Beach-themed roller rink coming to Delaware waterfront

Get ready to roll: The city will kick off summer by opening a beach-themed, outdoor roller-skating rink on the Delaware River.

The first day will be May 22, the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, and the day the pop-up Spruce Street Harbor Park returns for a second season of urban boardwalk fun.

Both will be open every day through the end of September.

"The summer of 2015 is really going to be cool," said Mayor Nutter, who helped announce details of the plans at City Hall on Thursday.

The rink will be on the same site as the winter ice rink, which last year drew about 100,000 people to skate and slip. About 500,000 visited Spruce Street Harbor Park.

The roller rink will have high-quality flooring to ensure smooth skating. A tent of overhead lights will lend atmosphere at night. Other amenities include a play area for children and transformation of the winter lodge into a restaurant with a boathouse theme.

A grass island will rise in the center of the rink, offering shade, seating, and a sense of beachy locale.

Rink and park are part of the Delaware River Waterfront Corp.'s effort to develop amenities at the river's edge, to create a vibrant cultural and recreational scene for residents and visitors.

"Roller skating is making a big comeback," DRWC president Tom Corcoran said.

Did it ever go away? An estimated 40 million Americans skate for fun, friendship, and health, according to the Roller Skating Association International, a trade group based in Indianapolis.

Roller skating was most popular in this country in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and boomed again in the disco era of the 1970s. The advent of affordable quality in-line skates spurred another resurgence in the 1990s.

Officials were intrigued by the idea of roller-skating nostalgia, and thought that skating was a healthy family activity. They also saw a working example to the north, at Pier 2 Roller Rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City.

The Philadelphia projects aim to position the waterfront as a place to celebrate the start of summer. Independence Blue Cross is the lead sponsor of the Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest, and Univest/Valley Green Bank is presenting Spruce Street Harbor Park.

The new rink is intended to complement the second season of the park, which features a beer garden, outdoor seating, hammocks, and floating fountains. Last year, the Huffington Post ranked the park among the world's best "urban beaches," places that marry sun, sand, and skyline.

This year, the park will add more bicycle parking, extend the boardwalk, and increase the number of hammocks. One of those colorful hammocks was on display at City Hall on Thursday as an inviting rest spot.

"Can I take that back to the office?" Nutter asked.

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@JeffGammage