By Michele Leivas
Skateboarders, bladers and roller-skaters alike dropped in to celebrate the official opening of Riverside’s Artist Walk Skate Park last month.
Skaters joined Mayor Donna Deegan, District 7 City Councilmember Jimmy Peluso and city officials on stage at the Aug. 8 ribbon cutting before grabbing their boards and enjoying the new park, which spans 1,000 feet and is located beneath the Fuller Warren Bridge between Riverside Avenue and Park Street.
Skateboarder Travis Ochab said Jacksonville was long overdue for a covered skatepark for the community to enjoy.
“It’s about time something covered in Jacksonville has come around,” he said. “Especially something good for the little kids.”
Ochab said he’ll be returning with his son and feels the park is big enough to give everyone enough space to enjoy it, regardless of their skill level or experience, without worrying about running into each other.
“Definitely good stuff for everybody to skate, no matter how good you are,” he added.
Peluso said the community turnout at the ribbon cutting demonstrated how long the community had been waiting for such an amenity.
“To come out on a Thursday morning for a press conference with the mayor and your city councilman is maybe the least skater culture thing ever,” Peluso said. “I think we’re clearly seeing people are hungry for this.”
Still to come to the area is the remainder of the Artist Walk Park, which will include a plaza space for special programming, areas for food trucks and turf lawn spaces. During her address at the August ceremony, Deegan said the skate park, designed and built by California Skatepark, serves as the “foundation” for Artist Walk.
“Think of the park’s design as a flowing art piece,” Deegan said.
The Artist Walk Skate Park is beneath the Fuller Warren Shared-Use Path and across the street from the Riverside Arts Market, with the Emerald Trail passing through it and connecting to the Riverwalk, creating a hub of connectivity in the Riverside community.
“This, to me, almost solidifies that all roads lead to Riverside,” Peluso said.
The Artist Walk Skate Park is the newest addition to Jacksonville’s already rich skater community. Kona Skate Park, the oldest skate park in the country, is located in nearby Arlington, although Deegan said the Artist Walk Skate Park holds a special designation of its own.
“The new Artist Walk Skate Park will be the first skate park in the city on the west side of the St. Johns River,” she said.
