Former Philomath skate rink transforms into new home of Soft Star Shoes

Former roller rink undergoes transformation into new home for Soft Star Shoes.

This will be the third and last summer construction continues on the old “rainbow building.” By this fall the Corvallis-based Soft Star Shoes expects to move in.

Building owner Alan Ayers is the one-man-show with the big task of remodeling the previously decrepit site that sat vacant for 15 years. Ayers’ prior work includes Corvallis’ Sky High Brewing, the downtown American Dream Pizza, and Big River.

During the process of gutting the former roller rink Ayers was able to save 1,000 square feet of the original skate floor. The flooring was removed in single strips that he will piece back together.

“I’ll have to resand it and refinish it, but it will look pretty good I think,” Ayers said.

The old flooring will become repurposed as the new entry point of the building. Ayers raised the area a few feet above the rest of the building so that customers can view the entire shoemaker workshop as they enter.

Soft Star received a gift from a Philomath woman that will also be on display at the entrance. Lois Phelps donated skate shoes she wore as a high-schooler on the Phil-O-Rink skate team. She was part of “Kids On Wheels,” a skate program for youth in the ‘50s that performed chorus lines, pair skating, russian hops, and the waltz.

“I was very glad to donate to them because that was so much better than sticking them back in the closet,” Phelps said.

Phelps moved to Philomath with her family the same day that WWII was over. The town had about 350 residents at the time. She would catch a ride from her brother Rod to practice, carrying her skates in a metal box adorning a Phil-O-Rink sticker and her name stenciled on it.

“That was the big thing to do,” she recalled. “There wasn’t a lot to do.”

Outside of her fond memories skating, the former Phil-O-Rink building holds a special place in Phelps’ heart. Stan Phelps, who would become her husband, started coming to the rink to court her, she said. They married in 1954 when she was a senior in high school. They went on to have five children.

Phelps’ skate shoes will again meet the floor they once glided on, and together their history will live on in the new home of Soft Star Shoes.

Also landlord to the current building Soft Star occupies in Corvallis, the decision to call the building with the arched roof home was a joint effort from Ayers and Soft Star co-owners Larkin Holavarri and Tricia Salcido.

“We were having a hard time finding a place that felt like home for us,” said Holavarri. “We mentioned the building to him just because it looked like something was there.”

After their suggestion of a possible relocation site, Ayers inspected the building’s structure. He was surprised to find that the framing of the roof was still in good condition. According to Ayers, that was the only reason he felt it could be salvaged.

Holavarri and Salcido trusted his skills in revamping the site.

“We knew Alan was going to make it beautiful because that’s what he does,” said Holavarri.

The wide open space with 20-foot ceilings was attractive to him, Holavarri, and Salcido. Although the roof and the entire perimeter was rotted, Ayers saw potential in the charm of the rafters.

“You can’t find those kind of trusses anymore,” Ayers said. “They look pretty cool.”

While repairing the roof, Ayers found a sign from Timber Structures, the company that built the rafters in the ‘50s. Ayers preserved the thin paper sign behind glass in a wood frame to put back into the building as a token of its history.

As Ayers prepares for the expected October move in, he is now tasked with laying an 11,000- square-foot concrete floor with radiant heat, the most efficient way to heat the high-ceiling structure. However, before he could start, he had to raise the entire foundation two feet. Half the building sat in a flood zone and half did not, so raising it in its entirety solved the problem.

The grand opening is not scheduled until early 2017, but Soft Star will be open for business while making finishing touches.

They do not expect an immediate increase in revenue after their move, but they are eager to gain the work and storage space they lack at their current 5,000-square-foot location. All of their employees — about 15 shoemakers and a customer service team — have agreed to make the move with them.