First County-Owned Skatepark to Open Saturday

carbonspace — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:52:33 +0000

Homeowners Association Paid for Construction of Facility

Starting this weekend, skateboarders in eastern Loudoun will no longer have to drive elsewhere to get their fill of nosegrinds, frontslides and fakies.

This Saturday, Dec. 12, the first Loudoun County-owned skate park will open in South Riding.

Built for $150,000 over a 37-day period, the concrete park is 5,600 square feet of ramps, hills and rails situated next to the Dulles South Multipurpose Center. The only other public skate park within Loudoun’s borders is owned by the Town of Leesburg.

“Kids have been chomping at the bit for this,” said Claire Smith, spokeswoman for the Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.

The project with a joint venture between the county, which owns the land, and the South Riding Proprietary—the community’s homeowners association—which fronted the money to build the park.

“A lot of people in the county want things we just can’t afford right now,” Smith said, added that’s why “this has been such a great partnership.”

Jeff Salmon, a member of South Riding’s board of directors, said the association had sought financial help from surrounding communities to build the park, but was unsuccessful. So it decided to pay for the entire project itself.

“We feel by providing this additional resource that we are adding value for all the homeowners of South Riding,” Salmon said.

SITE Design Group Inc., of Solana Beach, Calif., designed the park, but not without the help of those who will be using it. According to Salmon, local skateboarders got to view the plans beforehand and submitted their input on how the park should be laid out.

He also said a skateboarding demo held at the site in July drew more than 100 people. “People are excited about this,” he said.

Besides skateboards, the park will also accommodate inline skates and non-motorized scooters. It has ramps, rails, stairs, stacked ledges, floating quarter pipes and a pump bump. The county will be responsible for the park’s maintenance, operation, oversight and administration.

Saturday’s opening will take place at 1 p.m.

The Dulles South Multipurpose Center is at 24950 Riding Center Drive. For more information, call 703-777-0343 or visit www.southriding.net.

SOUTH RIDING, VA – Starting this weekend, skateboarders in eastern Loudoun will no longer have to drive elsewhere to get their fill of nosegrinds, frontslides and fakies.