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One final skate at Surrey’s old Stardust site this summer, before a 50-storey tower is built there

Event on July 8 will ‘pay tribute’ to the roller-rink history on Whalley property
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WHALLEY — One final skate will be held on the old Stardust roller rink property this summer, before a 50-storey education centre is built there.

Weststone Group, which now owns the property at 102nd Avenue and City Parkway in Whalley, wants to “pay tribute” to Stardust by hosting a series of free family skates, including one by-donation skate.

It’s all happening on Saturday, July 8 at Central City Arena, as the rink has been known in recent years, from noon to 10 p.m. Only 113 tickets will be sold for each of the four skate times, with the final one set to start at 7:30 p.m. that evening.

“Many people have very fond memories of skating or working at the Stardust location in Surrey,” says a Facebook event page shared Thursday by Downtown Surrey BIA. “Whether it was attending a birthday party or just for something fun to do on a Friday or Saturday night, (it) was ‘the’ place for friends to get together and memories to be made.”

“Let’s all get together for a final farewell to Stardust!” reads the post.

Three of the skates will be free admission, with a ticket required. The day’s final skate will be a $5 ticket, with proceeds to Surrey Food Bank’s Tiny Bundles program. Tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.ca.

Last September, plans were announced by Weststone Group to redevelop the site to build a $200-million, 550,000-square-foot “GEC Education Mega Center” project, in a partnership between developer WestStone Group and CIBT Education Group. The centre will cater to international students.

The Stardust roller rink drew huge crowds for decades. Before closing in 2005, it was a landmark for generations, the place to be for thousands of kids.

tom.zillich@ surreynowleader.com



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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