Rebuild Ramona Roller Rink: Support Needed

Hello everyone. We are trying to raise funds for the continued construction of the historic Ramona Roller Rink! Originally opening on July 3rd, 1928, the Ramona Dance Pavilion saw many people entering its doors. From the big bands in the roaring '20s all the way up to the 1960s when roller skating was getting popular. Ramona has adapted through the times and has become a staple in the small community of Sister Lakes, MI, also a part of the Dowagiac, MI community. Ramona Roller Rink has been owned by the Schaus Family for over 20 years and they love this building with everything they have.

In May 2025, a lightning bolt struck the 96-year-old building, causing a fire that destroyed everything. The building itself was a total loss, but the Schaus family is trying to save everything possible from the debris, including the original dance floor.

The hardest thing about starting almost from scratch is bringing everything up to the new codes. The costs are adding up and our little community is doing what they can to support us. We are trying to put everything back in as well as meet the goals of the new building codes without taking out loans. We had insurance, but it is not going to be enough as we discover how expensive things are right now. There is no wiggle room in these prices; we have tried! If we can complete our goals, this will allow us to keep our prices lower than if we have loans that we will have to repay.

Here are some of our goals we must meet in order to be able to open:

1. Fire Suppression System: We MUST have this to open! This is a code change that we have to meet. Estimated Cost: $365,000 alone!

2. Heating and Air Conditioning: We are trying to have everything properly done to accommodate our building capacity and to meet current codes. This also needs to be complete before we open.

3. Bathrooms: Our bathrooms have to be bigger to meet current building codes. This means that we need bigger bathrooms, a family bathroom, and a cleaning closet.

Estimated total: $3.1 million

Estimated Insurance Coverage: $2.2 million

We had enough insurance to cover the building before prices skyrocketed after 2020. We were told that it would be enough for things at the time. Our plan even had a clause that included code upgrades because we knew that we would have to upgrade to those if anything happened. When we told people that we actually had insurance on the building, most other business owners were shocked that we would even insure a building that old. We didn't realize how rare it was to actually have insurance.

When the fire happened, we were told that we should walk away, just clean it up and sell the property. We could not, in good conscience, leave the Ramona legacy to the past. So we started having fundraisers; we did multiple last year and they helped! They truly have!

We never thought, like everyone else who has been through this, that we would have to rebuild our family business. Never would we have thought that this would happen and what are the odds! Sometimes we still think about the whys and hows, even though we know we are not supposed to, but we are human and we still think about these things. Any donation goes directly to help with the costs of rebuilding this community staple! Construction has started and we are excited to see what the future holds!