Charlottesville’s New Skate Park

For quite some time now, Charlottesville has been home to a fairly vibrant skateboarding culture in relation to the size of the city. With several skate shops that have come and gone, the resilience of skateboarders throughout the city has shone through the tough times.

Charlottesville skateboarding faced adversity when the original McIntire Skate Park was torn down in order to make way for the new bypass bridge off of McIntire road.

Since then, the skate park has been moved across the 250 bypass to a much smaller space just on the edge of the former McIntire golf course. With a serious reduction in features, space, and amenities, many skaters feel that the “new” park, frankly, just does not compare to the old one.

Fortunately, there is a beacon of hope on the horizon.

The city of Charlottesville has a multi-million dollar plan to advance skating in the city by constructing an all-concrete skate plaza where the current park stands.

The plans and concepts for the new park have been approved by all regulatory agencies, with the budget also having been submitted to the city and Parks and Recreation offices.

Former PVCC student and skater Shiruna Ntenda said, “It was a travesty to see the old skate park get torn down, and for Charlottesville’s skaters to only be provided with a fraction of what we had all grown to know and love about skating in town. However, all of my friends and I are ecstatic to see what the future will bring, but most of all we are stoked to ride a perfect concrete park right here in our hometown.”