The Hub Roller Rink & Axle Roller Rinks of Illinois.

The Hub Roller Rink opened in a desolate area in October 1950 at 4510 North Harlem Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. For those familiar with Chicago today, this area is now a shopping mall and small stores.

1950, there was nothing between the Roller Rink and Irving Park Road.

The "Harlem Outdoor Theater (drive-in theater)" was at the corner, and across the street was the Illinois State Police Headquarters. South of Irving Park were some small stores and restaurants that many Roller Rink regulars hung out at after the rink closed.

Hub Roller Skating Rink Concession Stand before the Axle Remodeled.

The HUB was a supersized roller skating rink for its time and housed a Giant Wurlitzer Pipe Organ, initially played by Leon Berry. The skating area was about 275 feet long and some 95 feet wide. The floor was much larger if you included the area outside of the rink railings that allowed skaters access to the rink floor.

VIDEO

Music by Freddy Arnish, Organist at the Hub.

The skating had set "styles of skating" displayed on a lighted sign when the organ music would change tempos. Most of the time, the skating style was "All Skate." Some other skating styles were Couples Only, Waltz, Fox Trot, and a few fancy dances such as Collegiate and the 14-step.

The Romp was when skaters joined hands in groups of 3, 4, or 5 people, and the end person would be "whipped" around the turns, which often would end in a group falling from the high speeds.

The rink was open every night and had matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Weekends always found huge crowds, some who never even put on a pair of skates. The lobby area was almost as big as the rink, and it had a sizeable oval snack bar about 40 feet long in the center of the lobby. Around the outside walls were coat rooms, shoe skate rentals (leave your shoes as security for the rentals), a skate store, and a skate repair window (minor adjustments to rentals or personal skates were free), as well as a small dance floor with a jukebox.
A two-story office and the coat room separated the lobby from the rink. The only access to the rink area was through a large opening at the west end of the lobby.

The Hub changed owners and was renamed "The Axle" in 1974. The company, "M&R Amusement," owned all three roller skating rinks. 

People always remember Maurice Lenell when the Hub is brought up in conversations.

Maurice Lenell Cookie Co., 4510 North Harlem, Norridge, IL.

Axle Roller Rink, 4474 North Harlem Avenue, Norridge, IL.

 

The Pro Skate Shop in the Axle Roller Rink in Niles, Illinois, in my case, gave me the first credit account I had when I was only 14 years old. I put down $60 on a great pair of professional men's roller skates, a special order. It had leather above the ankle boot, high-end wheels, hubs, trucks, and a jump bar to keep the trucks from breaking off under stress. I set the trucks so loosely that they would wobble when I lifted my foot and jiggled it. After about 6 weeks (approximately 15 skating sessions), the shoes were broken in, and I could wear thin socks without getting any blisters!

They were expensive, $175 ($630 today), but I skated there on weekends (2 or 3 times, including Sundays) for 5-6 years, so it paid off for me. Here's how it worked. Every time you went skating, you'd have to give the Pro Shop at least $5 and your shoes to store. After skating, you return the skates to the Pro Shop and provide them with the roller skates to keep until you return the next time. I never told my parents until the day I paid them off (in a little over a year) and brought them home. 

During the Intermissions, the rink held age-related speed races. I won a lot! The winners would get a free pass for their following admission. 

The Axle locations were:

• Countryside, IL: Route 66, just East of LaGrange Road. (Closed Mid-1978)
• Norridge, IL  4510 North Harlem. [Formerly: Hub Roller Skating Rink, Chicago]
• Niles, IL: Milwaukee Avenue just north of Golf Road (Closed August 8, 1984)

The Axle closed on August 8, 1984.

Visit Our Hub & Axle Roller Rinks Souvenir Shop.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.