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Youngstown Skate in Boardman rolls forward
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With a new name and upgrades, the skating rink is working to overcome a reputation for fighting.
By Rick Rouan
BOARDMAN — The new 14,000-square-foot skating surface isn’t the only difference at Youngstown Skate.
The rental skates, some concessions equipment and, perhaps most notably, the music have changed since the Tiffany Boulevard skating rink underwent a $150,000 transformation of both its appearance and reputation.
“Apparently, this is one of the nicest floors in the state,” said John Giannios, owner of both the rink and Struthers-based Giannios Candy Co.
Giannios said that the changes are an attempt to establish a more family-friendly atmosphere.
In the years before Giannios purchased the 36,000-square-foot building in 2006, the rink had developed a reputation as a hot spot for violence.
In late 2005 and early 2006, police broke up fights involving about 300 people in the parking lot of what was then called Skate Connection, according to Vindicator archives.
Longtime manager Jack Muransky said that the business’s changes, including the name, have turned over a new leaf for the rink’s reputation.
“This is a very safe place to come,” said Muransky, who has worked at the rink for 27 years. The problems “are all gone.”
Giannios said that the rink has changed its music to more traditional skating tunes to attract different clientele. The business now features adult skating times on Thursday, and half a dozen older skaters circled the floor Wednesday morning.
“There really hasn’t been much of an issue there recently,” said Boardman Police Chief Jack Nichols. “It was basically the 16- to-25-year-old crowd there. ... There were, like, groups of regulars that would come, and things would break out.”
Muransky said that the rink has beefed up security, hiring off-duty police officers to patrol on busy nights.
“We kind of got rid of the riffraff,” Giannios said.
The rink owner and manager both said that the reputation for violence is in the past and that they want to focus on a safe and affordable form of entertainment.
“We’re looking back to the good years,” Muransky said.
When Giannios purchased the skating rink, which opened in 1978, he said that he planned to transform it into a retail candy operation where patrons could watch their sweets being made.
But Giannios decided to resurrect the skating rink in 2007 after becoming too busy at his Struthers candy factory to begin the large-scale renovations.
Muransky, a veteran of the industry who was named the 2009 State Summer Games Honorary Coach in the Special Olympics, returned to his old post as manager of the rink.
The rink now has 14 part-time employees, many of them former employees of Skate Connection. Admission costs $5.
The grand reopening and renovations culminated Wednesday in a ribbon-cutting for a new skating surface.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to rip the floor out,” Giannios said, adding that he plans to move forward with his original plans for the building in Struthers.
The rink has its regular skaters, some of whom were on display during the ribbon cutting.
“It’s good exercise and good for your health,” said Mary Rider, 78.
Rider said she enjoys the music and that the new floor is just right — not too slippery or too rough.
“Just like you’re floating on a cloud,” she said.
rrouan@vindy.com