With only a thin yellow rope acting as a barrier between her and the frenzied crowd, roller derby queen KILLy Munster wheeled out of the lockers at Rivertown Sports arena and past a table of team snacks including a veggie platter and something in a crock pot.
Her teammate, Officer Pain, veered in the other direction, past the security line and into the rink via an aisle carved through the crowd. First in line at the public drinking fountain was a member of the Ohio Roller Girls, filling a water bottle before the night's contest with Munster and Pain, members of G-Rap Attack! And making a visit to the public restroom was G-Rap Attack!'s own Costa Lotta Chaos.
For anyone who wants to watch sports up close and personal, Rivertown Sports is the place to be -- from it's BYOB policy to seating on folding chairs placed inside the rink to brushing shoulders with the athletes in close quarters.
If you want box seats and luxury suites, go somewhere else.
On Top of the Action
"It's cool 'cuz you can sit closer here," says spectator Roxi Brewer, drinking canned beer in one corner of the rink, perhaps 40 feet from where a pack of derby girls whirled around at breakneck speed. "I like that you're so close to the action. It's like in-your-face action."
Since two former co-workers coverted the former Dryland Marina into Rivertown Sports nine years ago, the arena in Grandville has hosted an ever-increasing variety of events. But they all share the common denominator of intimacy for the audience.
Weeknight leagues of recreational roller hockey remain the core business for the inconspicuous venue, set back in an industrial park north of 28th Street SW near the Int. 196 junction. But banners on the wall showcase the variety of weekend events that come to the facility.
Rivertown Sports is the designated home of the Grand Raggidy Roller Girls, made up of two teams, G-Rap Attack! and the Grand Raggidy All- Stars.
The Holland Blast, formerly of the International Basketball League, has played exhibition games here. Characters like "All Nite" Adam Renolds, Frankie "The Face" and The Eternal have battled in events run by the local Rapid Pro Wrestling.
Greenville-based Ground and Pound Promotions brings mixed martial arts cage fighting back to Rivertown on Jan. 9. And this weekend (Dec. 5-6), The Midwest Collegiate Roller Hockey League converges for two days of games featuring teams from major universities in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
In addition to roller hockey, Rivertown hosts dodge ball tournaments, Friday night men's basketball leagues and a skate park. Part of the building is rented to Battle Front Gaming and R/C, which has a dirt track out back for remote-control vehicles.
The restrooms recently were upgraded, and the seating capacity enlarged. Now there's talk of Rivertown hosting boxing, too, and operators hope to stage music concerts by next summer.
"Acoustically, this building is awesome. We don't have parallel walls. Our ceiling is arched, not flat," says Rick Rilett, 52, who launched Rivertown with fellow 50-something Frank Gary, a tool-and-die shop owner. "We're definitely thinking that this would be a really good venue for (concerts).
"As we got into the business and years went by, we realized what I think most facilities like this realize: It is really all about bookable hours. Not many places are able to fill 75 percent or more of their bookable hours with whatever it is they call they core business."
New Use for an Old Space
Rilett and Gary worked together several years at Nelson Metal Products in Grandville. In 2000, they teamed up to turn the former boat dealership at 2605 Sanford Ave. SW into a roller-hockey rink. The pair later partnered with Mike Devore and Tyler Whitcomb, who both work auto-related jobs.
"This was my mid-life crisis," says Rilett, a roller hockey enthusiast who doubles as Rivertown's full-time manager. "I guess at the time there were no year-round roller hockey facilities on the west side of the state. Our building has 100 feet of clear span width wise. You don't see that a lot, especially in this size building. That's how we've got a hockey rink plunked down in the middle."
That rink several years ago attracted the college roller hockey teams for Rivertown's first foray into event hosting.
"The only places in Michigan that hosted any of the (roller hockey) tournaments were two or three of the different rinks in the Detroit metro area," Rilett says. "Schools like Ball State, Purdue, Illinois, Northern Illinois -- they were continually complaining that: 'How come every time we gotta go to Michigan we have to go all the way to the east side? Why can't they find some place closer to us?'
"The league got a hold of us, and we did an event and it has gone great every time."
What has become an annual gathering for the collegiate teams also has fueled an ever-increasing array of bookings at Rivertown in recent years. Center ice suits cage fights and body slams just as easily as face-offs.
Finding the Right Fit
In its third year at Rivertown following a stint at The DeltaPlex Arena & Conference Center in Walker, the roller derby bouts are held on the hockey floor taped with a lighted oval to mark the boundaries of the track. Since the track takes up about half of the rink's space, there's plenty of room for seating - including a "suicide row" where the action literally is in your face.
At 35,000 square feet, Rivertown is smaller than most of the places Amy Bernhard, also known as Disarmin' Darlin, has skated. Yet in Goldilocks style, it's the right fit for the local roller girls. Whatever's lacking in the crowd's questionable knowledge of roller derby rules is offset by the raucous roars that rise up from the rows of seating placed close around the track.
"We weren't by any means selling out the DeltaPlex," Bernhard says. "(Rivertown) was a better fit for us size-wise. It's a good location for the fans, but also for the skaters. It services the lakeshore really well. People can easily come from Holland and get to Rivertown."
Rilett says informal surveys suggest more than 80 percent of spectators for various Rivertown events come from outside Grandville. It doesn't compete on the same scale as Van Andel Arena in drawing crowds to Grand Rapids, but it's bringing in outside money nonetheless.
Dog Dawgs, a 4-year-old business with a storefront at 2939 Wilson Ave. SW less than a mile from Rivertown, was approached first by Rapid Pro Wrestling to serve up some food at the arena. Now, the business is the food vendor for several Rivertown events. Sales of $2 hot dogs and 75-cent sodas generate extra revenue and also bring exposure to Rivertown's crowds.
"The fans that go to this stuff, they find out about us," says Chuck Bagley, who owns Dog Dawgs with Joanne Oxton. "It's a huge advertising thing for us."
Ask roller derby patrons, especially those who watched the team play at The DeltaPlex or who are accustomed to Van Andel Arena, and reactions to Rivertown are mixed. For one, the place is much smaller. And aside from a couple rink-side risers, it lacks the comfort and vantage point of stadium seating. Instead of being set in the heart of a bustling commercial district, the building sits in an industrial zone near a tool and die shop, landscaping firm and painting contractor.
Then again, parking in the lots of those industrial neighbors is plentiful and free. You can stroll in with a six-pack of Bud Light or Pabst Blue Ribbon dangling from your fingers. And the restrooms, though still far from expansive or luxurious, are now much larger, to the delight of spectators like Brewer, 24. "There were three stalls (before) and there was always one that overflowed," she says.
Rivertown is not exactly the kind of celebrity setting befitting the likes of Rachel Bockheim, also known as Jackie Daniels, Brewer's sister and captain of the Grand Raggidy All-Stars who appears with some other local skaters in the roller derby-themed, Drew Barrymore-directed "Whip It" movie released this fall. Brewer is quick to point out that Bockheim would skate anywhere. Besides, whatever glamour Rivertown lacks, it seems just the right match for roller derby.
"It fits the sport," says Brewer's friend, Austin Frank, 27. "It's gritty."
And it's finding a cozy niche in the local economy.
"If you've got an event putting 4,000 people in the DeltaPlex, good for you," Rilett says. "But if you're putting in 800 or 900 people at $12 a ticket, you may have a problem making any money. We're pretty much in the game for any event that's 850-person attendance or less right now.
"The more versatile that you can be to create more bookable hours, the better chances you have. We think we're going to be successful with it."
Matt Vande Bunte writes about business, government, religion and other things. His work has appeared in newspapers including The Grand Rapids Press and Chicago Tribune and in assorted sectors of cyberspace.
Photos:
Roller Derby Match, Rivertown Sports (5)
Photographs by Josh Tyron -All Rights Reserved