A skatepark..built by the skaters..funded by the skateboarder-1901 diy skatespot

[Debbie Thompson]

Skate Spot, I'd be willing to bet Springfield and our skateboarders would get behind you if you choose Springfield, maybe Schell Park  That disc golf course?  Springfielders paid for it, and installed it, with the help of the local disc golf association.  Neighborhood organizations, businesses, and even individuals and blocks, and "sponsored" holes for $500 apiece to pay for it.  Volunteers laid it out and installed it.

A skate park may be more ambitious, but I'll bet we'd get behind it.

[thelakelander]

Whatever happened to the skate park idea that was proposed for Schell Park a few years back?

[hound dog]

The area under the Main Street Bridge expressway on the southbank could be easily converted to a skate park.  Already gets skaters. Add concrete forms to the existing bridge foundations. Close off Mary Street and you'd have a continuous course for two blocks. In the shade, too.

[hound dog]

Broc,

A few years back the committee for the San Marco by Design study kicked around the idea of a skate park under the Main Street expressway.  It's adjacent to the Treaty Oak Park on Prudential Drive, and runs between Prudential and Riverplace Blvd. If you want to make a pitch, San Marco Preservation Society might be interested in hearing your ideas.

-Andrew Dickson

[1901DIYSKATESPOT]

@hound dog great idea, a skatepark underneath Main Street expressway would be amazing.

[1901DIYSKATESPOT]

----UPDATE----5-24-13

1. We are putting to final touches on a proposal for the RFI # AD-0547-13 Downtown Waterfront Activation.  Would be killer to get a piece of that property on Bay Street at the old shipyards across from the Maxwell House Factory and city jail.

2. Meeting with President of SPAR soon to speak about the possibility of our project potentially coming to Springfield.

[1901DIYSKATESPOT]

We met with some officials at City Hall to speak about our 1901 project. The city seems receptive to our project. We will be meeting with the same City Hall officials plus Parks and Recreation in the coming weeks.

Not sure if the shipyards are the direction we are going, the property is slotted for only a two year project. We are looking to do a permanent concrete structure. 20+ year project

Really excited to see what the future holds.

[I-10east]

On June 21st 'The Block' an indoor skatepark will open on Talleyrand.

www.actionnewsjax.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=4080967&nazCatId=20896

[TheCat]

From their facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Block-Indoor-Skatepark/455470234531945


The "original" Block. By Regency. Circa ~ 1985

[I-10east]

^^^Nice pics.

[1901DIYSKATESPOT]

@I-10east @BigCat yes we have heard about this. It is local skateboard pro Mike Peterson opening "The Block". It is super cool and going to be great for Jacksonville. He is opening a private buisness where as we are starting a community funded project. The more skateboarding in the Jacksonville the better!! We have a strong skate scene that is about to explode over the coming years.

Mike knows about our project and is supportive of it. Our projects are very different than each other. The bottom line is we need more places to skateboard in Jacksonville. There are hundreds of basketball courts across town but only a couple skateparks. Skateboarding is on a upward trend to eventually have more participants than sports like basketball.

If you have a chance check out this article----30 Reasons why we need more skateparks.
http://www.skatepark.org/park-development/advocacy/2011/01/30-reasons/

Here are a couple highly valid points from the article:

3. Skateboarders are currently under-served in the area.
As a community we understand that we need to support our youth who wish to pursue active, healthy lifestyles. Without community support those groups are required to build their own support systems outside of our community. Do we want to sit by while a significant portion of our youth meet their recreational needs with no support or involvement from our community?4.   Skateboarding has millions of participants nationally and is growing while team sports participation is in decline.

4. Skateboarding has millions of participants nationally and is growing while team sports participation is in decline.
When one considers that skateboarding is the third most popular recreational activity for kids between 6 and 18 years old, it might be assumed there would be skateparks all across our community. We have baseball fields, soccer pitches, jogging paths, and plenty of other places for people to be active. Yet we have no skateparks! It’s time to address the needs of today’s recreational youth.

Broc Litton-1901 DIY Skate Spot
www.facebook.com/1901diyskatespot

[1901DIYSKATESPOT]

Does anyone the status of Schell Park with the ash situation?

[Debbie Thompson]

Project New Ground on Myrtle Avenue could probably tell you.  At one time, before they started remediation and didn't know what they were going to do, having a skate plaza was thought of as a way to remediate the ash situation by capping it off essentially. But that was several years ago.  I know they have done remediation along Hogans Creek along Boulevard.  So they may have already done it.

[JayBird]

Don't know anything about skating or skate parks, but have watched them put this together from office window and it is quite amazing! I'd imagine it'd be quite the draw if tied up DT somewhere.

http://t.co/GY6W9aPe9S

[Noone]

Don't know anything about skating or skate parks, but have watched them put this together from office window and it is quite amazing! I'd imagine it'd be quite the draw if tied up DT somewhere.

http://t.co/GY6W9aPe9S

Very cool. That is happening this weekend.