Wheelies: A meeting place for the Sault's youth, where employees took lie-detector tests

From the archives of the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library:

If it were the late 1970s or early 80’ this would have been the place to be – packed with people on a weekend night, you would be gliding along with all your friends, the breeze fluttering your clothes, grooving to the music.

Roller skating as a fad grew immensely in the 70s until its popularity nosedived in the mid 1980s and Saints (later renamed Wheelies) would be there to capture everyone’s enthusiasm for the craze while it lasted. The roller-skating rink received site approval in April of 1978. It was planned to be 19,000 square feet and located at 475 Trunk Road next to the Sheraton Caswell Motor Hotel.

It was to be operated by Saints Roller Skating Centres headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, and would be built along the same lines as their other facilities in Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Duluth, and Bloomington.

With its smooth acrylic floor surface, and acrylic roller skate wheels, the rink would be fairly quiet, therefore blaring music would not be an issue to neighbouring residents. The rink would also have an acoustic ceiling with a height of only 9 feet to prevent any echoing effects. The estimated price tag for the facility was projected to be $800,000 and 1,000 pairs of skates would also be purchased and available for rental.

The rink officially opened Nov. 2, 1978 and quickly gained popularity. Approximately 35 part-time and two full-time employees were required for the operation. The hiring practices of the Saints organization raised some eyebrows in 1978 due to the use of a fairly new and controversial tool – the polygraph test. According to a Sault Star article of Nov. 8, 1978, the Saints Roller Skating Centre was believed to be the first business in Sault Ste. Marie to use the polygraph test in their hiring process.

Company President Peter Boo contended that polygraph testing was optional and refusal to take a test would not preclude employment. The company had started administering lie detector tests three years previously in order to “sleep better at night.” Since the facility generally catered to large numbers of children and teenagers, the company wished to ensure that prospective employees were of the highest character and would be a positive influence.

According to Francee Olch, who travelled to Sault Ste. Marie to administer the testing, “in the case of the Saints we tested for permanency. We wanted people who wanted a job for more than a month. We tested for alcoholism or drug addiction because we didn’t want people stoned on acid while they were out on skate patrol. We also checked for people who were consistently stealing cash or merchandise from previous employers.”

She planned to return every six months because she maintained that “if people know they are going to be tested again, they won’t steal. It’s a preventative measure.”

An ad in the Sault Star of Nov. 4, 1978 listed the prices and schedule. Friday and Saturday nights were the most expensive at $3 including skate rental. Sundays were the most economical. Sunday from 1:30 –5 pm was $2.50 with a skate rental, with Sunday evening having a family rate of $5 for the entire family. Monday was adult night from 8-10:30 pm for $3.

The rink proved to be extremely popular, with 500 people at a time crowding the floor and 850 pairs of skates were often not enough. The Sault Star called the rink “The meet market for the under-19 crowd that discos and bars are for their older brothers and sisters."

This popularity did come with some negative consequences as young people could often cause a disturbance either by sneaking in alcohol or loitering. This was curbed with the hiring of an off-duty police officer for Friday and Saturday nights. Don Smith, the manager of the facility, said the teenagers who frequented the rink were surprisingly good at keeping themselves in line. They knew if they were to get thrown out, they would be missing out as all their friends would still be inside.

Another problem was injuries — in the first month after opening their doors to the public, eight people had sustained broken bones. However, 14,000 people had used the facility, so it was considered a low injury rate. The rink also had an extremely popular program geared to mothers called, “Ladies Slim & Trim” on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 until 11:30 am which was well attended. The price was only $2 and included free coffee and babysitting.

Smith reported to the Sault Star that they would often have up to 50 children in the babysitting section which was more customers than some rinks would ever have on their skating floor. He said, “most rinks just put some tables on the floor upside down to block off an area for kids but I am going to have to have a carpenter construct a big play pen so we can handle them all.”

Unfortunately, the public’s interest in roller skating began to wane after the centre officially became Wheelies in September of 1981. Wheelies closed Oct. 5, 1982 due to low numbers of patrons and increasing operating costs. Public use had plummeted by 50-55 per cent and blame was initially placed upon Algoma Steel layoffs that occurred during this period.

However, Ted Davis, who was the company’s manager, made a statement to the Sault Star on Oct. 6, 1982 explaining that this was not the case.

“We can mirror image the effects from city to city. Sydney, Nova Scotia and Sault Ste. Marie offer a close comparison. They each have a steel mill and are similar in population. The Sydney Mill shut down, but there has been no decline in skaters.” '

Wheelies did re-open for a time in 1985 but closed again in 1989. The fad had ended, and the “Wheelie” good times had rolled on into history.

Each week, the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library and its Archives provides SooToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.

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