Gerry’s Roller Rink set to reopen Friday after 10-month closure

Gerry’s Roller Rink Owner Norma Parks has been “waiting and waiting and waiting” for months without success on Frankfort officials to tell her some pretty basic information, such as what COVID-19 business category the roller rink falls into and exactly what she needed to do in order to reopen.

Now, she and her family are just going reopen it any way with opening night set for New Year’s Day.

“We decided after 10 months we had to open,” she noted.

The roller rink, which is one of Corbin’s oldest businesses, has gone without income since March 10. All the food in the concession stand has gone bad and now has to be replaced.

The business didn’t qualify for any federal aid because Parks family owns the land and the building so it doesn’t pay rent or have a mortgage.

The business is run by family members so it doesn’t show any “employees” on paper.

“We have been blessed,” Parks admits noting that her business is much more fortunate than many others out there.

Parks said that one of the biggest challenges has been finding cleaning supplies, some of which are still hard to come by.

The roller rink is planning to do increased cleaning and do social distancing as much as possible once it reopens.

“We are just going to have to do the best we can,” she added.

Parks asked people to just spread the word that the roller rink is opening back up.

Gerry’s will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 – 10:30 p.m., and on Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m.

Parks parents built the roller rink in 1954.

She noted that former Mayor Willard McBurney once told her that Gerry’s Roller Rink is the oldest business in Corbin operating at the original location and still being run by the same family.