Atlantis Skateway near West Palm Beach reopens as Astro Skate Family Fun Center

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·4 min read

GREENACRES — A community mourned in August when the last roller-skating rink in Palm Beach County closed.

But the former Atlantis Skateway is resurrecting with a vengeance, like a Chuck-E-Cheese on a new hardwood rink, a carnival with a couples skate, a rolling hokey-pokey with fireworks and champagne corks and balloons.

New owner Astro Skate’s reputation for high energy, no-holds-barred fun matches the enthusiasm of founder Christopher Maganias, whose family opened its first roller rink in Tarpon Springs in the early 1980s. He now owns seven rinks statewide, including the February purchase of the old Atlantis Skateway on Jog Road in Greenacres.

“Every rink we buy is the same. It’s in poor condition, there is no energy, the owners are tired or (have) given up, and we come in like a nuclear bomb and are just boom!” Maganias said on a March 1 visit to the Greenacres rink. “We are the furthest thing from corporate. We are just a dude that loves roller skating with a bunch of women who love roller skating.”

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Maganias is aiming for a May 5 opening of the new Astro Skate Family Fun Center. It’s a short timeline considering the building at 3100 Jog Road was gutted when he arrived last month. Pipes and wiring were pulled from the walls, there was evidence people were living in it, and he had to wrench plywood from the front door to get in.

“It was dark, there were no lights, and everyone was waiting for me to speak, and I said, ‘Hey, they did us a favor. They took everything out for us, and we’ll put everything back in brand-new.’ ”

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Jim Joline, left and Rex Smith apply new black pain to the walls at the newest Astro Skate location in Greenacres, Fla., on March 2, 2023.
Jim Joline, left and Rex Smith apply new black pain to the walls at the newest Astro Skate location in Greenacres, Fla., on March 2, 2023.

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Maganias said he’s redoing the rink with a $200,000 new hardwood floor, installing new air conditioning, spending $30,000 on glass front doors (so the parents can see in), putting in a security system with cameras and installing a new fire-suppression system.

The old Atlantis Skateway was there for 47 years before the original owners reluctantly decided to sell. It was beloved, in part, because it was a time capsule to bygone days before the internet and Facebook and mind-numbing smartphone apps stole America’s attention away. Early stand-up video games lined the walls, the skates were aging brown leather and the vibe was a generational melting pot of ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

Astro Skate owner Chris Maganias, center, shakes hands with painter and muralist Michael Alexander after agreeing on a price for a new mural at the newest Astro Skate location in Greenacres, Fla., on March 1, 2023.
Astro Skate owner Chris Maganias, center, shakes hands with painter and muralist Michael Alexander after agreeing on a price for a new mural at the newest Astro Skate location in Greenacres, Fla., on March 1, 2023.

And when Atlantis went up for sale, Maganias said he tried unsuccessfully to reach the previous owners so he could buy it. When it sold for $3.6 million to native Ukrainian couple Konstantin and Irinia Lodnia, who have ties to ice hockey, he said he nearly cried.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe this man. Let’s look up the new owners’ address.’ ”

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He sent them a letter explaining that his company is passionate about roller skating and that if the Atlantis Skateway is demolished, or becomes an ice rink, roller skating dies in Palm Beach County. The Lodnias questioned the veracity of the zealous query. Maganias told him, "It’s no joke; look us up," and that one day soon he would make an offer they couldn’t refuse.

That day came toward the end of December. Maganias offered to buy the rink for $3 million, leaving an adjoining parcel of land in the ownership of the Lodnia family.

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The wheels, the lights, the music! It doesn't get more indoor cool, literally or figuratively, than Atlantis Skateway.
The wheels, the lights, the music! It doesn't get more indoor cool, literally or figuratively, than Atlantis Skateway.

One of the lawyers on the email thread finalizing the sale said it was a great Christmas present for the seller — a hefty price for half a parcel — but Maganias disagreed. He said it was a great Christmas present for the kids of Palm Beach County.

“Ten years from now, no one will remember the extra money we spent,” said the 60-year-old Jersey City native. “All they will know is that the rink is cool as hell.”

Kimberly Miller is a veteran journalist for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network of Florida. She covers real estate and how growth affects South Florida's environment. Subscribe to The Dirt for a weekly real estate roundup. If you have news tips, please send them to kmiller@pbpost.com. Help support our local journalism, subscribe today. 

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Astro Skate Family Center opens in Palm Beach County