Skate Zone in Columbus rolled through its final Soul Night before closing for good on Tuesday, ending a 46-year run as one of Lowndes County's central gathering spots. Owner Dale Taylor built the rink off North Lehmberg Road in 1995, and the property is now being redeveloped into a D-BAT baseball and softball training academy.
The closure caps a family story that stretches back decades, according to the Commercial Dispatch. Taylor said closing the rink after 46 years was difficult, and the venue's history is deeply tied to his own family — Skate Zone originally opened as Skating Odyssey on Highway 45 in 1980 before the current Lehmberg Road building went up 15 years later. Taylor even held his youngest daughter's first birthday party at the rink, and he told the paper Columbus helped him build his other rink locations, which grew into a fleet including sites in Starkville and Alabama.
That personal connection turned tragic in 2019, when Taylor's daughter, Crystal Anderson Fisher, who managed the Columbus rink, died from a brain tumor at age 35. Her visitation and funeral were held directly inside the rink she oversaw, according to Lowndes Funeral Home. Fisher was known for mentoring young skaters in Lowndes County during her time running day-to-day operations.
A Disco Farewell Years in the Making
After Skate Zone announced its closure on Facebook in early August, local DJ and emcee Rick Mason began receiving messages from residents asking for one last celebration before the doors shut. Mason organized the final Soul Night alongside Taylor, emceeing an event that featured music from the disco era for longtime patrons.
Regulars like Freddie Williams, whose 25-year-old son grew up skating there, showed the rink's staying power across generations. Williams told the outlet he used to visit two or three times a weekend in years past, though more recently he'd been coming by about once a week. Jordan Vernon, Taylor's first cousin, learned to skate at the rink himself, and the venue had long served as a venue for birthdays, proms, family reunions and other community events.
Digital Entertainment Chipped Away at Attendance
Skate Zone's decline mirrored a national pattern. The Commercial Dispatch reported that attendance dropped over recent decades as video games and digital movies emerged as competing draws for young people's leisure time. Nationally, roughly 2,900 commercial roller rinks remain operating in the U.S., down from an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 during the industry's late-1970s and 1980s peak, according to Dataintelo Market Research. Rising real estate costs and shifting entertainment habits have driven that long-term consolidation across the industry.
Taylor's broader business history reflects that same industry, even as it contracted elsewhere. Industry records from the Roller Skating Association International show Taylor built or held interests in about six rinks over his career, including Skate Odyssey of Meridian Inc. and Skate Zone of Tupelo Inc. His Starkville location, run by Harley Middleton, will remain open even as the Columbus property changes hands.
From Skating Rink to Batting Cages
The Columbus site is set to reopen as a D-BAT baseball and softball academy, bringing automated batting cages, pitching lanes and a retail pro shop to the Lehmberg Road location. D-BAT was founded in 1998 and franchised in 2007, growing into a network of nearly 200 indoor training centers nationwide, with individual franchise startup costs typically ranging between $500,000 and $1 million.
The redevelopment fits into a larger local push toward organized youth baseball and softball. In August 2023, Lowndes County officials partnered with BankFirst to build BankFirst Yards, a $12 million youth sports complex along Highway 82 featuring eight turf fields designed to host regional tournaments. The Lowndes County Recreation Department also runs structured baseball and softball leagues for children ages 3 to 12, with registration handled less than a mile from the old rink at 560 Lehmberg Road.
Taylor said he hopes some of Skate Zone's longtime customers will find their way to the new academy once it opens. For a community that spent 46 years marking birthdays, proms and even a funeral inside the same walls, the shift from roller skates to batting cages closes one chapter of Lowndes County's recreational history while opening another just down the road.
