MT. MORRIS — The Rink at Pine Creek recently underwent renovations including improvements to its front facade with a mural and the expansion of its arcade, doubling it in size, Owner Rebecca Wilson said Oct. 29.
The front of the building was resided, and later painted by a mural artist. Outdoor renovations around the building will continue. 10 new games were added to the arcade and all games were changed to arcade cards, which will now accumulate tickets electronically. The arcade’s prize redemption area has added larger and more exciting prizes, Wilson said. The Rink at Pine Creek has been in operation at the site as a roller rink for 76 years.
“We had our 75th birthday last year, so this year going into our 76th year we're trying to bring life into this place,” Wilson said. “There's tons of people that are still coming out and skating, but we want to remind the community we're here. The front now reminds people that we're alive and well and tells people to come on inside. When winter starts to kick off, it's a good time to start looking for things to do indoors. We'll continue to put more resources back into the place and keep it fun and exciting for people.”
Wilson, who also owns the wedding and vacation venue Pine Creek Escape, purchased The Rink at Pine Creek in 2019. The business saw the immediate impacts of COVID-19 and shutdowns. After business got back to normal, she and her husband, Aaron, were able to make the investments to upgrade The Rink.
Wilson and family and a maintenance worker hung the new steel on the front of the building before the mural artist was hired for the rest. The changes to the arcade have been a new initiative for staff at The Rink.
“We've continued to invest in the business, but a lot of it's been behind the scenes,” Wilson said. “These recent improvements are nice and fun and front and center for everyone to see. As a business owner, it's been enjoyable to do something that's visible. Because it feels like a lot of time and resources are put into training and staff and not always things like seeing a big new mural.”
The Rink at Pine Creek is open Fridays 7-10 p.m., Saturdays 1-4 p.m. and 7-11 p.m. and Sundays 1-4 p.m. The venue is also open for private two-hour parties any of the times it isn't open. In-session parties during business hours are also offered.
Wilson said that five years into ownership, the business finally feels like it’s “catching its stride”
post-COVID-19 and activities like field trips coming back, which has encouraged her to do projects and make investments.
Part of making the investments in The Rink is to ensure it carries on for years to come as a safe place for youth in the community to go, Wilson said. Aaron Wilson said he enjoys that his family acts as stewards of a piece of the community that’s been around for 76 years, a place that’s larger than them.
“Being here for the past five years, I've seen the different generations of families that come in,” Rebecca Wilson said. “It might be grandma bringing grandkids and she used to skate here and sometimes she still skates. You see these families and they're multigenerational. And when I'm out doing things, I don't feel like I see much of that in other places. It's really cool to see it here. Grandparents tell their grandchildren about when they used to skate here.”
On Oct. 21, The Rink at Pine Creek was the site of filming by a movie crew that has been shooting around Ogle County. The movie, which Rebecca Wilson said is titled “BRB”, spent a full day transforming and filming at The Rink. The movie, set in 2006, redecorated to make things look like that time period and used some of the roller rink’s staff as extras.
“It was exciting that they chose to shoot here,” Rebecca Wilson said. “Our staff was very excited. It just feels like things are hitting their stride around here. When you start to do things, they snowball. We're putting in an arcade and redoing the front of a building and a film crew is here and it's kind of all happening at once. I think that's really cool for the staff to get excited about that. We're always hiring and maybe someone new will see it as a place as they want to work.”
