Published: 7/24/2021 9:00:22 PM
On the market for years seeking a buyer, the defunct Great View Roller Skating rink property finally has a new owner: the next-door neighbor.
Enfield contractors Thomas Hersey and his son Todd Hersey have purchased the approximately 4-acre lot with a 16,000-square-foot structure that housed the roller rink from Peter and Diana Martin, who operated the rink for 31 years before shutting it down in 2019 because it no longer attracted enough skaters to stay in business.
The property is off Route 4, overlooking Mascoma Lake.
The sales price was $525,000, according to Enfield assessor’s office, significantly less than the $850,000 the Martins were asking for the property when they listed it in 2017. The property is currently assessed by the town at $644,300, down from $700,800 in 2019.
Messages left for Peter Martin were not returned.
The Herseys own Thomas Hersey Construction, an Enfield-based project contractor that also leases heavy machinery and whose office and equipment lot abuts the roller rink property. Since purchasing the adjacent property, the Thomases have undertaken an extensive cleanup of the site and resurfaced the driveway and parking area with packed gravel.
The sale of the former roller skating rink property is the second encouraging business redevelopment news in the heart of Enfield.
Earlier this year, Canaan business couple Dean and Rachelle Vanier purchased a long-abandoned 6-acre plot 1.5 miles to the east of the roller rink on Route 4 where the former Raphael’s Cucina was located.
The Vaniers demolished the two derelict structures on the property and are now weighing development ideas for the site.
Rob Taylor, land use and community development administrator of Enfield, said via email that the town is “happy to see the (former roller rink) site being improved. Maybe this work will help someone envision some productive new use for this property.”
But the town may be waiting before the Herseys decide what their plans are for the former roller rink property, according to Todd Hersey.
Hersey on Thursday said he is already receiving inquiries about the property, from businesses wanting to lease space to unsolicited purchase offers, but his priority at present is to get the site “straightened out” before deciding on the next step.
For the time being, the Herseys are using the parking area to store some of their heavy equipment machinery. But with business warehouse and storage space scarce in the Upper Valley, the Herseys should have little problem finding a tenant if they go that route.
In recent years, the Martins experimented with different ideas to make the property viable.
After the roller rink closed, they converted the indoor space into a “pet resort” for pet day care and boarding, but the coronavirus pandemic put a quick end to that effort in less than a year.
Earlier, after skaters complained they no longer would have a place to skate if the rink closed, they tried re-opening by offering an annual subscription to skaters for a yearly pass, but they never received the minimum number of subscriptions to justify the plan.
Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.
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