The city of Santa Clarita held a preview tour of its newest indoor skating facility, The Rink Sports Pavilion, on Thursday just a few months ahead of its anticipated grand opening scheduled for early October.   The smell of fresh paint and the noise of heavy machinery filled the air of t he 25,000-square-foot indoor building while workers could be seen finalizing touches of the almost completed facility with its featured 12,000-square-foot skating floor that converts into courts for basketball, pickleball and volleyball, creating year-round activity.  Valued at approximately $28 million from start to finish, seeing the renderings come to life was described as an unreal feeling by Araz Valjian, a city capital improvement projects manager, as she gave guests a tour of the space.   The city of Santa Clarita’s new The Rink Sports Pavilion which features a 12,000-square-foot skating floor that converts into courts for basketball, pickleball and volleyball, during a preview tour on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Katherine Quezada/The Signal The construction, which started in January, has had more than 40 subcontractors, making the number of workers to build the space well in the hundreds, she added.   The roller rink will also have a designated space for parties, built-in bleachers, a concession stand called “The Wheel,” as well as bathrooms, locker rooms, a roller skate rental area, and DJ booth.   To break in the brand-new skating floor, the Skating Mamas of SCV, a local group of inclusive skating enthusiasts, were invited to roll through the space.   Roller skaters with the Skating Mamas of SCV try out the city of Santa Clarita’s new The Rink Sports Pavilion roller rink during a preview tour on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Katherine Quezada/The Signal For roller skater Laura Bartlett, who lives in Juniper Hills in the Antelope Valley, having a roller skating rink closer to home just made her life a whole lot easier.  For more than two decades, Bartlett has traveled all over Los Angeles County to enjoy roller rinks within the area, including outdoor skating at the iconic Venice Beach skatepark.   “It’d be so nice to just be able to drive down here. I already do stuff down here so I can come down, do my errands and now I can go skate. I can meet friends for lunch and include skating in it, that’s the best part,” she said.   As the skating facility is designed to embrace people of all ages, this will allow individuals who have never skated an opportunity to learn and become exposed to something new.   Roller skaters with the Skating Mamas of SCV try out the city of Santa Clarita’s new The Rink Sports Pavilion roller rink during a preview tour on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Katherine Quezada/The Signal Bartlett noted that many believe skating is for children, but there’s a whole culture and community that’s decades old. With many roller rinks in the L.A. area slowly closing down, the city of Santa Clarita creating a space for the sport is one step closer to keeping it alive, she said.   “I don’t think a lot of people understand what it can do for children. It just breeds good habits and the social aspect. They get to go out and be with other kids and do something instead of looking at a screen,” she added.   What makes the facility different from others within Los Angeles County is the multi-use capability of the facility.   “We have state-of-the-art facility for roller skating, but we also do during the day, basketball, pickleball, volleyball,” said Janine Prado, the city’s director of recreation and community services. “We try to maximize the use of the facility.”   “There’s quite a few kids that have never roller skated, so it’s a unique opportunity,” she added, and noted that she’s most excited about seeing residents enjoy the city’s efforts in enhancing their experience with recreation and community services.   The Kaleidoscope Sound Hallway mural by artist Annette Coleman set to be featured with the city of Santa Clarita’s new The Rink Sports Pavilion takes shape during a preview tour on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. Katherine Quezada/The Signal The post City hosts roller rink preview tour appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal. ...read more read less