CORTLAND — Brian Bathory never imagined he’d be getting back on roller skates after a few close calls as a kid.

The Masury man said he attended a birthday party at a skating rink when his three kids were younger and decided to give it another try.

He recently visited Cortland Roller Rink with son, Aiden, 14, and said the exercise and social interaction drew him back in.

“I skated as a kid a couple of times, and I fell a couple of times, and I was like, ‘I’m not doing this,'” he said, explaining he had a change of heart because “Of all the things it’s good for, it’s just a lot of fun.”

October is national roller-skating month, and the rink, 290 S. High St., has been a part of the community for decades.

Rink manager Jordan Miller said a dance hall on the property opened in 1921. It transitioned to a skating rink along the way, but the building was destroyed by fire in the 1970s, he said.

It was rebuilt in 1975, and had a grand opening the next year, according to reports.

The rink closed for two years starting in 2018 but reopened after Sean Tisone, of Boardman, bought it for $500,000 and remodeled it. Records say he died in 2023.

Suds Equity Inc., of Sparks, Nev., acquired the property in June for $700,000, according to records from Trumbull County Auditor’s office.

Suds Equity President Brad Armstrong, 55, owns three other rinks. He opened one 15 years ago in Sacramento, Calif., where he grew up, and another in 1999 in Reno, Nevada, where he lives now. Seven years ago, he opened the third in Fallon, Nevada.

He looks to grow the Cortland rink by “making it as much of an experience as we can.”

Upgrades and remodeling have already taken place, with new arcade games, prize machines and interactive games for kids and adults.

New skates have been ordered, and a life-sized “human crane” will soon make its debut. Armstrong said it models a prize claw machine and suspends a person in a harness that is lowered into a pool of prizes.

The machine is popular at birthday parties, which is where Armstrong got his start in the skating world.

“I went to a birthday party at 5 years old and never left,” he joked, adding he worked in rinks in his younger days and was a disc jockey at a rink for a time.

Shannon Hudspeth, the rink’s assistant manager and bartender, grew up a speed skater at the rink but stopped going in high school.

A friend talked her into joining an adult roller derby team, drawing her back into a hobby and sport she once loved.

She works a full-time job in the office of Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert Rusu but said the nostalgia of skating keeps her coming back.

“The skating community — it really is a family,” she said.

Star Bean, 22, of Hadley, Pa., makes the 40-minute drive to Cortland frequently because a rink closer to home closed.

The accomplished skater is self-taught and spent a recent Friday night spinning, twirling and doing tricks at the rink.

“It’s kind of a nice escape from reality,” she said.

The rink also features a “Smart Bar,” which Armstrong believes is the only one of its kind in the Cortland area. He purchased the machine from Smart Bar USA, which describes its product as “an automated cocktail dispensing system.”

It uses a touchscreen interface to mix and pour drinks in seconds, maximizing efficiency and providing a consistent, quality product, he said.

Armstrong said he plans to visit the area every three months to lend support to his management staff and continue building momentum for the rink. He said he was impressed with the area the first time he visited.

“It’s a beautiful rink and it’s a beautiful place,” he said. “The people in Cortland are very friendly.”

He has integrated “K-Pop” nights, which are popular at his other rinks. K-pop is a form of music, originating in South Korea, that’s popular among young people. Planning for a Halloween party is also in the works, he said, hinting there may be some special guests.

Armstrong has a humorous video circulating online that he said has over 3 million impressions on social media sites. It shows people choosing to roller skate over doing drugs and engaging in other risky behaviors.

In one scene, a few elderly thugs try to get kids to join a gang and spray graffiti on a nearby bridge.

“No, bug off man,” one kid said. “I’m going roller skating.”

The video cuts to Armstrong, in front of his Reno rink, saying he’s been keeping kids off the streets since 1999.

He said he aims to attract people of all ages to his rink by giving them a reason to “put that phone and that video game down and come on out.”

Lyn Fire, 47, of Struthers, enjoyed unplugging for a few hours while attending a recent Friday night session. She said she skated a lot as a kid and hopes to make it a regular outing.

“It really brings you back to a simpler time,” she said.