About Us
Who are we? We are a coalition of parents, skaters, teachers, business and community leaders, dedicated to the development of a public skatepark in Ann Arbor.
Our mission: To build a free, public, concrete skatepark as a permanent resource for residents in the Ann Arbor area. The skatepark will be designed and built by an experienced skatepark contractor, and include local skaters in the design process.
Skateboarding is a mature sport, with over 16 million skateboarders in the US (4% of all Americans) [1], international competitions televised on ESPN, and top-selling videogames and movies focused on the sport. Ann Arbor itself has a long, rich history of skateboarding, having fostered 7-time Skateboarding World Cup pro champion Andy MacDonald, and a tight, local community of skaters ranging in age from 8 to over 40 years old. It has supported no less than 5 dedicated skateboard shops, several skateboard teams and companies, and hosted skateboarding contests and events. Over 5% of Ann Arbor children 13-17 years old regularly participate in this non-competitive, non-organized, but very social sport.[2]
In decades past, Ann Arbor has torn down a giant metal ramp at Veterans Park, enacted city and campus bylaws outlawing skateboarding downtown, and spent money on prefabricated skate obstacles scattered across the empty Buhr Park ice rink. Without a successful, permanent skatepark in the city, Ann Arbor itself has effectively become a skatepark, with 868 on-campus violations of the University's Skateboarding, Roller Blades, and Roller Skates ordinance cited by the Department of Public Safety in the years 2000 - 2004.
Join us in our mission to develop a public skatepark in Ann Arbor!
1. National Sporting Goods Association, 2000. 2. City of Ann Arbor Parks & Recreation Department Open Space Research Project Telephone Survey, 2004.