MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Management at The Crystal Palace spoke to WREG Monday to defend the business after several people said the skating rink should be shut down.
“They have nothing else to do on the weekends but to come to the skating rink and have fun,” Kenny Lee, a promoter at The Crystal Palace, said. “To say they want to take that away from those kids, I think it’s just absolutely ridiculous.”
The comments came after a mother was accused of shooting into a crowd full of children outside of the rink. Two teenagers were hit with bullets and sent to the hospital.
A string of fights and other problems at The Crystal Palace has management taking action before things spiral out of control.
Teen skating night has been replaced by a family night on Saturdays.
“A parent is going to have to bring their kid in and take their kid home with them when they leave,” Landius Matthews said. “It’s too many walk-ups, too many parents who are not picking their kids up. So what happens is after we close, like Saturday night, an hour after we close we still got kids that we’re still trying to make sure they’re okay.”
The Crystal Palace originally closed at 11:30 p.m.
Management began shutting down 30 minutes earlier, at 11 p.m., after WREG obtained exclusive video of a large fight inside of the skating rink.
The skating rink will now close at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday nights.
Children will no longer be allowed to enter the business without a parent or guardian.
