SALT LAKE CITY — Each person who goes inside the Derby Depot in Salt Lake City seems to have a reason for being there.
That safe space, however, may be coming to a close, after they found out their landlord will be ending their lease come June, according to Wasatch Junior Rollers Director of Athletics Katie Buffington.
“I was a gay kid living in a red state, I didn't have a lot of options,” said Buffington.
FOX 13 spoke with several league members on what the Derby Depot meant to them.
“I've always been a very athletic kid. I just didn't really have a sport I super fit into,” said league member Spencer McClinton. “This is where I learned to skate. This is where I learned how to play derby. This has been my home for the past, like eight years of my life.”
“I don't know many mom/kid duos that hang out as much as we do,” said other league member Krista Rail. “Having this space has been really important.”
If there’s one common theme, it’s how accepting the sport is.
“I joined when I was 38 years old. And a lot of people would be like, that's really old,” said Rail. "It's all genders, it's all ages, it's all sizes, it's all abilities.”
“I've spent hours upon hours in this facility. I've helped get it to where it is today, and so it's kind of like losing a second home,” said Lindsay Starke, coach for the Wasatch Roller Derby.
Their landlord, Flex, said the following in a statement:
“As FlexEtc continues to expand within the building, our goal is to meet growing demand from local businesses needing flexible space to scale their operations. We recognize that this timing may overlap with their season and understand how that creates challenges. The intent behind providing notice was precisely to give the Roller Derby team time to prepare for future plans — not to displace them unexpectedly.”
The main issue, however, has been relocating.
“We have a limited amount of income to pay rent with and with space requirements like this, where we can't have pillars in the middle, or things like that that people can run into. It's just been a challenge to find a space that works,” said Buffington.
They are now turning to the community for help.
“Donors to help support finding new space, people who know of spaces and let us know, linking up with other businesses to help make a partnership happen, creating a sporting warehouse for multiple sports, whatever it's going to take,” said Buffington.
Utah is not the only state struggling to keep roller derby alive, which may be because of how niche the sport is.
“If you don't know what it is, you don't know and a lot of places are struggling to maintain their spaces because they just can't bring in the revenue that they need to anymore with prices going up,” Buffington said.
But for now, Starke said the show must go on.
“We're still planning a season as normal, because that's the only way we will make the revenue to fund a new space,” Starke said, "whether we find a beautiful new home or not, we're always going to continue to keep skating.”
According to Flex, there is a six-month notice designed to give both sides time to plan prior to June 30th.
The league is asking people who may know of spaces to e-mail wasatchjuniorrollers@gmail.com.
Full Flex statement:
"We’ve enjoyed a long and positive relationship with Salt Lake Roller Derby and sincerely value the energy they’ve brought to the Flex community over the years. Our agreement included a mutually agreed-upon six-month notice provision designed to give both sides adequate time to plan and mitigate any disruption. This will be happening June 30th.
As FlexEtc continues to expand within the building, our goal is to meet growing demand from local businesses needing flexible space to scale their operations. We recognize that this timing may overlap with their season and understand how that creates challenges. The intent behind providing notice was precisely to give the Roller Derby team time to prepare for future plans — not to displace them unexpectedly.
We’re grateful for their partnership and wish them continued success. At FlexEtc, our mission remains focused on helping small and mid-sized businesses grow through adaptable warehouse and workspace solutions that evolve with our community’s needs."
