Entry No. 58 — the Pittsburgh file — filed under: roller-rink
Neville Roller Drome
The Drome has been running since 1948 on Neville Island, a long strip of industry sitting in the middle of the Ohio River, and it is the largest skating facility in Allegheny County. For decades skaters circled to live organ music, and the tradition survives in one specific slot: Thursday mornings, 10 to 12:30, the Artistic Skate session, organ music playing for people who want to waltz, tango and foxtrot on wheels. The floor carries regulation figure circles painted for competitive artistic skating, which tells you the Thursday crowd is not messing around. Current owners Jim and Sophie have modernized around the edges without sanding off the 1948 bones. Nine dollars to get in, four for skates, quad or inline.
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The story
The Drome has been running since 1948 on Neville Island, a strip of land nearly five miles long sitting in the middle of the Ohio River, mostly industry and a township of about eleven hundred people. It is the largest skating facility in Allegheny County and has spent more than seventy years being a multi-generational proposition rather than a kids' rink. Current owners Jim and Sophie have modernized the amenities without sanding off the 1948 bones, and the pull is genuinely regional: the rink lists skaters coming in from Johnstown and Slippery Rock, Ohio, West Virginia, Washington DC, and as far as the Carolinas and Colorado.
Physically it is a maple hardwood floor under disco balls, with regulation figure circles painted into it for skaters still competing in artistic skating. There is a café doing pizza, nachos, hot dogs and ice cream, a party room, and the Yinz Skate Pro Shop, which will fit you for quads or inlines by appointment and sells wheels, bearings, laces and derby gear. Rental stock runs quads from junior 8 to size 16 and inlines from junior 11 to 13, plus over-the-shoe skates for people who refuse to commit. The building is also home to the Pittsburgh Derby Brats, a junior roller derby team for ages 10 through 17, and the Pittsburgh Undead for adults.
For decades skaters here circled to live organ music. That survives in exactly one slot: Thursday mornings, 10:00 to 12:30, the Artistic Skate session, organ playing while people work the figure circles and dance on wheels. Every other session gets contemporary music. If you want to learn properly, beginner lessons run Wednesdays at 5:30 and Saturdays at noon — the same lesson twice, a five-week commitment, $85 including skate rental and the public session immediately after.
What it's like
You drive; there is no version of this that involves walking to the island. Pay at the ticket window — admission applies to everyone through the door whether or not you skate, the only exception being children two and under who stay off the floor. Cash is preferred, cards accepted with ID, rentals $4 in any size they stock. Socks are required with rentals, and if you bring your own skates they get inspected at the door: clean, toe stops or plugs in on quads, all wheels present on inlines, no Heelys. Thursday morning is the organ session and the regulars are working, so keep out of the painted figure circles and take the outside lane. No phones on the floor, no gum, no sunglasses, and outside food stays in the car — anything you eat, you eat in the café.
The move: Take a Thursday morning off and go to Artistic Skate, 10 to 12:30 — nine dollars each plus four for rentals, so under thirty dollars total for two people and an organ. Nobody will care that you cannot foxtrot; the regulars are working their figure circles and you can hold each other up in the outside lane. If a weekday morning is impossible, Wednesday's Family Skate runs 6:30 to 9 for the same nine dollars, but you lose the organ, which is the entire point.
📍 Before you go The organ only happens at Artistic Skate, Thursday 10:00 AM–12:30 PM — the other sessions are ordinary rink sessions. Full schedule: Wed Family 6:30–9 PM ($9), Thu Artistic 10 AM–12:30 PM ($9), Fri Teen 7:30–10:30 PM ($12), Sat Family 1–4 PM ($10), Sat Teen 8–11 PM ($12), Sun Family 2–5 PM ($10). Skate rental is $4 across the board. Phone (412) 264-9856 or [email protected] — call to confirm, since sessions get displaced by private rentals and competitions. About 20 minutes from downtown via I-79 to the island; there is no walking there. Wear long socks unless you enjoy rental-boot blisters.
- 📍 Pittsburgh
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 5109 Neville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15225
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Pierogies Plus — Five minutes off the island on Island Avenue in McKees Rocks — a pierogi shop in a converted gas station, which is the correct thing to eat after two hours on wheels.
- Bicycle Heaven — Ten minutes east on the Ohio River side, and the obvious counterweight: 6,000 bicycles you look at, after a floor you actually rolled on.
- Get Hip Recordings — Same North Side industrial corridor, in the R.J. Casey park — a garage-label warehouse to dig through once your ankles have had enough.
More weird in Pittsburgh
Good to know
How do I get there?
5109 Neville Road, on Neville Island in the middle of the Ohio River, roughly twenty minutes from downtown via I-79 and the Neville Island Bridge. You drive — the island is industrial and there is no walk-up version. Phone (412) 264-9856 or [email protected].
What does a session cost?
Admission runs $9 to $12 depending on the session — Wednesday Family 6:30–9PM and Thursday Artistic 10AM–12:30PM are $9, Saturday and Sunday Family sessions $10, Friday and Saturday Teen sessions $12. Skate rental is $4 across the board, and everyone entering pays, skating or not.
When can I actually hear the organ?
Only at Artistic Skate, Thursday 10:00AM–12:30PM, $9 plus $4 rental. Every other session plays contemporary music. Call ahead regardless — sessions get displaced by private rentals and competitions.
I can't skate. Is there a way to learn?
Beginner lessons run Wednesdays at 5:30PM and Saturdays at noon, with the same lesson taught both days. It's a five-week commitment at $85 total, covering a 15-minute warm-up, a 45-minute lesson, skate rental, and the public session straight afterward.
What are the rules for kids and teens?
Friday and Saturday evenings are dedicated to ages 10 and up — under-10s aren't permitted, no drop-offs, and anyone 10 to 17 needs a parent or guardian 21 or older present the whole night unless they're on their own skates and following rink rules.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site
last checked: 2026-08-26