Owasso's newly renovated skate park gets rave reviews
BY RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Friday, October 05, 2012
10/05/12 at 5:23 AM
OWASSO - The city has poured truckloads of cement and roughly $250,000 into renovating its skate park.
Opened to the public since mid-September, the facility is attracting stellar reviews, said Larry Langford, the city's director of recreation and culture.
"I've heard nothing but wonderful things," he said. "Not to discount or degrade any other parks, but comparison-wise, people are saying this is the best one they've seen.
"One Sunday I went up there to check, and we had 100 kids out there," he said.
The grand reopening of the skate park, at 456 S. Main St., will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 13 and will feature skating demonstrations, food, live music and skate vendors, Langford said.
The upgrade enlarged the old park, built in 2003, from 17,000 square feet to about 26,300 square feet and replaced the modular components with concrete bowl structures, Langford said. Surrounding the complex is roughly 670 linear feet of sidewalk.
Money for the park came from a Community Development Block Grant for $113,000 and park development funds totaling $137,000, he said.
"The beauty of this is that the park is spread out," Langford said. "Many parks have just a few features in the middle. We have an intermediate bowl and an advance bowl on either side.
"When they do their routines, they are flowing continually through the park," he said. "It's not just a trick on one feature and stop. It provides for a variety of levels of experience, as well as different kind of tricks throughout the park."
Eric Chinneth, a 20-year-old skater from Tulsa, said the park's large size and variety of obstacles set it apart.
Caleb Bagley, also of Tulsa, agreed.
"It is the most amazing skate park in all of Oklahoma," Bagley, 20, said. "I've been to all the skate parks in Oklahoma. This one blows them all out of the water.
"It is really spread out," he said. "If I had my own skate park, I think this is what it would be like. It has all sorts of obstacles and sizes."
Original Print Headline: Owasso's newly renovated skate park gets rave reviews
Rhett Morgan 918-581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
The grand reopening of Owasso's skate park is scheduled for Oct. 13. The city spent roughly $250,000 on the renovation of the facility. RHETT MORGAN/Tulsa World
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