Bill Lynch: Wheels of fire!

By the time rock ‘n’ roll hit Sonoma in the early 1950s, the town had already been the center of just plain rolling for more than a decade.

It began when Samuele Sebastiani opened his “Rollertorium” in a brand new, 9,500-square-foot building in the middle of the block on First Street East, July 11, 1940. The new roller skating rink managed by John Benedetto was welcomed by hundreds of Sonomans who donned their skates to glide around the rink at the opening celebration.

Referred to as a high-quality “amusement palace,” the rink’s interior walls were brightly painted with “…colorful scenes… skaters glided to entrancing music under the latest lighting effects.”

Sebastiani spared no expense to ensure that his skating rink floor was one of the finest and largest in the Bay Area. The modern building also had a checkroom for jackets and shoes, dressing rooms and soft drink stand.

Len Thomas of Sonoma constructed it with a roof that was curved in an arch and built from lightweight material.

Skating was wildly popular in those days and an indoor rink was considered the best way to enjoy the sport. There were all kinds of actives including costume parties at Halloween, roller dances and queen contests. I remember being there as a young grade school kid in awe of the bright lights and loud music.

Samuele Sebastiani died in 1944, but many of the places he built in Sonoma, including the Rollertorium continued on, overseen by his oldest son, August.

By 1945, management of the rink was taken over by Arthur Thayer of Sonoma, a former competitive skater, and officer in the California Amateur Skaters Association. In 1945, Sebastiani Rollertorium became the site of the California State Amateur Roller Skating Championships.

It lasted through World War II and remained popular for close to a decade until August leased the building to the owners of food markets in Rodeo and Lake Tahoe, who wanted to turn the rink into a supermarket.

The 20th Century Supermarket opened there in October of 1949, rivaling Safeway, the other large supermarket in downtown Sonoma (on Broadway in those days).

Local roller skating enthusiasts were without an indoor rink for five years until Jack Thayer opened a new rink at the Boyes Hot Springs Bath House, on Boyes Boulevard just east of the bridge. The bathhouse had been there for decades and was a popular summer swimming spot for both local residents and visitors. There were athletic fields located on the property that were used for spring training by the San Francisco Seals and other professional teams.

The skating rink doubled as an indoor dance hall when it wasn’t used for skating.

I remember it as a favorite hangout for grade-school-aged kids of my generation and spent many afternoons there.

The Thayers continued to operate the rink through the 1960s until April of 1969, when an early morning fire leveled the bathhouse, including the skating rink. The owners vowed to rebuild it, but never got the financing they needed. Eventually the property was sold off and turned into housing.

It was also the end of roller skating rinks in Sonoma Valley.