White Center Now: The blog about White Center

ORIGINAL SUNDAY REPORT: Way back in 2021, we noted that Southgate Roller Rink was taking over the former Bank of America building just north of their rink. Four years later, they’ve announced it’ll open soon as an arcade! They promise ” vintage games and rare pinball machines you won’t find anywhere else,” with air conditioning, and grand-opening details soon.

P.S. 14 years have passed since the rink itself was relaunched for skating!

ADDED MONDAY: WCN/WSB contributor Hayden Yu Andersen spoke with Southgate ownership today and reports:

It turns out that opening day is less than a month away!

For the last few years, Southgate Roller Rink owner Josh Rhoads has been using the space for its parking lot, but plans to build an arcade have been “on the back burner for a while”. They’ve taken this opportunity to expand and improve on some of the features the Southgate Roller Rink already offers. The Arcade will feature a complete central AC system, perfectly in time for the summer heat, and a larger private games and karaoke room with a capacity of up to 30 guests (compared to the Roller Rink’s 10-guest room). The room offers options for all-ages private parties or 21+ events, with support from their bartending staff.

“We’re trying to keep the theme of the roller rink, with an ’80s and ’90s vibe, including games that are out of rotation,” Rhoads says, “We really want to fit into that ‘window’ of time.”

With just the lighting to finish up, Rhoads is excited to open up the arcade. “We’re looking forward to keeping with the vibe of the roller rink, while also providing a larger party space for guests.”

Southgate Arcade will be open for all-ages play on Fridays from 5-11 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 7 pm.

That’s our video from Southside Revolution Junior Roller Derby‘s first bout of the season, last month at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW) in White Center. They’re back on the rink tonight (Saturday, January 18) for “Battle of the Jams,” doors at 4:15, action wrapping up around 8-ish. Get your tickets online in advance.

Happening tonight at Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th SW)! Here’s the announcement we were asked to share with you:

Junior Roller Derby @ Southgate Roller Rink

Southside Revolution Junior Roller Derby kicks off its 11th year of operation with its first home double-header, “Skater Swift – The Eras Bout.” Tickets are $12 for adults/$8 for kids. Buy ahead, or purchase at the door.

Composed of skaters from West Seattle, White Center, Burien, and beyond, SSR makes its home at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center. The league serves 80+ skaters aged 7-18 of any gender identity, with five teams spread across a range of skill levels.

Doors open to the public at 4:15 and roller derby starts at 4:45 PM. The whole event should be over by 8 PM.

Ready for Friday night revelry on wheels? Southgate Roller Rink hosts live music every Friday night, 9 pm-midnight, $18 cover and $5 skate rental. The rink at 9646 17th SW has multiple bands every week – tonight it’s Megadose, Nug, and Sneaker Wave.

Get your wheels on and go support White Center Pride tonight at Southgate Roller Rink! The event is the Queer Skate Prom, and it starts at 8:30 pm.

Thursday – free fun on wheels! A coalition of youth groups presents Winter Roller Skating Night at Southgate, 5-8 pm.

Just out of the inbox:

Floating Bridge Press, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to promoting Washington State poets, is hosting “VERSE & VELOCITY: Poetry/Skating/Costumes” at the Southgate Roller Rink on Saturday, October 28th from 4:30 PM to 8 PM.

This unique poetry event is all-ages, costumes-encouraged, and free (which includes skate rentals!) Several poets will read their work in between periods of open skating! Hosted by Michael Schmeltzer, Editor-in-Chief of Floating Bridge Press.

For questions, please contact editor@floatingbridgepress.org. See you there!

If you’ve skated at Southgate Roller Rink, you might know manager Katie. She’s fighting cancer, and the rink is hosting a benefit 8:30-11 pm Thursday night (August 31st) to help her win that fight:

Let’s raise some money to help our good friend and manager Katie! This is a 21+ fundraising event. There will be A RAFFLE featuring donations by local businesses and artists! Music by DJ Josh and a special live music performance by MAN PLUS! The admission is $25 and free skate rental. 100% of the admission will go to Katie and will be matched by Southgate.

Katie has been taking care of everyone else and always puts their needs before herself. She will beat cancer and in the meantime let’s raise some money to cover her rent, living expenses, and medical bills!

If you are unable to attend, this is the link to the gofundme: gofundme.com/f/r9kgn-help-katie-beat-cancer

Though the new statewide reopening plan still prohibits some things in Phase 1 – like indoor dining – it opens the door starting Monday for some indoor fitness and entertainment. Southgate Roller Rink has a plan under what’s allowed with the latter – here’s what they plan to do:

Reserve your space today! Under the new phase 1 guidelines for Entertainment Establishments, you can rent the rink privately for $78 per hour for up to 6 people beginning January 13th, 2021. Masks are required.

Reservations available 7 days a week from 12 pm-10 pm. Please give us a call at (206) 707-6949 or email us at info@southgaterollerrink.com!

(WCN photo from 2013 Rat City bout at Southgate)

You may remember back when the Rat City Rollergirla were based in White Center. This Saturday, they’re returning (as Rat City Roller Derby)! Here’s the announcement:

Rat City Roller Derby is going back to where it all began for a special single-header, mash-up bout at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center. On Feb. 8, the Big Grief Maples will play the Western HemBlocks in a nod to not only RCRD’s roots, but also its home in the Evergreen State.

Details
Time: 6:45 p.m., doors open at 6 p.m.
Date: Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020
Location: Southgate Roller Rink, 9646 17th Ave. SW

For the founders of RCRD, the throwback game is an important acknowledgement of the league’s history and how far it has come.

“Rat City Roller Derby has come a long way since its days at Southgate,” said Carmin Thomas, also known as Clobberin’ Mame, who was one of the founding members of RCRD and still skates with the Sockit Wenches today. “And we’re thrilled to be returning to where it all began for this very special game.”

During the game, RCRD will give back to the community that supported it in its early days by collecting donations for the White Center Food Bank. Audience members are invited to bring unopened, unexpired, non-perishable goods to the game to help RCRD support the food bank’s mission to keep White Center fed. In addition, local band Burn Burn Burn will play a live halftime show.The after party will be held at Zippy’s Giant Burgers, 9614 14th Ave. SW, immediately after the game.

Just out of the WCN inbox – the lineup for this year’s Rat City Recon, a music-and-more festival planned for September 17th at Southgate Roller Rink:

If you wanna rock, you gotta roll down to White Center for the 4th Edition of RAT CITY RECON! All the Recon action will be happening at Southgate Roller Rink. Eleven bands on three stages.

Rat City Recon and Monumental Undertaking present

RAT CITY RECON 2016

Saturday, September 17, 2016 – 6 pm-2am

Southgate Roller Rink, 9646 17th Ave SW

$10 at the door, or advance will call tickets available (here)

21+, valid I.D. required

THE BANDS:

Pink Parts
ex-Licks
Githyanki
Tough Times
Slow Elk
The Grindylow
Rat City Ruckus
Glose
Wild Powwers
Stallion
Heiress

Beer & cider available in beer garden outside and indoors at the bar; event is 21+, VALID I.D. REQUIRED!

Food vendors – Sweet Lou’s Wings, more TBA

If you want to roller skate: $4 skate rental fee or bring your own; everyone skates at their own risk

Public transportation/ride share: Metro buses 60, 120, and 128; Car2Go home area ends one block north of Southgate Roller Rink at SW Roxbury Street, so you can park and walk easily to the venue

Recon 2016 is sponsored by: Full Tilt Ice Cream, Mac’s Triangle Pub, Match+Gasoline LLC, Noble Barton, Proletariat Pizza, Rat City Bikes, Rat City Records, Southgate Roller Rink, Zippy’s Giant Burgers

Tomorrow (December 12th) you’ll want to be at Southgate Roller Rink in White Center, when Southside Revolution Junior Coed Roller Derby hosts a “Star Wars“-themed bout just days before Episode 7 premieres. Doors open at 5:30 pm; tickets at the door will be $10 adult, $5 ages 6-12, kids 5 and under free. From the announcement:

Bout one is Southside Revolution’s Cadets battling it out with the Kitsap Derby Brats Rawkettes. The second bout will find the Southside Revolution’s Rebels facing off with the Kitsap Derby Brat’s Bomb Squad.

The game of roller derby is played on quad roller skates with “jammers” scoring points by passing the opposing team’s “blockers.”

Come in costume for a chance to win two opening day tickets to the movie “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Southgate is at 9646 17th SW.

The Rainier Roller Girls are bouting at Southgate Roller Rink on Saturday, vs. Faster Pussycats. And it’s not just a chance to see roller derby – the announcement also says:
“There will be an amazing bake sale with treats from Stuffed Cakes, Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe, and Mighty-O Donuts. There will be a Storm Trooper photo booth and many Star Wars characters from Garrison Titan and Alpha Base! A super-fun old school punk rock night of roller derby you won’t want to miss! And 10% of proceeds go to Wild Felid Advocacy Center of Washington!” See the Facebook invite here.

School’s still out and boredom could be rising. Southgate Roller Rink has been offering special afternoon skating sessions to try to combat that – and there’s another one today, 1-4:30 pm ($6.50 charge). The rink will be closed on New Year’s Eve and Day, so you’re running out of time to say you skated there in 2014; there’s one more afternoon session planned, on Friday, January 2nd.

Southside Revolution Junior Derby was at West Seattle Summer Fest this weekend in hopes of recruiting skaters – and tonight’s your next chance to find out about what’s in store! 7 pm, interested skaters 8-17 (boys as well as girls – they’ll launch a coed team too if enough boys are interested), at White Center’s own Southgate Roller Rink. Southgate will be the practice site for the new league, which also plans an August summer camp. Questions? E-mail info@southsiderevolution.com – and/or check out this Facebook group.

Pamela McCarty shares the news that Southside Revolution Junior Derby is launching soon, and interested skaters 8-17 are welcome to come to an Info Night at White Center’s own Southgate Roller Rink next Monday (June 30th), 7 pm. Southside Revolution definitely plans a girls’ team, and will also have a coed team if enough boys are interested.

Southgate will be the practice site for the new league. If you just can’t make it Monday night but have an interested skater in the family, there will be another Info Night on July 14th and an August summer camp.

Questions? E-mail info@southsiderevolution.com – and you’re invited to check out this Facebook group.

White Center’s Southgate Roller Rink e-mailed to let us know they are hosting two Halloween events today/tonight – starting with FREE skating this afternoon:

FREE HALLOWEEN FAMILY SKATE: Southgate and Full Tilt Ice Cream present a FREE Halloween Family Skate from 3:00 pm-5:00 pm at the rink. Costume contest, candy giveaways, a guest DJ, more.

ZOMBIE HOMECOMING: 18+ event hosted tonight by Southgate and the Rainier Roller Girls! 9 pm-midnight, $12 @ the door. Costume contest, raffle, 21+ bar, more.

Other White Center Halloween events we’re missing? Post ’em in the comments!

Just out of the inbox:

May 25 roller derby rematch: Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City’s Pink Pistols

Join your favorite roller derby revolutionaries for an evening of rink riots and pistol whips as Rat City’s Derby Liberation Front (DLF) battles its neighbors to the north, the Pink Pistols of Jet City Rollergirls on Saturday, May 25th. The last time this rivalry met on the track in 2012 it came down to an epic final jam with DLF chalking up a win and the Pistols pleading for more. Well, they got what they asked for – another chance to see if the revolution can hold its ground when the Pistols come to town. First whistle is at 6:20 – don’t miss a second of this bitter rematch!

Who? Rat City Rollergirls, Derby Liberation Front vs. Jet City Rollergirls, Pink Pistols
What? Roller derby
When? Satruday, May 25th @ 6 PM
Where? Southgate Roller Rink in White Center: 9646 17th AVe SW
Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/364685

This Sunday, you can rollerskate at Southgate Rink for a special reason: West Seattle resident Kathy Himes has organized a skating benefit to help her friend Pauline Hunt, a former professional mountain biker who now is living with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. They’re raising money for a Habitat for Humanity renovation for the home where Pauline and her family, including her two young daughters, live, so that it will be wheelchair-accessible. It’s an international effort – Pauline is in Canada and is getting help from friends around the world, including Kathy. So come skate 5-7 pm on Sunday, April 28, for $12, which covers skate rental and a suggested donation. Kathy says there’ll be raffles too, thanks to donations from generous businesses including White Center’s own Zippy’s Giant Burgers, Full Tilt Ice Cream, and Meander’s Kitchen. (See the event flyer here.)

It’s been on the calendar for weeks, and tonight’s the night! From the Rat City Rollergirls:

This Saturday Rat City Rollergirls are rolling back into White Center with a double-header bout at Southgate Roller Rink, the original venue where Seattle’s now infamous roller derby league began back in 2004!

See the blood, sweat and tears fly from your rink side seat as all four of Rat City’s home teams battle it out in this epic Bout 3 of Season 9! No stadium seating, no jumbotron, no halftime acts – just pure, hard-hitting roller derby at its finest.

Doors open at 5:30 PM, and the action starts at 6 PM. The first match-up will feature Derby Liberation Front (DLF), in their first ranked bout of the season, as they take on the ladies in black, the Throttle Rockets. DLF is coming off of a huge win in January against the visiting Faster Pussycats from Terminal City, while the Throttle Rockets are still looking to chalk up a win after a pair of agonizing close losses.

The second bout is sure to keep fans on the edge of their seats, as the Sockit Wenches take to the floor against last year’s champions, Grave Danger. The Sockit Wenches have strung together a pair of wins this season in KeyArena, taking down the Throttle Rockets in an extremely tight finish in January, and then putting up an impressive point total against the Terminal City Bad Reputations in February. Meanwhile, the 2012 Champions Grave Danger also took down the Throttle Rockets in February, and are looking pull off their own winning streak. Only one of these teams will roll out with the win. Don’t miss the chance to see it happen!

Who: Rat City Rollergirls

What: Bout 3 of Season 9

When: Saturday, February, 23 at 5:30 pm

Where: Southgate Roller Rink, White Center