In reading the tea-leaves, we certainly are in a golden age of skatepark construction in DFW. The vast majority of modern, poured-in concrete skateparks have been built since 2013. More kids than ever in DFW are able to access a skatepark in their area. We all know that skateboarding is foremost about being with friends and sharing in all that is fun about skateboarding. One can’t help but wonder though, will the accessibility to more skateparks generate more local skateboarders competitive on the national scene? Will DFW’s investment in skateparks for their communities make it a nationwide leader in producing the next generation of great skaters? Let's review the data, so you can draw your own conclusions.
Way Back In The Day: The Edge at Allen Station, all 38K square feet opened in 2005. This was the biggest park in Texas at the time. Railroad Park in Lewisville opened in 2009 and Lively in Irving opened in 2010.
The Skatepark Golden Age Begins: in April 2013, Gabe Nesbitt Community Park, better known as McKinney Skatepark added 30,000 skate-able square feet to the DFW metroplex. Shortly thereafter, Providence Village (5,400 sqft) and Cody Rocamontes Memorial (Arlington, 3,500 sqft) opened.
Another big park, Vandergriff (Arlington) added 30,000 sqft in April, 2014, with Granbury opening in June 2014. Roanoke (20,000 sqft) and Watauga followed suit in 2015. Fort Worth put points on the board for the DFW namesake cities with 14,000 sqft at Chisholm Trail in June 2016.
Big Additions: 2017 was a big year, Denton added a park in June, Frisco's 47,000 sqft park opened in August 2017, and The Colony expanded an existing park to 12,000 sqft of new concrete features. With 20,000 sqft planned for Plano's Carpenter Park in 2018, even more great skating is to come.
Adding it all up, 278,500 square feet of concrete skateparks have been built in DFW, with 187,000 of that construction having occurred since 2013. If we play this out, a talented 7-year-old in 2013 learning on a newly built park will be 18 in 2024... Mark your calendars for that year's Tampa Am, Vans Pool Party, Olympics or X-Games and look for a North Texan with a Gold Medal.
Want to learn about the companies that built these parks, read this.
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Learn about the Garland Skatepark opening and how the community made it happen