Skateboarders celebrated the long-awaited reopening of Harrisonburg's skate park on Friday. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
[sounds of skating, music playing]
The valley's skater community christened the new park with frontside noseslides, 180s, and kickflips. Yaniel Rodriguez came up from Staunton to try it out.
YANIEL RODRIGUEZ: Honestly, I like it slightly more than the Charlottesville skate park … it's a lot smoother, in my opinion. … There's the bank, and there's also this pad right there that's great, with stairs and rails and ledges. A lot of things to do. A lot to try.
PAUL SOMERS: Yeah, I think it's going to be a madhouse, probably, for a couple months while people are just so excited, because we've been waiting for two years to have this skate park back. It's definitely better than ever.
Paul Somers, owner of The Golden Pony in Harrisonburg, was among the skaters who called on the city to rethink their plans for the park two years ago. The Department of Parks and Recreation had torn out the original facility that was built in 2003, and intended to replace it with steel features that are widely panned by skaters. After a public input process, the city went with an all-concrete design.
SOMERS: I think it's awesome. It's got a really nice flow to it. The work that went into designing the park, I think, really shows once you get here and start riding around, just because the way that you go from obstacle to obstacle, it feels really fluid and natural.
Joey Lugosi also visited from Staunton, where his shop Bizarro offers skate goods and underground obscurities.
JOEY LUGOSI: Everything so far looks good, everything is grinding the way it is, we throw a little sliver of wax down to push our tricks even further, but so far it's a pretty strong layout.
The Westover Skate Park rebuild cost $535,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funds. It's open from sunrise to sunset.
