Black History Month: Historic skating rink celebrated while new plans for site unveiled
Black History Month | Historic skating rink celebrated while new plans for site unveiled
The Hunting Park community celebrated the legacy and former owner of Carman Gardens Skate Rink.
The backstory:
HUNTING PARK - An old vacant building on the 3200 hundred block of Germantown Avenue once housed Carman Gardens, one of the first Black-owned skating rinks. The building has been closed since around 2019, but old photos show the heart and soul from earlier times.
Friday night the atmosphere of Carman Gardens was re-created at the Lenfest Center in Hunting Park, operated and managed by the non-profit North 10 Philadelphia. The community came out to celebrate the history of the rink.
What they're saying:
"I'm super excited. It's just bringing back all of the past of when I used to take my children to Carman's," said Tabitha Talley who brought her own skates and came out to support the night and the former owner of Carman's. "The skating rink was where we were safe at," she said.
Organizers honored 77-year-old Roger Lloyd who took over with a lease-to-own agreement in the mid-1970s. He bought the rink and kept it open for 46 years.
"At the age of 12, I would walk down to Carman and I said, ‘One day, Lord, I want to own this place,’" said Lloyd. "Victory. I made it. I made it," he shouted. The crowd applauded.
North 10 staff, who put on the legacy event, talked about preserving the past.
"If we remember the nostalgia of being able to go somewhere on Friday nights, Sunday mornings after church and be able to go someplace because our neighborhood didn't have a skating rink," said Nikki Bagby. She’s the chief external affairs officer.
What's next:
They also unveiled future plans for the former Carman Gardens site which will offer primary and behavioral health care.
"We are working with our partners at the greater Philadelphia Health Action to put in a 20,000-square-foot community health center," said Josh Klaris, Executive Director of North 10.
They plan to continue annual skate nights in honor of Lloyd and Carman's here at North 10.
"We're going to make sure it continues in this building," said Bagby.