Bring The Shed back! Local rollerblader Jack Clark (front) with Aneesha Clark, Josh Kerovec and Gabby Clark (back) want a safe place to skate.
By Glen Atwell
A CRANBOURNE resident and successful roller-skating rink manager believes The Shed has the potential to be one of Victoria’s best skate facilities.
Mairi-anne Macartney has operated the family-owned Peninsula Skateworld in Frankston for the past 12 years and is confident The Shed could one day be reopened as an entertaining and commercially viable operation.
After last week’s News reported on the community’s calls to revamp and reopen The Shed, Ms Macartney said incorporating a flat surface skating area would attract an even larger crowd.
“Flat surface skating is a huge growth area,” Ms Macartney said.
“The three disciplines are inline hockey, artistic skating and speed skating. They are all popular youth sports and are family friendly. We’ve witnessed an explosion in participant numbers in Frankston. On weekends, we get about 500 kids through the doors, they pay $12 for five hours and we’re open seven days a week.”
Ms Macartney said she hoped to work closely with the City of Casey to investigate the possibility of reopening The Shed as a youth entertainment venue.
“At Skateworld, our sessions are fully supervised with music, entertainment, disco lights and they are a great meeting place for all ages.
“Our skating birthday parties are also popular,” she said.
Narre Warren mother of three Tracy Clark said The Shed needed to reopen sooner rather than later.
“If it means combining skate ramps with a flat surface rink then that’s a great idea. It’s much safer having kids skate in a supervised environment than on the street.”
“A similar sort of concept could work well at The Shed.”
