By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer
The Mayfair Civic Association last week heard horror stories of assaults and other misbehavior, allegedly committed by patrons of the WOW Family Fun Center.
A Wawa manager said her store was victimized by six retail thefts linked to WOW customers.
Two SEPTA bus drivers reported assaults against themselves and passengers.
One resident saw a youth urinate on his steps and spray graffiti on a nearby deli, another resident watched a teenager turn over her flower pot, and a woman complained that her son was held up last month at Princeton Avenue and Hawthorne Street.
Mayfair Civic Association president Scott Cummings has a message for WOW officials, who market the center to youths outside the Northeast.
“We’re taking it back,” he said.
Cummings described as Phase I a May 25 civic meeting at which he encouraged neighbors to record nuisance activity linked to WOW, located at 7017 Roosevelt Blvd.
Phase II was the June 22 meeting held at Mayfair Caterers, where complaints were documented.
“Wait till they see Phase III,” Cummings vowed.
The civic association wants to close WOW, or at the very least stop its Saturday night activities. The “teen late skate” ends at 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays.
WOW general manager Mike Slaven was not at the meeting, but believes his guests are not responsible for the damage.
Slaven pointed out that WOW has interior and exterior security cameras and a security staff, and that SEPTA police are on site as patrons head home on buses.
“Look how much time its takes for them to leave the neighborhood,” he said. “It takes twenty minutes.”
The WOW issue is clearly a hot one. Last week’s meeting attracted about 200 people, three television news crews and state Senate candidate Sam Mirarchi.
Cummings urged the residents to write, call or e-mail Steven Heath, president of United Skates of America Inc., the Ohio-based company that owns WOW. Its motto is Clean, Fun, Friendly & Safe.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Cummings said.
Civic association members yearn for the days when the site was home to the Playland amusement park and Boulevard Pools.
They’d even settle for United Skates of America, which operated from 1978-92, until the company shortened the rink and added games, rides and other attractions.
That’s when, according to neighbors, the company stopped marketing the center in the Northeast and instead sought to attract customers from other communities.
“Maybe they should build one in their neighborhood,” said resident Mark DiMichele.
Cummings has three children and lives a couple of blocks from WOW but has never received a promotional flier from the company. He thinks Mayfair youths are intimidated to go inside.
WOW is generally crowded on Friday and Saturday nights. Neighbors aren’t complaining about the Friday family/gospel skate.
What concerns them is what happens when WOW closes on Saturdays. Some parents pick up their children, while others take SEPTA buses home.
Neighbors contend that some teenagers roam through Mayfair, causing property damage to homes and businesses.
Jim McGowan, a SEPTA bus driver, has transported WOW customers on the Route 70 bus. He’s watched them curse, fight, spit on cars and throw things, and heard the words, “The white mother f——- is gonna die.”
On one occasion, a teenager punched McGowan, breaking his glasses and causing an eye injury.
Kathleen Boyle, a Port Richmond resident and recently retired SEPTA bus driver, said it was a “nightmare” to drive the Route 14 bus when WOW customers were on board. She witnessed assaults against passengers.
“My sympathy goes out to all you people,” said Boyle, who faults WOW management for focusing its marketing efforts on public school students from outside the Northeast.
Slaven, the WOW boss, isn’t sure if his customers are responsible for those incidents, but contends that they happened in the distant past. He believes the SEPTA drivers who work on the current bus detail would report no problems.
Mike Thaete, president of the Mayfair Town Watch, has seen teenagers walk in front of traffic on Roosevelt Boulevard. On a few occasions, he saw teens jump on cars and break windows if a motorist honked the horn.
A Battersby Street resident remembers teens overturning her heavy flower pot, chasing her cat (who was lost for two days) and breaking her four garage windows.
Phil O’Driscoll, a resident of the 7100 block of Brous Ave., recalls a WOW customer urinating on his steps. He walked outside to ask the kid to stop.
“He just kept going,” he said.
Slaven insists that most of these complaints are unfounded. He has an open-door policy, and welcomes neighbors to visit him about any problem they see.
The entertainment center boss, who is white, thinks his largely black clientele get a bad rap from people in Mayfair.
“What about the white kids I caught graffitiing my building?” he asked.
Neighbors want to see more police protection near WOW.
Cummings understands that the 15th Police District needs to deploy a large number of officers in the high-crime areas of Frankford.
His proposed solution would be to change the district boundaries, bringing the 2nd, 8th and 24th districts into territory now covered by the 15th.
Cummings, who met with Slaven on Monday night, indicated that the civic association might consider a civil lawsuit against WOW.
One intriguing possibility is possible interest from an unidentified local businessman who would buy the property and convert it into something Mayfair kids could use — an indoor soccer or hockey rink or skateboard park. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com