and he bought the Skate City Austin Bluffs location (the rink located at the intersection of Austin Bluffs and Barnes) five years prior. He owned the Austin Bluffs location before he purchased the Academy location, but the Academy location was built in Colorado Springs first. He now owns all of the locations in Colorado Springs and Denver, and he has two sons that own locations in St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri.
The Academy location was the first one built by the original owners of Skate City. The Austin Bluffs location was built later by a different company in hopes to put the first location out of business.
After the Austin Bluffs location failed by its original owners and almost went out of business, Ingrum took it over. He then later became the owner of the Academy location and all of the Denver metro locations as well.
Ingrum went to college on a football scholarship and graduated with a coaching and teaching degree. He came to Colorado to go to a tryout for the Denver Broncos, but he didn’t end up making the team.
He got a job working hourly at the original Skate City location in Denver. The owner in Denver took him under his wing, taught him the business, and made him a part owner before the ownership group purchased the rinks in Colorado Springs and built more in Denver. He was partners with the original owners for 29 years.
Many of his employees started roller skating at Skate City rinks as kids and then continued skating and being involved in the business as adults.
“C.J. Yoder is our general manager and he is the greatest inline hockey player in the history of the sport,” Ingrum said. “He was the captain of Team U.S.A. for 18 years. Colby Moyer is out here from Maryland and he oversees our rink hockey program. He is only 24 and he is currently the captain of Team U.S.A. We have three other guys (one in Denver and two more in Colorado Springs) that work full-time at Skate City as managers that are all on the rink hockey world team. Erin Gaber was a multiple national champion in artistic skating and she won the silver medal at the world championship twice. Devin Simas was a five-time reigning national champion men’s dance skater. His twin brother Josh was a big-time speed skater on the east coast. These are top skaters in the country that all wanted to be part of our company so they relocated here.”
More Than Just Roller Skating
Today, Skate City employs 42 full-time salary workers and another 180 hourly employees. The seven rinks host around 8,000 birthday parties per year and over 260 private parties. The company also gives away a free pair of roller skates to everyone who has a birthday party in one of their rinks.
In total, Ingrum has 22 companies that are now divisions of one holding company. “We have our own print shop. We have our own apparel division. We make all of our sports uniforms from raw fabric,” Ingrum explained. “We have our own sports’ association. We have our own bussing company. And we have our own video production company. We have our own roller skating network called RollerPlanet.net which is the only one in the world. We also have our own sports arena in Briargate. I built the Xfinity Roller Sports Arena in 2002. It’s the only dedicated roller sports facility training site in the world.”
The arena has 2,000 members and it offers sports like inline hockey, rink hockey, inline speed skating, and artistic skating. The arena holds several competitions inviting skaters from across the country.
According to Ingrum, his secret to success is connecting with the families of the community and he is grateful for all the support given to his business by Colorado Springs residents over the years. “You have to concentrate on the skating so you have to teach skating, it is an acquired skill,” Ingrum said. “You have to concentrate on the family business as much as you can. We work with a lot of schools in the state. We pay out between $275,000 and $325,000 a year to schools for fundraising.”
