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All Over The Rink?
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鈥� Feliks Banel (@FeliksBanel)

The big building housing a beloved roller-skating rink in Federal Way has just been purchased by a new owner. But, unlike most of these sad-sack local history stories about old bowling alleys closing or derelict theatres being demolished, this one has a happy ending.

The news was first reported by the , but before the good news, first a little history…

Incidentally, the name 鈥淔ederal Way鈥� for an area of South King County between Tukwila and Fife dates to about 1930. In those pre-Interstate 5 years, US Highway 99 was being improved between Seattle and Tacoma with federal dollars 鈥� so 99 was known as the 鈥渇ederal highway鈥� or, shortened a bit, 鈥渇ederal way.鈥�

When a new school district was created, they called their first building 鈥� built alongside the highway 鈥� 鈥淔ederal Way School,鈥� and the name ultimately stuck for the burgeoning community. The first Federal Way post office came in the 1950s, and Federal Way was incorporated as a city in 1990.

Federal Way鈥檚 one and only roller-skating rink is called Pattison鈥檚 West. It was built in 1979 along old US Highway 99 鈥� nowadays known as Pacific Highway South 鈥� and the rink has been a popular destination for recreational skaters and serious competitors for decades. A few years ago, the branch of the Pattison family which owns Pattison鈥檚 West was ready to retire, and so they put the building and . As of Tuesday, Oct. 4, the new owner will officially take over.

Ordinarily, this would be the signal to cue the violins and the sad-sack local history radio reporter to begin a typical lament over the 鈥渓oss of a community gathering place鈥� and 鈥渃losure of a treasured neighborhood institution.鈥�

This time, the story is very different.

The new owner of Pattison鈥檚 West is not a for-profit investor looking to tear down the rink and build condos and retail. In a very unusual twist of events, the new owner is a well-known human service and community non-profit group which will mark its 50th anniversary next month: , which translates into 鈥渢he center for people of all races.鈥�

鈥淥ver 50 years, we have developed programs in the area of children and youth, human and emergency services, education and skill-building programs,鈥� El Centro executive director Estela Ortega told 成人X站 Newsradio. 鈥淲e do housing and economic development and obviously do a lot of cultural work. And so in a 50-year period, we have calculated that we have helped over 500,000 households in our time.鈥�

While thought of as an organization that serves primarily the Latino community, true to the 鈥渁ll races鈥� part of its name, Ortega says El Centro serves a diverse range of people.

鈥淎nd we know that the kind of programs that we run have made an impact on people’s lives in terms of getting trained [and] educated, and just having more sustainable lives and the work they’re doing,鈥� Ortega said.

El Centro, which was founded when activists peacefully occupied an old school on Beacon Hill in 1972, opened a new facility in Federal Way two years ago and then, after a search around South King County, found this property available nearby. Ortega says El Centro has been serving South King County residents for years, many of whom had to drive to Beacon Hill 鈥� so expanding to Federal Way made sense then, and makes even more sense for the future.

Ortega says El Centro is going to create a new facility at what has been Pattison鈥檚 West, and will also keep the rink 鈥� and keep operating it, and keep employing people to work there.

鈥淲e just loved the idea of the roller rink, because a lot of young people work there, so there are jobs for young people,鈥� Ortega said. 鈥淎nd, you know, when you think about activities for young people in South [King] County, there’s not a lot there, and there is that roller rink . . . that is the only one that we know of in South [King] County.鈥�

Besides keeping the rink, Ortega and El Centro see a lot of potential at the site for other programs and services.

鈥淲e wanted to develop housing, we definitely wanted to develop a little mini market,鈥� Ortega said. 鈥淲e work with a lot of small businesses 鈥� people who are micro-businesses who are making jewelry, their artwork, they sell food, they bring products from their countries to sell here. And those people need a venue to sell their stuff, so we’re going to establish [what] in Spanish [is] called a 鈥榤ercado.鈥欌��

鈥淲hen we found out that we could have those pieces together, we were immediately interested in purchasing the property,鈥� Ortega said.

And since the sale has come together, Ortega told 成人X站 Newsradio that when she mentions to people that her group is buying the old Pattison鈥檚 West, she usually gets a very positive response.

鈥�’Pattison鈥檚? Oh my God! I love that place,鈥� you hear that constantly,鈥� Ortega said. 鈥淎nd Pattison鈥檚 – they are supposed to be the greatest in terms of what they do, and by all the comments that we get and the support of the community, you know it is beloved.鈥�

鈥淎nd the other thing is that they are supposed to have the best roller-skating floor in the nation,鈥� Ortega continued. 鈥淎nd that’s why we’ve had Olympic stars come out of Pattison鈥檚.鈥�

To cite a high-profile, soul-patched example: gold medal speed-skater who started out roller-skating at Pattison鈥檚 before switching to ice on the way to finding fame and fortune.

Darin Pattison is the manager of Pattison鈥檚 West and it鈥檚 his parents who are retiring and selling the building and business. Darin鈥檚 great-grandfather was the first member of the family to open a roller rink – way back in the 1940s in nearby Redondo Beach.

The winning combination of a big hardwood floor, hundreds of pairs of rental skates, a snack bar, walls lockers, and an arcade replete with coin-operated video games, pinball, and air hockey 鈥� and the big chunk of real estate to house it all 鈥� is still a family business. Other family members continue to (though the rink there was damaged by fire in 2020 and remains closed), and in the .

How does Darin Pattison feel, knowing that come next Tuesday after 43 years of operation, the Federal Way rink won鈥檛 be in Pattison family’s hands anymore?

鈥淥h, it’s definitely tough, yeah,鈥� Pattison told 成人X站 Newsradio on Thursday. 鈥淚t won’t sink in until I’m away from it, I’m sure. So I’ve got about six days to go. And I’ll miss it, but it’ll still be here, so I can come back and enjoy it.鈥�

Is Darin Pattison a good skater?

鈥淚 was. I was, yes,鈥� he said, chuckling. 鈥淲e were forced to skate, so it’s not a bad gig to grow up into.鈥�

Darin Pattison also explained why the rink in Federal Way is called Pattison鈥檚 West: the family鈥檚 rink in North Spokane is called , and they used to own a rink in Tacoma called Pattison鈥檚 South. There never was a Pattison鈥檚 East, Pattison says, though he thought about doing that one day, perhaps in Issaquah, if real estate wasn鈥檛 so darned expensive.

Estela Ortega says El Centro de La Raza will be renaming the rink, but she doesn鈥檛 yet know what the new name will be. Once it has been chosen, there will be an event sometime in the near future to officially mark the new non-profit era for the old roller-skating rink and the other improvements to come at the site.

With Tech City Bowl in Kirkland 鈥� aka Totem Bowl 鈥� closing this weekend, 成人X站 Newsradio asked Estela Ortega if El Centro perhaps wanted to buy an endangered 鈥� or make that 鈥渘early extinct鈥� 鈥� bowling alley.

Ortega, who already has her hands full getting ready to take over what might be the only non-profit roller-skating rink in the free world, pretty much just chuckled at the thought.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O鈥橞rien, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea or questions, please email Feliks鈥�here.