Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 19

SsCk iiA-ASZSZ, r- 1 i By KAREN EMERSON -Tribune SUff Writer hrjeks haw fallen In on Rollerland. But the memories linger on. jfk 'ft I 25 Aj" I 4- t-V fe 'S'r1 k. "'V 'K AH' Oakland landmark for more than. year, the struc- lure at 5411 Telegraph Ave.

v-: came down1 this week to make room for an building. "Anyone Who lived in Oakland from 1923 to 1950 proba- bly. skated at Rpllerland at' least Once, says Prank $. Her of iOripaa, ne. of the rinks operators- from 1948 to 1967.

During; World War'll and the 'Korean? War, the roller skating rink' had 'aS many as 1,000 skater ia day rolling ever its slick maple floors. k. late jfather-in-iaw, George Small; was thfe rinks original operator. When the roller rink at nearby Idora Park was tom down, in the, late 4920s, CaSnqr, its manag- er, and William Letchworth prevailed upon Marshall Steel Sr. to build a new rink, Ip February, of, 1929, Rollerr "land opened its doors.

Behind it was the Marshall Steel -1 cleaning plant, I i Crowds diminished in Octo- ber.of that same year when the stock market crashed, but the Small family kept the rink open. Mrs, Small ran the foun-' tain, the three daughters acted as cashier, checkroom girl and one as an instructor, and their son was the floorman, in charge of conducting' the pro- i S'? XV h's vv tr 1 U' 'X. A -f 'v rir. IPWB -VC rf 4 gram, i 'v i A The 35 cents admission charged also covered skate Tribune phew by Robert Stinnett he sign announces a New Year's Eye party, but there will be no more of those at Rollerland, the skating emporium which was torn down earlier this week 7T 'L A -a it ci la n- I mt. ft The crowd? grew again as the years parsed, and between 1932 and 1940 its popularity produced an! offshoot, Roller- on Grand By the during World It included space above, Skating Rink Operators Assn.) War.

II, the rink was open 365 which served as a skate distri- There are still 17 such year. bution center at one rinks in the Bay Area, howev- fe VS meetin8 Soda Jountain, offices, rest er without that plac, remimsces: rooms and sales area were classification. i on the main Betty. Bend it, the rinks h-: nooT- manager from 4967 until the Foremost Dairies, the rinks close thinks roller home as the USD next-door neighbor on Tele- skati wll agam have its nurchased -tlteday. The Beodits also own Thc W.TEi Lyons Company011' and are active and that melodic organ too, oVer bo bnessf mskatmg5mpeUUon.

-music, the signs indicating mox over doui Duucungs whPther tA Skate forward year-' -coincidentally, Mrs. Bendit hopes to relo- reverse and' the uncoimted skinned knees were a part of a large Oakland youths growing-up ct the building. The enough building. years until television. andifronftniH wHinit She also feeIs nostalgic Those were the same years rSen? ut the old brick building when a 1 and Vi hours wait to and hardwood floors.

Most see a movie in downtown Oak- I cleaning out Rollerland new rinks are nowhere near land was i commonplace hap- prior to the demolition, Cap the size of Rollerland, and pening (R.B.) Lyons found memora- they have plastic floors, she Casner began work at bilia dating back to the early notes. Rollerland jn 1945, staying un- iaeecrase withwed Although recreation depart-til 1967, khen the. Albert Ben- marriage ucense with wea. mentS( schools and other dits. took over its operation.

or groups still used the rink for When constructed, XedoKte private parties, it closed Rollerland was one of the rt 1 on Monday to the public, open largest in California. Its pred- As gradually as the popular- at night only Tuesday through ecessor, the Idora Park rink, of skating peaked, so it de- Saturday, and for only one had boasted being the largest clined. And whether or not tel- session on Sunday with a few roller skating rink west of evision can be blamed, the hundred skaters. Chicago. sport is not what it used to be, Thats a long way from the a '1 SI a I 'J yA- fry AlA'X The 30,000 square foot build- In 1963 Rollerland ceased old seven days a week and the ing had; a double-trussed roof being an rink; meaning it throngs young and old system knd 18,000 square feet no longer held competition, who delighted in gliding of maple skating floor the (R is the designation given around the floor ta the tune of largest in Northern California, rinks belonging to the Roller the Skaters.

Waltz. In the good old days, as many as 1 000 people a day would skate around the 1 floor "to '-nr' ryvr- jscm T'tT Do '-tS fb 'h ij ing the facts would be are heither excessive nor 1 lifetime that most people would find very difficult to bear. and unthinkable. And they dont buy, Taney said. Less than $50 million of the a $30,000 housi, about the same cost as fire insurance.

Many people fpay more than that each year just to protect their investments in their automobiles, Smith said. insurance on homes. The institute said Californians pay $6 million annual premiums for quake insurance as compared to more than $200 million paid each year for fire insurance in California. more than $1 billion damage) caused by last years San Fer fy have not changed. A report issued last week by U.S.

Housing and Urban Development Secretary George Romney said there is no need for federal participation in earthquake insurance. The report was authored by Federal Insurance Administrator George K. Bernstein. The report, Earthquake insurance Is readily available on one-to-four-family residential dwellings throughout the United States, (and) earthquake insurance premiums There are 180 companies, in California that sell earthquake insurance at that are considered modest by some standards, but higher than most people are willing to pay, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Myles Smith, Pacific Coast regional manager of the institute, said, In California the rate runs from 11 cents to 30 cents for wood frame dwellings (including stucco exteri- ors) per $100 of insured coverage.

That's $40 to $90 a year for Bernsteins report said, We find that direct involvment of the Federal Government In earthquake insurance is unnecessary as to residential properties and unfeasible or undesirable as to commercial and industrial properties However, the report recoil-mended meaningful land and control measures and building codes to reduce of life, personal injury and property damage resulting from earthquakes. Intellectually, people know about the San Andreas Fault, But they dont really believe it, Taney said. They know there are going to be devastating earthquakes, all right, but they refuse to accept the possibility that they are going to be among the They protect themselves against financial loss from fire, vandalism, flood, traffic accidents, falling trees and a i 1 a s. But earthquakes are unnatural, unlikely nando quake was covered by quake insurance, he said. Taney said, Most companies stopped writing the (quake) coverage in thejLos Angeles area immediately the quake, but in most cases the stoppage was, brief, and it lasted; only until the after shocks had abated.

He said some companies adjusted rates and coverage vailubili- He said most- home owner policies carry a 5 per cent deductible clause which, for example, wouldnt cover the first $1,500 damage on a home policy, Earthquake is for catastrophes. It is designed to provide protection against huge loss the financial investment of With the (5 per cent) deductible, an owner could not look to earthquake insurance to pay for cracks' in walls or even, perhaps a fallen chimney. But for structural loss, collapse or demolition such as occurred in Alaska (1964) or Los Angeles (1971), earthquake insurance does what it is designed to do, Smith said. fie said two-thirds of the earthquake insurance sold in the United States is sold in California. He said companies presently have a total outstanding liability of $5.5 billion of earthquake coverage in California; mostly in commercial coverage which is consid-, erably more expensive than Jim Taney, regional representative of the institute, said Insurers in fact have not ad-vertised quake coverage forcefully.

Many of them feel it would be pointless, and said agents who have pushed quake insurance haven't had very many sales. Taney, said for some reason, have an ostrich-like attitude toward earthquake problem. He said, One current theory maintains that people -are -not able to confront the reality of 1 the earthquake peril, that fac- Girls Replace Pbker in Pleasanton Area to Get New Park prised part of Camp Parks, for public park and other recreational use. time to hand over the reins of government to Riverside county. -The police chief and the city dark began looking for other jobs.

7 Mrs. Van Simponis, owner of the Desert Sands, had dosed the casino 24 hours ear-' lier to avoid a last minute crush. But she said she may reopen the Desert Sands as; topless night club, still legal in Cabazon. During the citys 16 years, it averaged five recall elections a yean; Cabazon changed mayors with the frequency of a banana republic replacing dicta-ors. One city councilman remained on the job only 15 minutes.

Last Sept. 14 in a disincor-vporation election the antigambling bloc won, 192-131. Mayor Charles Brown and the Cabazon city council met Thursday night for the last the purpose of exercising a loophole California antigambling laws which allows municipalities to legalize poker parlors pj local option. When was incorporated, promoters suggested that Ca-bazon amid become a tax free paradie, its municipal services supported by Cabazons share of poker pots. The casino ultimately provided about $12,000 a year to municipal coffers but it was a enter of protest for.

many of the 600 residents of Cabazon. PALM SPRINGS (UPI) -Winter revelers at his desert playground have lost their poker palace but they may have gained a girlie bar. The municipality of Cabia-zon, 17 miles northwest of Palm Springs on Interstate 10, ceased to exist at 12:01 a.m. yesterday. And with it, the Desert Sands Casino, the only legal gambling establishment in the Palm Springs area, closed its doors for the last time.

Cabazon; was incorporated 16 years ago specifically for WEST Wis -When he was a youngster, his parents couldn't afford to let. him ride ponies. So Neil E. Nelson, an auctioneer, has a herd of 40 ponies which he takes to fairs and celebrations solely to give youngsters free rides. 7 PLEASANTON General Services Administration, has authorized the U.S, of Interiors Bureau of Recreation to release 22 acres of surplus property to the Valley Community Services District.

The district will use' the property, which formally com It was also Announced yesterday that tlje Health Education and Welfare Department will release three acres to the Murray School District. The land, adjacent to the district administration office, is to be used for educational purposes. i- V- Af. I..