Even though he’s an avid skater, Tobe Jacobs Sr. isn’t lacing up his skates on Thursday night at the grand reopening of Wheels Durham—because when he does, “that means it’s serious.”
Behind Jacobs, the rink bustles with dozens of skaters, whizzing past walls adorned with neon glow-in-the-dark graffiti. With a DJ booth, arcade games, the “Roller” cafe, and two flashy disco balls, the reopening celebration has attracted people from all over North Carolina.
Wheels reopened on Thursday after being closed since 2020, following extensive renovations such as replacing piping and flooring, removing the stage and upgrading the lighting.
Jacobs, 55, runs Twinz Entertainment with his twin 19-year-old sons, Kobe and Tobe Jr. They partner with United Skates of America, Inc.—operators of the Wheels Durham Roller Rink— to host themed skating events for ages 18 and up across the state.
Jacobs taught his kids to skate when they were young and has videos of them at Wheels. He admits that the renovations have added excitement to the walls. But even though the original Wheels was plain, he says, it still had its charm.
“I mean it was an exciting place to come to,” he says. “Wheels had a bigger floor, bigger than this. The floor was very smooth, one of the best floors in the country.”
Jacobs isn’t skating tonight, so he can’t speak firsthand about the floor quality at the renovated rink. Good skaters often prefer narrow rinks with longer straightaways to circular ones, he says, as the narrow rinks offer more space to showcase the skaters’ footwork.
As we chat, skaters of all ages and skill levels circle the rink’s perimeter. An elementary-aged girl in inline skates with flashing red, blue, and green lights zooms past. A father steadies his daughter on a skatemate—a plastic frame on wheels, meant to help new skaters keep their balance—slowly guiding her forward. A middle-aged couple in matching beige skates with neon orange wheels glides hand-in-hand across the floor.
The DJ blasts hits from the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s, including “Poison” by Bell Biv DeVoe and Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.”
Two men whip and zip around the rink, aggressively yet gracefully, their movements so synchronized that it’s clear they’ve been skating together for some time.
Their names are Reggie Young Sr. and Will Hayes. They skate off the floor for the first time all night and head towards Jacobs. Turns out they know him.
Young, 60, has been a passionate skater for over 40 years. He met Jacobs back in 1987 at a skating rink in North Durham. He moved to Durham that same year and started skating at Wheels, skating there consistently before it closed in 2020.
“I was disappointed that they shut [Wheels] down because that’s what I do, I skate like three times a week,” he says. “So if I’m not here skating, I go up to Raleigh on Sunday nights and I’m also a floor guard in Roxboro at Palace Point.”
Floor guards, he explains, are employees who monitor safety and enforce rules at the rink.
Hayes, 60, a little late to the party, met Jacobs and Young at the Raleigh United Skates in 2006. Despite living in Fayetteville, he would drive up to Raleigh to attend skate parties. He is now a Raleigh resident.
“If you’re a roller skater you’ll go anywhere, just to skate,” he says.
While Jacobs can’t comment on the quality of the new floor at Wheels, Hayes can. He swaps out five sets of wheels on his $1000, black leather, silver-plated custom-made skates based on a rink’s floor quality and texture, he says.
“[At] this rink the floor is real stiff, so certain people want wheels that can slide,” he said.
But Hayes has a different preference.
“I like [having] grip because when I go on the curve, I’m sharp at it and know that my wheels are not sliding.”
Hayes uses a snow tire analogy. If you get regular tires on your car and it snows, you’re sliding. But if you have snow tires, they’ll hold. Skate wheels are just like that.
As the night wanes and the number of skaters dwindles, Hayes and Young take to the floor once again to display their favorite move: the eagle.
“The eagle is when you have both of your feet facing east and west,” says Young. “Some people think you’ve got to be double-jointed to do it, but no, you don’t.”
More commonly known as the spread eagle, the move involves one skate moving forward and the other moving backward, creating a wide-open stance.
As the clock strikes 8:30, Hayes and Young—some of the last skaters—come off the rink, preparing to leave. They’ve skated for almost two hours, but this isn’t new for them. Like Jacobs, they’re no strangers to long nights on the rink.
Typically “we roll from like 11:30 at night to 4:30 in the morning,” Jacobs says. “Once I put my skates on, I lace them up and don’t come off the floor until it’s time to go.”
Although he didn’t skate tonight, Jacobs will be back for adult skate events, where he can “skate with people from [his] period.” The older skaters have better control, he says, and the DJs play better music.
If you keep an eye out, you may just catch Hayes, Jacobs, and Young skating together at Wheels Durham—gliding across the floor, as they’ve done for years, well into the early hours of the morning.
Above: Skaters glide across the floor at Wheels Durham during its reopening celebration. Photo by Abigail Bromberger — The 9th Street Journal
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