The Harborena roller skating rink, a fixture at the foot of the Simpson Avenue Bridge in Hoquiam since it opened in 1953, has new owners who plan to keep the rink open and give it a little makeover while honoring its rich history.
Sam Nazario, owner of the Jitter House on Simpson Avenue in Hoquiam, announced to the Hoquiam City Council Monday that the paperwork had been signed and the sale was expected to close Tuesday.
Nazario and his wife Cristina opened the Jitter House in November 2016, and have built it into a staple of downtown Hoquiam. Nazario will tell you it was a fortuitous series of events that led to their decision to dive into an undertaking like the Jitter House.
Their decision to purchase – along with another couple, Landon and Emily Shaw – the Harborena followed a similar path.
“Jens and I became good friends and several years ago he asked if I’d want to buy the Harborena,” he said. “It just wasn’t achievable at the time.”
Jens is Jens Boeholt, who along with his wife Ruth, operated the Harborena for many years. Ruth passed away in January. It was Jens’ father, Ernie, who built the structure from the ground up, starting in the late 1940s.
One of the fortuitous events that led to the sale occurred just a few months ago.
“After a while had passed, my wife called me and said, ‘Jens is on a ladder at his place, all by himself,’” said Nazario, who closed up the Jitter House that day to go help his friend. “He was putting up the for sale signs.”
Shortly after that, the Nazario’s 11-year-old daughter came home crying. Jens is selling it, she said of the Harborena. Sam said that hit home, the thought of the community, and his own child, losing the rink.
“Not much later, Elkie, Jens’ daughter, was having coffee here and said, ‘It would be nice if you bought the Harborena,’” said Nazario.
A couple of months later, the Nazarios and Shaws wrapped up negotiations and an offer was accepted. Nazario said Jens told him he’d had other offers, from outside interests, but preferred to sell to a local group who would keep the rink his family had founded operational.
Nazario is a spiritual man, active in Hoquiam’s World of Praise United Pentecostal Church, and believes God had a hand in guiding him to buy the Harborena. Looking at the story, it’s hard to argue otherwise.
“You could tell He was involved,” he said. “It was amazing, the way it came to pass, everything lining up the way it happened.”
The rink is in good condition as it is; Boeholt and his family kept it up, including the original maple floor. The new owners intend to give the Harborena a little TLC, as Nazario put it: “A little paint, some new skates, lights,” but the rink will maintain its original character. The idea is to “maintain the legacy” that the Boeholts built decades ago.
For now the hours of operation will stay the same, though expanded hours could be down the road. The existing small staff will continue as well.
As he did with the Jitter House, which was named Greater Grays Harbor’s small business of the year in 2019, Nazario intends to focus on customer service and partnering with the community. Like the Jitter House, he wants the Harborena to be a place people think of when they’re planning events, and when they think of a place to go where you’ll be treated like family.
“We are blessed that everything came together the way it did,” said Nazario. “This is something we definitely will work hard at to make grow.”
