The first skaters to roll onto the new floor on October 9 were the staff. Right behind them came the Skating Mamas of the SCV, according to The Signal's coverage of the grand opening. The group started on Facebook in 2021, back when its members wore masks and skated laps on park basketball courts. It now has about 1,700 members, and the paper credits it with helping push the project through. One parent at the opening told The Signal she used to drive her kids to Ventura to skate. Others said they had gone to Skateland in Northridge, which closed during the pandemic.
That drive is over. Using the new rink still takes some planning, though, because The Rink Sports Pavilion is a City of Santa Clarita facility. It's run the way the city runs its other recreation programs. You buy sessions in advance through the city's registration catalog, the schedule comes out one month at a time, and one hardwood floor is shared by skaters, pickleball players and everyone else. Families who learn that rhythm will be on the floor. Families who simply show up on a Saturday may find the slots already gone.
The Valley's Third Roller Rink, and the First One Run by the City
Santa Clarita has had roller rinks before. In its October 11, 1960 edition, The Signal ran a full-page feature announcing Rollerama, a "skating rink … in Saugus" that the paper later described as a "big Quonset hut" near Saugus Junction. After 1967 the archives mention it only as a former site. Skate 'N Place opened in 1978 on Golden Triangle Road, had its best years in the 1980s, and by November 1987 was being called a former site. MB2 sits on that spot now. Both were private businesses, and both opened and closed before the city was formed.
The new rink sits at 20860 Centre Pointe Parkway in the 91350 ZIP code, on the George A. Carvalho Sports Complex campus. The groundbreaking was August 30, 2024. Mayor Laurene Weste called the $28 million building a yearslong effort that finally came together. She told The Signal that people had been asking for a rink for decades, but the city wasn't sure enough people would use one. In her telling, the pandemic-era skating group answered that question. "If you don't think that we need this, watch them," she recalled telling City Manager Ken Striplin.
The city owns it, and that explains most of what follows. The fees appear on a city fee sheet, the sessions are sold through the city's catalog, and the schedule is a calendar the city posts each month.
One Hardwood Floor, Several Sports
The building covers 25,701 square feet. It has one hardwood skating floor marked with extra lines for basketball, pickleball and volleyball. The city's grand opening announcement counts three pickleball courts, one volleyball court and one basketball court. According to The Signal, Weste joked at the ribbon cutting that the courts don't run while people are skating.
The joke reflects how the building actually works. Every hour of drop-in pickleball is an hour with no public skating, and every primetime skate session is an evening with no courts. The calendar is where the city decides which use gets the floor and when. There's also a snack bar called The Wheel.
What October's Calendar Showed
Opening month is the only full schedule the city has published so far, and it shows the basic pattern. Here is how the October calendar divided a typical week.
| Day | Public skate | Other uses of the floor |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | 12–2 p.m., 3–5 p.m. | |
| Monday | 10 a.m.–12 p.m., 1–3 p.m. | Drop-in pickleball 5–9 p.m. on some dates |
| Tuesday | Drop-in pickleball 5–9 p.m. on some dates | |
| Wednesday | 8–10 a.m., 11 a.m.–1 p.m., 2–4 p.m. | |
| Thursday | 7–9 p.m., primetime | One Thursday was billed as "Adults Only" |
| Friday | 2–4 p.m., 5–7 p.m., 8–10 p.m. primetime | Halloween events late in the month |
| Saturday | 2–4 p.m., 5–7 p.m., 8–10 p.m. primetime | Halloween events late in the month |
The calendar listed no basketball or volleyball times.
Just as important were the exceptions. The rink was closed Monday through Friday, October 19 to 23, for a special event. On Halloween, Saturday sessions moved earlier, to 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., and the usual 8 p.m. session was dropped. A full week off the regular schedule in the rink's very first month is a good reason to check the current calendar before you promise anyone a skating afternoon.
The calendar also helps with prices. The fee sheet charges more for "primetime" sessions but doesn't say which hours count. In October, the sessions marked primetime were Thursday 7 to 9 p.m. and the Friday and Saturday 8 to 10 p.m. slots. If you want the lower price, go during the day or early evening.
Getting a Spot
The city sells public skate admission through its CivicRec registration catalog. Here's how the process works:
- Set up a household account. The primary account holder has to be at least 18. Other members of the household can be added to the same account, and the payment receipt serves as your registration confirmation.
- Buy before you drive. The city's skating listing says buying online in advance is required to guarantee a spot. Tickets become nonrefundable after the reservation date. The grand opening shows why: a parks official told The Signal that 350 people had signed up for each of the two afternoon sessions.
- Choose your session by price. Off-peak sessions cost $12 for adults and $9 for youth and seniors. Primetime is $15 for everyone. Theme nights are $20.
- Decide about skates. Rental skates are $5 per session, and a Skate Mate rental is $10. You can bring your own skates, but staff may inspect them first, and metal, glass and stone wheels aren't allowed on the hardwood.
If you plan to go often, the fee sheet lists a prepaid pass with 15 entries for $180. That works out to $12 an entry, the same as the adult off-peak price. It saves money for a teenager or adult who skates at primetime, but not for a family that sticks to weekday mornings. Lockers cost $5.
Birthday parties are booked separately. A two-hour party area reservation for 15 guests, skate rental included, costs $225 Monday through Thursday and $275 Friday through Sunday. Additional guests pay the public session rate. Renting the whole facility starts at $475 an hour for nonprofits, $950 an hour for private functions and $1,425 an hour for businesses. Each has a three-hour minimum, staffing costs extra, and skate rental isn't included. The weekday party price is $50 less, so a Thursday party in November or December may be the better deal for a group.
The fee sheet took effect July 1, 2026, and doesn't list a separate price for drop-in pickleball.
November Comes Out One Month at a Time
In the last week of October, the rink's website still offered only the October calendar. The city's catalog listed public skate sessions through October 31, and a November calendar hadn't been posted yet. Each month's sessions go on sale on the city's own schedule. The best way to keep up is to check therink.santaclarita.gov around the turn of the month or follow @TheRinkSportsPavilion on Instagram and Facebook, which the rink says is where it posts updates. For anything the calendar doesn't answer, the rink's phone number is 661-250-3797 and its email is [email protected].
Some programs are still in the works. The rink's FAQ marks both skating classes and fitness classes "Coming Soon," with schedules and registration still to be announced. The fee sheet already sets lessons at $20 each, skates not included. At an August media preview, KHTS reported that adult nights built around R&B, oldies and 1980s music were being considered, and that leagues and tournament teams were among the groups expected to use the floor. October's single "Adults Only" Thursday is the first sign of that. Theme nights will show up on the calendar at the $20 price.
The rink also shares its campus with other facilities. KHTS listed The Centre, a gymnasium, an aquatic center, a skate park and a bike park as neighbors on the same campus. If one family member has pickleball while another wants the skate park, both can happen in the same trip to Centre Pointe Parkway.
"You can tell it's going to be a really popular place, and it's bringing the community together," Dawn Walker, a founding member of the Skating Mamas, told The Signal on opening day. With 350 sign-ups per session on the first afternoon, the easiest way to get your own time on the floor is to buy the moment each month's calendar is posted.
At Homes With Alin, we follow new community spaces like The Rink because they change how weekends work in the 91350 area and nearby. If you'd like to know what new amenities like this mean for your home's value, start with our Instant Home Valuation and we'll walk you through the local picture.
