New DIY Skatepark Coming To East Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Over the next five years Mecklenburg County will invest $6.9 million dollars into building new skate parks across the city. 

Stephen Barrett, with Charlotte Skate Foundation said a DIY park will be built piece by piece by volunteers on a repaved tennis court in Kilbourne Park. 

“They had a bunch of different locations and when they brought up that we could have this old tennis court I was like that’s a win,” Barrett said. 

A partnership between Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation and Charlotte Skate Foundation put the plan into action, giving skaters a new home after a popular skate park on the former Eastland Mall site was shut down several months ago. 

“I just want people to come out here and enjoy this. This is really big for the Charlotte skate community,” Barrett said. 

It’s the first of the county’s investments into skate parks.

“I think it’s extremely beneficial to the city,” skater Damien Rhodes said. 

The DIY park is already drawing excitement from skaters like Rhodes. 

“My personal opinion on a DIY skate park is that it’s amazing. It’s a way to fully express yourself as a skater with the creativity around it.”