The Portland daily press., 1884-03-19
BiJOU SKATING PARLOR.
Description of the New Rink on Federal
street 1t Will be Opened TO the Public
Tomorrow Night.

| The new skating rink at the corner of Fed
eral and Church streets, to be called the Biiou
Skating Parlor, will be opened to the public
for the first time tomorrow evening, Twill
not be entirely completed at that time but will
be near enough to it to allow skating, as the
floor, the laying of which has been very SLOW
job, will be down and planed, ready for that
evening.
The building was commenced January 23i.
LIS erection has been delayed very much by the
Stofmy weather but It has been pushed along
| quite rapidly. 1t was designed by Fassetr &
stevens. The style of architecture wonid be
hard to describe but it comes nearest to O leen
Anne of any. The roof has six dormer vim
| dows on each side and three in front. The
| front windows will be orDamented with cathe-
dral glass furnished by Mr.. @. I'll. Farley. The
| general appearance of the building from the
| outside is good and care has been taken to
| make IL an ornan ent to the locality. It sets
| upon piling which gives it firm foundation
ard the noise from the skates will be much
1855 on that account.
The outside dimensions of the building are
llfx90 feet. On the inside around three sides
| there is promenade twelve feet wide. On the
promenade there will be at least two rows of
seats capable OF seating q large number oil pen-
| pie. The surface is ten inches lower than the
promenade and is entered by three gatewsys,
one at the lower end and two in front The
object in having the surface on different
ievel than the rest of the floor is to keep
Skaters from go1t eff from IL with their skates
on as much as possible, as it hurts the skates
very much to get them filled with grit. The
surface is of beech and is laid in fine man
ner. II is doubly mitered at both ends so the
skaters are going lengthwise of the boards all
he time. A row of chairs will be- placed around
| 1t to accommodate the skaters Iu polo these
will be all cleared away leaving the surface
entirely clear without a single object to inter-
tere and consequently there can be but few
fouls. The floor is 61x98 feet and the lumber
t'r 1t was furnished by Rumery, Birbis &
Co.
The frame for the building was made by the
hennebec Framing Company of Fairfield aud
was put togt Their by crew of Portland car
penters under the direction OF Mr.. George
Curtis. There are no posts on the surface but
the roof is held mp by heavy truss work The
general appearance inside is good as every
thing has been made as light as possible but
strong.
The ladies' and gents waiting rooms, skate
and cloak rooms and ticket Office will be in
the front part. The ladies' waiting room oc-
cupl- the corner on Church street and is 10x12
feet in size, giving ample room. Next comes
the skate room, Ska feet in size, and between
that and the door is the gents waiting room.
On the opposite side of the door way which is
arranged in a manner to allow the building to
be emptied in the least possible time is the
ticket flee and between that and the oppo-
site corner comes the coat room. These rooms
Will receive special attention in the fitting up
and every convenience will be Introduces. A
gallery will be arranged on top of them.
The heating apparatus consists of an Exeter
sectional boiler i'll the basement. The build
ing is piped in the same manner of several of
the large Kinks having eight rows of pipes
around the skating surface, between it and the
promenade. These will be covered on the side
next the surface SO there will be no danger
from burns by falling or skating against them.
They are exposed on the spectators side 80 the
heat Will be- carried out among those sitting
down, by the current of air caused by These
skating, and the surface will be comparatively
cool.
The BUILDING was built and is owned by Mr.
Charles K. Warwick. Mr.. George 81. Whitney
so well known to the skating fraternity as hav-
ing been manager of several of the best Kinks
will manage the Bijou, thus insuripg a popu-
lar and respectable place of amusement. The
skates used will be the Winslow New Viney ard
Rollers, and will all be new, several hundred
pairs having been purchased. A nnbby order,
gotten up by Mr.. George BaTrows, will be used
at each session. There will be several famil-
lar faces among the employees; among them
being Mr.. Walter Orne, who will have
charge of the skate room. Mr.. Henry Ham
NETT will be present to instruct beginners at
each session,
The musical features will be furnished by
Chandler, specially arranged for the rink. The
band Will play from gallery on The right
haLd side from the entrance lu the evening
four of the American Co.'s electric lights
ranged les the form of diamond, will illumi-
nate the building, aud one outside will light
the entrance. TIE rink will be open both al
ternoohs and evenings, and the High School
parties will be continued Wednesday after
moons. Saturday afternoon there will be ju-
venile assembly.
The attractions to be presented will be of
| the highest order known to roller skating. The
| first will be given Friday evening, When the
| world renowned Adens, the celebrated bicy-
Gle riders, will give Que of their unequalled
| exhibitions. These gentlemen rank high in
| the art of bicycle riding, and their exhibition
will be well worth seeing. Commencing Thurs
day evening, March 9th, there will be league
poo game eac1 week, the first one being be-
tween The Portland and Saco clubs, on the
above date.
The "B jou" will be the best appointed rink
in the State. II has three exits 10 insure safe
ty in case OF fire, aud being on the ground
floor, there Can DO no danger irom this source.
The prices of admission will be the prevailing
popular prices, and with an experienced mama
ger aud we'll trained corps of employees, it
Can be- safely said that for place OF amuse-
ment it will be unequalled. All the arrange
ments have in view the pleasure and comfort
| of patrons, and no occurrence will be al
| lowed not in accordance with the most refined
views of propriety.
Smash Up.
/ Whan fha IN fraiuht train on the