JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Watching neighborhood kids with nowhere to go and nothing to do left Terry Harris thinking. Day after day, he’d come home and voice his concerns to his wife about the lack of safe things to do in the Jacksonville community.
Finally, after hearing his repeated frustrations, his wife posed a challenge that would change everything: “What are you going to do about it?”
The answer came quickly.
“When I retire, I’m going to open a skating rink,” Harris told her. That promise would come to fruition after 35 years of military service, where Harris rose to become a Chief Master Sergeant in the Air Force.
Today, that promise has transformed into Sk8 City, a 40,000-square-foot entertainment facility tucked inside an Arlington strip mall. The venue’s walls proudly display military memorabilia, a tribute to service members past and present.
“This is us, for everybody that served because I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t for these guys who sacrificed their lives,” Harris explained.
The name Sk8 City carries its own rich history in Jacksonville, dating back to the 1970s when the original location operated on the Northside.
“It was a skating rink that was in a predominantly Black community,” Harris said. “If you ask anybody in Jacksonville about Sk8 City, their grandmother, their grandkids, everybody grew up at Sk8 City.”
Harris’s own skating journey began early.
“I started skating probably five or six years old,” he said. “It was just something to do.”
That childhood hobby would eventually become his calling, leading him to create a space where new generations could find their own groove.
And he built the space piece by piece.
“Ninety percent of the work you see here, I’ve done,” Harris said.
From building benches and installing rails to creating airbrush artwork throughout the venue, his personal touch is everywhere.
But the impact reaches beyond the physical space. Harris said he takes pride in watching young skaters develop confidence in the rink.
“The most important thing they will get out of roller skating is confidence,” he said. “Once they get it, it’s a lightbulb. These kids are coming in and they will skate continuously for hours nonstop, and the parents have to drag them off the floor.”
Sk8 City opened its Arlington doors seven years ago.
And Harris said he takes pride in it being a safe space with no fights since its start. He said it starts with bringing entire families into the space, which means having something for everyon,e including glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, an arcade, and gaming stations.
“Creating memories, that’s the most important part,” Harris said. “It’s important because families are kind of separated now. I want to win the whole family.”
Looking ahead, Harris plans to expand Sk8 City back to Jacksonville’s Northside, bringing skating full circle to where the legacy began.
“I know why I do it,” Harris said. “It’s a calling.”