Looking for something fun to do with the kids or on a date night during the winter? Good luck. We seem to have fewer options these days.

Hollywood offers little that's worth mortgaging the house for, and concerts and professional sporting events are so expensive you can't imagine taking the family.

Even a trip to the mall, if you can find one still fully functioning, is no fun. They are all the same now: boring.

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If you are willing to travel, there are family-fun museums in Boston. Of course, bowling is still an option, provided you don't interfere with league play.

Why don't we skate anymore?

Brooklawn, Buttonwood and Victory Parks in New Bedford offered free ice skating day and night back in the day. I remember Brooklawn and Buttonwood had roaring fireplaces and hot chocolate for skaters, and skating was free.

Also, what happened to roller skating?

New Bedford Roller Skating Rinks Were A Fun Option
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Roller rinks were a staple in our area for many years, providing entertainment, exercise, and a place to socialize for people of all ages.

I don't recall if there were more, but here are a few roller rinks that I remember.

Older folks will recall the Acushnet Park Roller Rink on New Bedford's peninsula. The rink operated from 1916 until it was destroyed by a hurricane in 1954

The roller rink on the corner of Acushnet Avenue and Kenyon Street in New Bedford was a popular hangout in the 1940s.

Hot Wheels operated on Nash Road in New Bedford from 1980 until the early 2000s.

In 1992, Fairhaven's Carousel Family Fun Center opened on David Drown Boulevard. it closed its doors in 2019 after 27 years in business.

The Lincoln Park Roller Rink, which opened in 1940, closed for good in 1985, two years before Lincoln Park finally closed.

I know of only two indoor roller skating rinks in our immediate area: Forrest's Family Fun Center in Taunton and United Skates of America, Inc. in Rumford, Rhode Island.

If you know of others, please share. You can let us know via App Chat on our app.

New Bedford's Ice Skating Rinks of the Past

New Bedford's Brooklawn, Buttonwood, and Victory Parks drew huge crowds to their ice skating rinks. Check out some vintage photos courtesy of Spinner Publications of what it was like on the ice in the Whaling City back in the day.

Gallery Credit: Barry Richard

SouthCoast Public Skating Schedule

Want to take the family public skating? Here's where and when to do it on the SouthCoast.

Gallery Credit: Michael Rock

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