Atlanta Roller Derby tries to save legendary Decatur roller rink Golden Glide
After investors purchased 52-year-old Golden Glide Skating Rink last year, they offered the property to potential buyers as “flex space” with suggested uses including a warehouse and a data center.
In other words, another metro Atlanta roller rink was on the brink of extinction.
But serendipity intervened for Golden Glide in the form of Atlanta Roller Derby. The vibrant nonprofit amateur flat track league has rented space to play for more than 20 years and was seeking a permanent home.
In July 2025, ARD former president and head of business Allison Knoch, who goes by Ruby Chaos in competition, saw Golden Glide for sale on LoopNet, a commercial real estate marketplace. SYKS Wesley Chapel LLC out of Norcross had purchased the rink earlier in the year from Robert Davis.
Knoch, attorney Marie Witte (Spill Murray) and CPA Chelsea Sowers (Bitcoin Barbie) negotiated a deal to keep Golden Glide open.
As a small nonprofit, Atlanta Roller Derby was not in a financial position to buy the rink outright. Instead, it created a separate professionally managed for-profit subsidiary called Beanstalk & Co. that began running Golden Glide’s day-to-day operations in May.
Megan McCoy, outgoing president of Atlanta Roller Derby and a former track athlete who goes by Mac Attack on the rink, said Beanstalk tried and failed to secure a $2 million bank loan. Instead, it signed a lease-to-own deal with SYKS. Beanstalk now has two years to show it can operate the roller rink in the black, which would help the subsidiary procure a loan.
It is also planning a capital campaign to raise funds to help complete the purchase of the rink.
‘To see and be seen’
Atlanta Roller Derby organizers are attempting to save the oldest existing skating rink in metro Atlanta.
Joe D. Baker, a longtime competitive roller skating coach, opened Golden Glide in 1974. Roller skating rinks were the hot teen hangout during the disco-fever ’70s into the spandex ’80s. Golden Glide, open six days a week, became a mainstay of the south DeKalb County neighborhood.
In 1993, Greg Alexander purchased the rink and invested $200,000 to renovate it. By 1997, it drew 6,000 skaters a week during peak season, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution story from that year.
“It was the place to see and be seen,” said Monica Pearson, the veteran TV broadcaster who used to skate at Golden Glide every Saturday night to let off steam.
Joi Loftin, who began skating at Golden Glide in 1988 after moving to Atlanta from Detroit, was a regular for many years, skating three to five times a week. Using complicated footwork and quick turns picked up in Detroit, she competed in couples skating competitions. She even worked there for a time.
“I loved the fact it had a wood floor,” Loftin said. And Alexander, she said, “cared deeply about his staff.”
In 2000, Alexander opened the much larger Cascade Family Skating 19 miles west in the Adamsville neighborhood. It features a full-service restaurant with bigger party rooms and more arcade space than Golden Glide. Cascade became internationally famous after featuring in the 2006 “ATL” film.
Golden Glide got left behind. By 2017, the financially troubled rink announced a going-away party that drew 1,300 people.
“We were not able to support the debt based on the loss of customers and revenue,” Alexander told 11Alive at the time. “I had to personally finance Golden Glide to make payroll and keep lights on. I reached a point where I could no longer do that.”
In a surprise turn, social media response caused the bank to tell Alexander to stay open. He ultimately sold the rink to Davis for $1.5 million, according to transaction data collected by NexisLexis.
But the rink continued to struggle. A shooting in the parking lot in 2022 didn’t help matters.
“It started getting a little rough in the end,” said Tee Anderson, 63, who used to skate at Golden Glide regularly but now prefers Cascade and Sparkles in Smyrna. “Young kids really to me were not taking skating as seriously as we did.”
Davis, who couldn’t be reached for comment, sold to SYKS last year.
High hopes for a Golden Glide revival
McCoy, a former film and TV production assistant who now works in construction, spends several days a week at Golden Glide learning the ins and outs of the skating business.
She brought in volunteers and staff to deep-clean the carpets.
“We were there until 3 a.m.!” she said.
McCoy has grappled with minor roof damage from a tree falling on the building and a pipe leak in the bathroom.
Nonetheless, she has high hopes for the rink and a long to-do list she’s working through.
The rink reintroduced a Thursday skate night earlier this month, drawing 25 people the first evening. McCoy replaced 150 pairs of rental skates. She is adding wings to the food menu. She is trying to procure a liquor license. She is looking to transform the snack shop into a pro shop. And she plans to bring back the arcade area, emptied by a previous owner.
She is bursting with ideas, such as like toddler skating, line dancing, after-school programming and classes for older adults. She wants to intermingle roller derby skaters with Golden Glides’ rhythm and breakdance-style jam skaters.
“I want the worlds to come together,” said McCoy, who would like to learn jam skating and rhythm dance. She also hopes to recruit roller dance teams to entertain spectators during roller derby halftime.
A community of competition and acceptance
Atlanta Roller Derby had endured its own ups and downs since Angela Ward started the league in 1994. But today, it’s as strong as ever with more than 90 active skaters ranging in age from 18 to 53. (There are 70 to 90 more in a junior league.)
While most are women, the league is also open to transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive skaters.
“We come from all walks of life,” McCoy said. “It’s a real mesh of people. We welcome everyone. And after a hard day at work, I get to ram my body around for fun. That’s who I am!”
The skaters are not compensated. And the administrators, including new president Les Murray (aka Lez Dispenser), work for free. Ticket sales and donations are used for operational expenses. There are now four active local teams (Apocalypstix, Black Water Reapers, Glamma Rays and Toxic Shocks) and three travel teams (Dirty South Derby, Rumble Bs and Rolling Ruckus).
The league is leasing warehouse space in Mableton for practices until the end of December. Beginning next year, Atlanta Roller Derby will hold all its activities at Golden Glide.
Last month, Atlanta Roller Derby held its first doubleheader competition at Golden Glide, drawing about 700 people. That’s comparable to attendance eight miles away at Agnes Scott College, where they played in recent years. Many spectators also stuck around for a skating after-party.
Julyn Farrington, a Suwanee resident and retired player who went by Gladiator 527, volunteered at Golden Glide and occasionally ran out onto the rink between jams to install fresh track tape.
“We’re getting acclimated to the property,” Farrington said. “I think it’s going to be great. Very few derby leagues have permanent homes. It’s a big deal.”
Shannon Kanable, a nurse from Roswell and Atlanta Roller Derby ticket holder for the past decade, nabbed VIP seats and watched from the front row.
“I get to be closer to the action,” she said. “That’s a big positive.”
Kanable also appreciates how the league actively supports social causes, such as reproductive rights and temporary housing for immigrants.
Jill Hennecy (“Wheelin’ Jennings”) was one of the first players in Atlanta Roller Derby, joining in 2005. Now 53, she recently came out of a 10-year retirement to jam again and spoke to the AJC before a weekly scrimmage in Mableton earlier this month, where a 12-week boot camp for 25 beginners was also in full swing.
Hennecy’s first Golden Glide experience, she said, “was awesome. It felt like old times. It felt similar to All-American (Skating Center in Stone Mountain) when we played there in the mid-2000s.”
“I hope it exposes roller derby to people who had never heard of it,” added her friend Christi Gray (“Amelia Scarehart”), another 53-year-old who joined in 2005 and came back to play after a 10-year hiatus.
McCoy sees even greater possibilities if the league can fully revive Golden Glide.
“They have 2.2 acres of open land nearby,” she said. “We’d love to acquire that land and build an indoor sports facility specializing in women’s sports for Decatur. Basketball. Indoor soccer. Cheerleading. Dance. We could hold competitions there.”
But for now, she is just enjoying the challenge of reintroducing Golden Glide to the world.
“I’m having a great time,” she said. “I love getting to know the staff. I even like the paperwork. Keeps my brain busy!”
This season’s final local competition is Saturday.
Flat track roller derby explained
There are two 30-minute halves. Rounds of play are called “jams,” lasting up to two minutes.
Two teams line up on a 90-foot-long oval track. Each team’s four blockers start in a tight pack, facing off against two jammers bearing stars on their helmets. Jammers gain points once they get past the other team’s blockers without going out of bounds.
This is not rugby. Skaters cannot use their hands, elbows or feet, limiting physical contact to upper arms, torso, hips, butts and thighs. Even then, they can’t hit or grab an opponent in the head, back or below the knees.
Multiple referees track the action, signaling points or sending players to the penalty box for infractions.
Mandatory protective gear includes a helmet, wrist guards, elbow pads, knee pads, and a mouthguard.
The team with the most points wins.
If you go
Atlanta Roller Derby doubleheader
5 and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, $21.60 and up, Golden Glide Skating Rink, 2750 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur, atlantarollerderby.com
Regular hours of operation:
Thursday: 7 to 11 p.m.
Fridays: 7 to 11 p.m. (familiy skate), 11:30 p.m. to 3 a.m. (adult skate)
Saturdays: 2 to 11 p.m.
Sundays: 3 to 9 p.m.