Roller Rink

In probably his last ribbon-cutting before a jury decides his fate, Mayor Milton Milan last night snipped a purple-and-green streamer at the entrance of a $2.5 million roller rink in East Camden, a project that he described as his "biggest accomplishment. " Millennium Skate World, near the McGuire Gardens housing project and not far from the site of a former open-air drug market known as "the Alley," buzzed last night. More than 200 young people bused from all over the city converged for a night of free refreshments and skating.

Local officials plan to spend almost $4 million on several municipal improvements in the next year, including a home for K-9 police officers, a new roller rink, and traffic signals. Township Manager Pat Halbe said the projects were part of the municipality's annual attempt to accommodate this quickly-growing community of about 39,000 residents. The Township Council last week introduced a bond ordinance that would fund the proposal, which includes a $200,000 down payment for the improvements.

Prosecutors say Christopher S. Sohnly had an egregious lapse of common sense. "He made a choice to sleep with a 12-year-old girl, and the law says you're going to be sent to jail for a mandatory minimum of five years," said Assistant District Attorney Wendy Demchick-Alloy. Sohnly began his five years in state prison yesterday, when he was sentenced by Montgomery County Judge Albert R. Subers, who added two years of probation. Sohnly had an affair with the 12-year-old friend of one of his daughters.

A Philadelphia man who investigators from the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office wanted to question about a double slaying over the weekend at a roller rink has declined to meet with them, the man's attorney said yesterday. Attorney Joseph C. Santaguida, of Philadephia, said in a telephone interview that his client, Eric Watson, was not a suspect in the slaying of Thomas Randall, 17, and Tanon Fitzpatrick, 22, both of Camden, and the wounding of their friend, William Hill, 21, also of Camden.

Dancing on wheels, sharply dressed skaters whipped around the roller rink under the twinkling lights of a disco ball. They sang to R&B and rap, chatted with friends, and laughed at the foolhardy and the reckless. One thing they did not do was speak of the double slaying that occurred near here a year ago today. Over and over, when asked by a reporter, self-proclaimed regulars at the Franklinville Skating Center said they knew nothing about last year's drive-by shooting on "Soul Night," which left two Camden youths dead in the street and one wounded.

A Delaware County jury has awarded $463,000 to a Merion man who sustained head injuries after he fell at Radnor Rolls Inc., a roller-skating rink in Villanova. Norristown lawyer Mark Schultz contended during a civil trial on Friday that the design of the roller rink was unsafe and caused his client, John Berman, to skid out of the rink, fall down a step and bump his head on a shelf. Schultz said the 60-foot-wide entrance leading to the rink was "improperly located" and "far too wide.

The 49th Street Galleria, promoted as America's premier indoor entertainment mall, opened its doors at the back of the Franklin Mills Mall on Friday. Among the attractions are arcades, a bowling alley, a roller rink, miniature golf and pinball machines. For science fiction buffs, there's a Photon game in which players suit up in helmets and fire "phasers" at members of the opposing team. The "hits" are recorded by computers as the teams roam the mazes in the hazy battlefield, trying to outgun their opponents through strategy and teamwork.

When the Spinning Wheels Arena in Concord Township closed Monday afternoon, it was the end of a job for three of four members of the Stewart family. Nancy and Ronald Stewart, a Wilmington couple who met 30 years ago in a roller rink, taught skating at Spinning Wheels since it opened 14 years ago. Their son, Scott, whose very first job was to rent skates at the Delaware County arena, spun top-40 tunes every Saturday night. "It's so traumatic, the rink closing. And on my 40th birthday," said Nancy Stewart.

Fear not, mothers. Do not worry, fathers. At ease, all you parents approaching apoplexy at the thought of hosting hordes of chocolate-fingered kids at a birthday party in your freshly painted rec room. Radnor Rolls - that cavernous roller skating rink where thousands of pre- pubescent tykes have celebrated the passage of time while their parents took to the floor, too, but on wobbly legs - is not closing. Not permanently, that is. It will shut down in early December for about a week so new management can do some renovations.

RIZZO REDUX In a packed roller rink in the Northeast last week, Frank Rizzo announced another last hurrah, launching his third comeback bid for the mayor's job he first held a couple of decades ago. "On the day I become mayor," he told an adoring crowd, "I will summon all the high-ranking police command to the Civic Center and instruct them: From this day on, we will take back the streets from the crack dealers who prey on innocent mothers,...

The Honey Rollers were lacing up. So was Mr. Wiggles. Sweet Ashley was taking warm-up laps while an old head named Major Mitchell showed off a dizzyingly fast spin. The speakers began to thump DJ Ed's R&B selections. The Wildman, famous for his trick skating, was in the house. The usual crowd of about 400 was filing through the rails. It was adult skating night at Millennium Skate World, Camden's only roller rink. Every Wednesday evening, hundreds of dedicated amateur-style skaters from New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Delaware pack this large indoor rink, in a clearing of tall weeds off Route 30. They come for a skating party, for the scene, and for the friendship, they said.

The last time Robert Wakley found himself teetering on roller skates, he needed someone on each side of him to prop him up. It was his first and last time at a roller rink, where he had taken his girlfriend, Betty, on a date, hoping to make an impression. "His feet went in both directions," Betty recalled with a chuckle. She married him anyway, and they have been together 56 years. Now 79, Robert Wakley thinks his luck with roller skates - or in-line skates, the modern version - may be about to change.

In probably his last ribbon-cutting before a jury decides his fate, Mayor Milton Milan last night snipped a purple-and-green streamer at the entrance of a $2.5 million roller rink in East Camden, a project that he described as his "biggest accomplishment. " Millennium Skate World, near the McGuire Gardens housing project and not far from the site of a former open-air drug market known as "the Alley," buzzed last night. More than 200 young people bused from all over the city converged for a night of free refreshments and skating.

This is what Kerry Getz can do. He can execute an astonishing kick flip, pushing his 7 1/2-inch-wide skateboard out from under his feet in midair, then land on it as man and deck hit the playground pavement at 20 miles per hour. He can perform a lip slide, his knicked board running down the middle of a handrail. He can execute an ollie, rotating his deck 360 degrees while leaping down 10 stairs, then keep on rolling after he lands. And, after 13 years of practice, he can nail these tricks better than almost anyone else in the world.

The Township Council last night selected a developer to build a $9 million ice and roller rink at the RiverWinds site, pushing ahead with plans to turn its sandy shore into a tourist mecca. The council chose Hedenberg Tresch Partnership of Sewell, owner and developer of the Hollydell Ice Rink in Washington Township, to build the 168,000-square-foot facility. "This is an integral part of the whole riverfront project," Mayor David Shields said. West Deptford's rink, which will be one of the biggest in South Jersey, will sit next to the planned $21 million RiverWinds community center.

Local officials plan to spend almost $4 million on several municipal improvements in the next year, including a home for K-9 police officers, a new roller rink, and traffic signals. Township Manager Pat Halbe said the projects were part of the municipality's annual attempt to accommodate this quickly-growing community of about 39,000 residents. The Township Council last week introduced a bond ordinance that would fund the proposal, which includes a $200,000 down payment for the improvements.

Dancing on wheels, sharply dressed skaters whipped around the roller rink under the twinkling lights of a disco ball. They sang to R&B and rap, chatted with friends, and laughed at the foolhardy and the reckless. One thing they did not do was speak of the double slaying that occurred near here a year ago today. Over and over, when asked by a reporter, self-proclaimed regulars at the Franklinville Skating Center said they knew nothing about last year's drive-by shooting on "Soul Night," which left two Camden youths dead in the street and one wounded.

It might be a bit early to break out the in-line skates and padding for a game of outdoor roller hockey, but Eagle Scout Nicholas Minnick is thinking ahead to spring. Minnick, 18, is trying to raise about $500 to $600 more for an $1,800 community roller hockey rink. A freshman majoring in aerospace engineering at Penn State-Abington, he is trying to convert a "beat-up old" basketball court at the Fellowship House, a nonprofit youth center at Fifth Avenue and Harry Streets, into a smooth, blacktopped rink.

Nine-year-old Matt Mazzuca has a favorite shot. He skates to the right circle and readies himself for the pass. As the ball sails in his direction, he raises his stick, cuts the air like a whip, and fires a slap shot over the outstretched arm of the goalie and into the back of the net. Goal! Matt's mother, Dawn Giordano, marvels at her son's ability and energy, and not just because he's her son. When Matt was 2 months old, he contracted a rare virus that attacked his heart.

Dozens of people crowded into the municipal hall last night to voice their concerns to the Township Committee about the Franklin Skating Center's most popular event, "Soul Night. " "I don't want to shut him down, but other businesses don't interfere with safety and quality of life," said resident Diane Watson. "As long as the crowd is controlled, it's fine. " Jim Sullivan, another resident, expressed concern that Jon Carlo, owner of the rink, was not present last night. "I believe it becomes the owner's responsibility that this will never, ever happen again," said Sullivan.