Lambertville – Then and Now
- Address: Mt. Hope Street at S. Union Street
- Historic Name: Lambertville Roller Rink
- Today: Raritan Pointe Townhomes
 Photo: Lambertville Historical Society |
 Photo: Richard Freedman |
Tony Garefino was the owner of the Lambertville Roller Rink.
We believe that the rink opened in the early to mid 1940s. In addition to roller skating, dances were held here on Friday and Saturday nights.
Mike Cifelli (current owner of Cifelli’s Sunoco) said that he remembers a DJ from Atlantic City coming to play for the dances.
Charlie Garefino (current owner of Garefino Funeral Home and nephew of the late owner Tony Garefino) said he remembers that Dick Clark used to come from Philly to DJ for dances on Friday and Saturday nights.
The skating rink also doubled as the old Lambertville High School’s basketball court, because the ceiling of the school’s second-floor gym was too low for competitive play.
In 1956, Jim Hamilton and his mentor Charlie Evans co-founded a scenic design and set-building studio, Design Associates, which was housed in this former roller skating rink.
Scenery was produced into the 1980s for many Broadway hits, including the original Broadway productions of “Hair,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Godspell,” “Equus” with Richard Burton, and “Dancin’.”
The studio also built touring sets for David Bowie, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones’ “Steel Wheels Tour,” and, for three years, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
The car in the photo would indicate this image is from the 1970s when the building was no longer a roller rink.
In 1988, the Raritan Pointe townhouses were built on the site of the old Lambertville Roller Rink.