Lakeland skateboarders start grass roots effort to build public skate park

LAKELAND, Fla. - When the only public skate park in Lakeland recently closed for good, skaters were left with no public place to skate.

The skate park was not in good shape, but many skaters took it for granted and didn’t realize how much they would miss it when it was gone.

“All of a sudden you’re like, wow, we’re losing it? Then you start to appreciate it much much more,” said Matthew Dockery, who has been skating at Adair Park since he was little.

The park closed late last year after the city sold the property to the adjacent hospital for an expansion project. Although there is still a gate open, most of the park is not suitable for skateboarding.

“As soon as everyone realized that the park was going away, everyone stepped up to the plate and said, wait why are we losing the only park we have,” Dockery said.

The group got together, formed a Facebook page called Lakeland Skaters Alliance, and organized ideas for a new park.

The group recently met with city leaders to discuss what could be done.

“We definitely love the fact that we’ve got a community organized group that will assist us in building a park, with the elements that they’re looking for,” said Kevin Cook, Spokesman for the City of Lakeland.

He said the city had always intended on building a new park downtown to replace the old one, but just as they started putting the plans together, a business started up right next to the property -- coincidentally, a indoor skate park business.

“It’s been a long-standing philosophy that we don’t want to compete with private enterprise,” Cook said.

After that happened, the plans stalled out.

Cook says the city is pushing forward even more now that the Lakeland Skaters Alliance is working with them on designing and even raising funds for the new park.

Dockery -- who insists the last thing he wants to see is someone go out of business -- says a public park is necessary, primarily because of cost.

“A guy who skates every day of the week or even two or three times a week can’t really afford seven, eight, or nine dollars for a four-hour session at the skate park,” he said. “It becomes quite expensive.”

If kids can’t afford it, they will likely skate elsewhere -- places that may not allow it.

The owner of the business, called Old School Compound Skate Park, told ABC Action News off-camera that he’s not sure the City of Lakeland can support two skate parks, but he said he would work with the city on it.

The city says it will continue to work with the user groups and they hope to have the plans for a new public skate park in place within six months and have it built as soon as next year.

Cook says they hope to have a private-public partnership, possibly involving the skate park business already in place.