repost from article in the September 2023 issue of NSCNA Neighborhood News
Five years before the 1977 hit film Saturday Night Fever brought disco dancing into the mainstream, longtime North Shoal Creek business Playland Skate Center (8822 McCann Rd) opened their doors and offered a “modern” new experience for Austinites in 1973: two “football field size” roller rinks where you could skate to “top 40” music under strobe and black lights. By the end of the 1970s, with the 1979 films Roller Boogie and Skatetown U.S.A., the roller disco “fad” was a national sensation with multiple skating centers in Austin in addition to Playland including Hot Wheels (1606 Stassney Ln), Rollin Cross Texas (821 Brentwood St), and Skating Palace (525 Barton Springs Rd, next to Armadillo World Headquarters). Today, only Playland remains of Austin’s original roller discos, but the energetic spirit of the 1970s continues here today with DJ’ed skate nights and diverse crowds at all skill levels.
