Until I came across this photo recently I’d never heard of the Winter Garden Skating rink, but I’m sure glad I’ve heard of it now. What a gorgeous example of Art Deco architecture. It kind of reminds me of the Pan-Pacific Park auditorium on Beverly Blvd. Opening in 1940, it stood at 171 S. Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena until it closed in 1966. Did anyone reading this go skating there? Do you remember what color it was painted?
Looking south on Arroyo Parkway on a rainy day showing the Pasadena Winter Garden, circa 1960s:
Here’s another angle:
The building is still there. It’s now a Public Storage facility, and I was pleased to find that they’ve kept the entrance reasonably intact. This image is from February 2021:
I legit thought it was a mini-Pan Pacific myself when I first saw it, too. Wonder if they had the same architect.
I knew there was a ice skating rink back in the day in Pasadena but didn’t know where it was. I’ve also driven by that storage place dozens of times. Who knew they were the same place??? Martin did!
Yes, Martin did…but only in the last 24 hours!
Beat me, though!
I did go ice skating there in the 40’s. Also the Polar Palace in Hollywood. We were speed skaters. Tab Hunter skated at the Polar Palace.
I skated there every Saturday that I could talk my mother into taking me. I still have autographs of Dick Button and more when they performed there. Those were some of my happiest times in the early 50’s.
Lucky you, Pat! Thanks for stopping by.
That’s when I skated there, in the early 1950’s. Me and my brother.
I remember my red autograph book with gold lettering with a spattering of famous names! We were there practically every Saturday. Maybe we skated together! : )
I was also just looking at the old red trolley cars, street cars in the 1950’s. I remember getting on one once.
Very fond memories and happy times.
I skated there from 1950 to 1964 as often as I could. A lot of professional skaters used to train there. Also, there used to be an ice skating show on Wednesday night tv.
I learned to skate there when I was a kid.
I skated there until it closed in 1966. It was the first arena I learned to skate in. What’s even more cool is that my dad used to skate there as young man. He is the one who took me there to learn to skate.❤️❤️
If u were a rink guard there and u dated tony, then u remember me because we both danced with racing skates, I still have them
Was a post office after closing for a long time. Bought a pair of planet racing skates there 1960 made in canada