Get your skates on

Skateaway at Bundamba was wiped out by the floods almost a year ago, and after several setbacks has risen from the waters and will be better than ever according to owner Deb Buttner, who has had to endure battles with insurance companies, theft, and medical dramas. The rink has been shut since the floods destroyed the interior in January, and along with the bowling alley next door that was also hit, its been a long road, but one that kept Deb going.

“I had to reopen Skateaway - its an Ipswich icon,” she said. “All the schools use it, plus all the parents bring their kids here for sport and fun, not to mention the Roller Derby clubs who train here.

“There’s not really a lot for Ipswich kids to do other than the movies or skate park, and it’s a sound business for us to reopen, I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. There’s a bit of pride as well. We’ve worked twenty six years without a holiday, to get where we were. Just before the floods my husband and I were talking about semi-retiring…then the floods came.”

Mayor Paul Pisasale knows what the reopening will mean for the city.

“The one thing I’ve been asked the most over the last year was about the skating rink and the bowling alley, and to see one of the final pieces of our recovery getting set to reopen is very exciting,” Mayor Pisasale said. “Its been a long journey. Most communities would take about three years to do what we’ve done.”

Deb is excited about how the new rink is coming together.

“All the money is being spent locally. Only the indoor playground is from outside Ipswich. We’ve had our ups and downs with health and stress. You can either fall in a heap and crawl under the couch, or suck it up, get over it and get on with it. I can’t give up now”, Deb said.