Largest indoor roller skating rink Guptill's Arena celebrating 65 years

LATHAM, N.Y. (NEWS10) — More than four generations of people have skated at Guptill’s since opening this week 65 years ago. While celebrating the milestone, the owners say they have plans to keep the business rolling.

Guptill’s Arena opened Valentines Day February 14 1951, to huge crowds, and soon became the place to go, with your family and friends to have a great time doing something together. Guptill’s, which is still family owned by the Guptill Family, has stood the test of time for six and a half decades, and still pulls huge crowds of families every weekend, to roller skate and exercise together.

Guptill’s is the longest running family owned, family entertainment business in the Capital Region, opening a year before Hoffman’s Playland, and the Guptills, and the crowds are still rolling. With so many of the businesses that you grew up with gone or disappearing, it’s so nice that there is a place where family memories were made, that is still as successful, as it was 65 years ago.

Guptill says his dad Charles put up his own saw mill and fabricated the lumber.

“There is over 400,000 board feet of oak and it’s out together with nine tons of nails,” said Skip Guptill, owner of the area.

The arena has the distinction of the world’s largest indoor skating rink in the Guinness book of world records. And yes, the black 1926 Model T and ’31 Model A are real.

“The 50’s were wonderful years because it was the rock-n-roll era and we played the organ all the time back then that music was just magic to skate to,” said Skip. “Notice the suit and the tie on the boy here you probably wouldn’t see that today,” he said.

“My favorite thing is to hear the families, they’re elderly now, they come back, and they bring their grand kids here and just the wonderful memories they had of coming here,” Guptill continued.

“I met my wife at Guptill’s. My father hired her as a check room girl,” he said.

They got married, had eight children who Guptill says all work there, and will continue the family tradition of the rink – just the way it has been for 65 years.

In this day and age for a family owned business to prosper through all economic and changing social environments is quite a testament to the local area and the Guptill Family. Guptills has stood the test of time through 6 and a half decades, and is still thriving even today.