JIM THORPE, Pa. — It's been nearly 15 years since the roller skating rink inside Jim Thorpe's Memorial Hall was open to the public.
The lack of volunteers and people using the rink is to blame.
But now, people want to bring it back; Franklin Klock of Summit Hill is one of them.
"In the old days, that's what everybody did, and you know in Jim Thorpe, there was a good fraction of kids and adults alike that skated at that rink," he said. "You'd see people walking up the hill to a memorial hall with their skates over their shoulder."
Mary Shorten, who lives in the borough, is another who believes the rink will give kids something else to do.
She's just one of the more than 800 people who signed an online petition to preserve the rink.
"We need a place for our kids to go, and it's an indoor activity in the winter months, and in the summer months, kids can have birthday parties there, they can have a place to meet that's safe and supervised," she explained.
The rink has been closed for years, and borough officials say it's just not practical to reopen it.
"For decades, it was a wonderful thing for the youth, but it's just, things have changed. Like I said, nostalgia. Everybody looks back at their youth and wishes they could relive it," said Greg Strubinger, Jim Thorpe Borough Council President.
Strubinger also says there's another plan in place to update Memorial Park next to the hall and feature an outdoor skate park.
"In the warm months of the year and then in the colder months of the year, it can be iced over for ice skating rink," he added.
He says Memorial Hall is in the final stages of receiving approval for $1 million in federal money to go towards renovations.
The police department and administrative offices will move inside along with a 350 seat community center.
Those working to reopen the rink are encouraging people to write in and voice their opinions or request a community meeting if they don't like the borough's plan for the building.
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