Save our skates

by Emma Sun
THE skating community has banded together and is appealing for someone to help resurrect the Dandenong Skate Centre.
The centre, home to the biggest rink in Victoria, was forced to close down due to financial problems.
The move has left a huge hole in the hearts of young skaters and their families, who frequented the rink for various skating activities including artistic skating, inline hockey and dancing.
John Brogan, who managed the rink for more than 28 years, said he was sad to see the rink closed to the public.
“We’ve touched a lot of people and a lot of kids in the community and we’ve done a lot over the years,” Mr Brogan said.
“It’s been an amazing journey – it’s come through over the years. Even people now, the support has been amazing.”
The rink also helped to get disabled children on their feet through skating sports and Mr Brogan accommodated many children with disabilities and mental health conditions.
Many skaters have been forced to relocate to skating rinks that are further away and some have even stopped altogether.
Greg Duncombe, a long-time friend of Mr Brogan and a 52-time Victorian and 12-time Australian Speed Skating Champion, said Mr Brogan dedicated a large amount of his life to running the rink.
“Through the rink in Dandenong, many young people have had the opportunity to fulfil their sporting dreams, locally, statewide, nationally, as well as on the highest stages of international competition and world championships,” Mr Duncombe said.
Pam Persoons, whose grandson Corey represented Victoria in inline hockey, said they had been forced to relocate to a temporary shed at the Dandenong Showgrounds and would have to travel long distances to keep Corey playing.
“Our choices are Lilydale, Moe or Reservoir so whichever way you look at it that involves a lot of travelling and a lot of money,” Ms Persoons said.
“It’s created all sorts of problems. A lot of rinks aren’t as big as this one, so it won’t give you very good opportunities when you’re doing things like trying out for international competitions.”
Zuzana Slovak, whose daughter Nicole is a three-time artistic skating champion, said the closure of the rink had been a hard blow for her daughter.
“John offered us Star classes Saturday mornings and the kids learnt to skate – Nicole started here from scratch,” Ms Slovak said.
“We really miss this rink. When the owner came and changed the locks, we left crying. Nicole wanted to give all her money to save the rink.”
Ms Slovak hopes someone will step forward and take over the rink, or invest in the facility to keep it running and keep the kids out of trouble.
“I saw many families coming and the kids were just happy skating – you could see them blossoming,” she said.
“We are all ready to help in any way possible, such as fund-raising.”
Managing director of Dandenong’s Cameron Industrial Commercial, Ben Cooper, who manages the property, said they had been contacting different rinks in a bid to find someone to take over.
“We’re still out there and we’re hoping that someone in the industry will come along and we can negotiate a deal that everyone’s happy with,” Mr Cooper said.
“It would be great if someone in the community came and we welcome anyone’s inquiry.”
City of Greater Dandenong Councillor Jim Memeti said while the council was unable to help with private enterprises, he would be happy to assist the new owner in any way.
“I’m happy to get involved in whatever way we can within the City of Dandenong – we can run a story in the magazine and get press releases out there to help,” Cr Memeti said.
Mr Brogan said he would be happy to assist in any way possible.
People who wish to support the rink should visit the Facebook page called “Save Dandenong Rink”.