7-24-2007
Ground Breaking Ceremony August 8th!
It is finally happening!!!! After two years of hard work, delays, and waiting it is time to begin. The date has been set for the official ground breaking ceremony for the Knoxville Skatepark!!!!! The ground breaking will take place on Wednesday, August 8th at 10:30 a.m. Both of the mayors will be in attendance along with the city and county parks officials, the Knoxville Skatepark Task Force, and skatepark builder Wally Hollyday. It will be held at the site of the skatepark at the softball fields in Tyson Park. Come on out and show your support for the park.

Movies in the Park
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will have the skatepark booth set up for this Friday's Movies in the Park at Concord Park in West Knoxville, so come on by, enjoy a movie, find out the latest on the skatepark, and help support the cause. Check back often as we have several other events coming up over the next few months to raise money and awareness for the skatepark. Upcoming Events: Greenway Skate Run, Bent Fork Motorcycle Festival, and more!!!!

7-3-2007
Ground Breaking, More Events
Well we are getting down to the wire for construction to begin on the Knoxville Skatepark at Tyson Park. Only a month to go before the softball field is turned over the the Knoxville Skatepark Task Force and construction can begin. We raised about another $2,000 dollars from our efforts at Sundown in the City, but we are still a little short on the proposed phase 1 plans for the skatepark. We will be hosting events to raise more donations through this fall as the construction of the park gets underway. We have several events in the planning stages, but no firm dates yet, so check this website often for updates. So come on out to the events, buy a t-shirt and donate to the upcoming Knoxville Skatepark.

6-18-2007
National Go Skateboarding Day, Sundown in the City, Saturday Night on the Square
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will be hosting an event for National Go Skateboarding Day, this Thursday at the Concord Skatepark. Show off your best trick at Concord Park at 7pm, and win a free Pluto deck!
  The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will have their booth set up at this weeks Sundown in the City. Headlining the music will be the Drive By Truckers. come on by and get a sticker or buy a t-shirt to donate to the cause.
  We will also have a booth this Sat at Saturday Night on the Square from 4:00-11:00. Come downtown, check out the entertainment and stop by our booth for a t-shirt, a sticker, or just to find out the latest news on the upcoming ground breaking and construction of the Knoxville Skatepark to be located at Tyson Park.

5-30-2007
Movies in the Park
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will be helping out with Movies in the park again this year. The dates and movies are as follows:

• June 1 The Guardian,
• June 15- Ghost Rider(Biker Night),
• June 29- Failure to Launch
• July 27- Talladega Nights: Ricky Bobbie(NASCAR Night)
• Aug 3- We are Marshall

• Parking donation is $5 (goes to the Knoxville Skatepark)
• Free admission. All proceeds go to build a new skate park at Tyson Park construction starts in August
• Chairs and blankets and pets are welcome. Popcorn and soft drinks will be available. So come on out, enjoy a movie and help to support the Knoxville Skatepark.

5-22-2007
Roller Girls, Fountain City, Sevierville, Go Skate Day
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will be doing a Exhibition during the Hard Knox Roller girls bout against the Nashville Roller Girls on Sunday, May 27, at the Smoky Mountain Skate Center in Maryville. Colonel Bacchus will be bring out all of his crazy skateboards and there will also be the world's first exhibition of Skateboard Roller Derby. For more information check out their website.

In other news, the Fountain City Skatepark is moving forward and a site plan has been created. There is still a lot of work to be done, but things are beginning to move forward on the north side of town.

Seviervillle is also in the process of building a skatepark and are currently having organizational meetings to raise awareness and funds. Check out their website.

The Knoxville Skatepark task force will also be hosting an event on June 21st for national Go Skate Day. Stay tuned for details coming soon.

5-2-2007
GoExpo May 12 @ Victor Ashe Park
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will have thier booth set up at the GoExpo at Victor Ashe Park on May 12. We will have t-shirts, stickers and ramps! Skating and Demos throughout the day. Come on down and check it out, buy a t-shirt, donate to the cause and find out all the latest news on the upcoming Knoxville/Knox County Skatepark.

4-26-2007
Skateboarding Article in UT Beacon
I found this article about Skateboarding on the University of Tennessee campus. Better get your skate on at the courtyard before it is all over. I have also posted it on our news page.

4-24-2007
Skateboarding documentary wins Award
Central High School skateboarders Clayton Lee, Joe Nunez, Angel Ibarra, Megan Shirk and Andrew Tirado, won "The Line" Student Audio Visual Film Festival's Best of Show and Best High School Documentary in January. Thier Short film on the quest of getting a skatepark in Knoxville has help to promote the cause and to show the need for a skatepark in Knoxville. You can read more about it on our news page, or at the News-Sentinal website. Congrats guys!

4-20-2007
Pro Skaters at Pluto Sports
Pluto Sports will be having a group of Professional Skateboarders visiting on Tuesday, 4/24. They will be at Pluto Sports on the Cumberland Ave. Strip from 5:00-6:00 that afternoon, and then they will be headed downtown to the World Grotto on Market Square for a skate Video Showing from 6:30 till 8:00 that evening.
Keith Hufnagel, James Hardy, JT Aultz, Bobby Worrest, Peter Ramondetta, Justin Brock, Ernie Torres and more from Real Skateboards, Krooked Skateboards, and Anti-Hero Skateboards will be there. The video showing at World Grotto will be free, with cokes and water for $1. So come on down to Pluto or the Grotto and hang with some of skateboarding's hottest pros.

4-14-2007
Art of Skateboarding
Justin Hudson and Patrick Barry will be hosting a showing of thier skate related artwork and design Friday April 20th. Here is the blurb they sent.

"Mosey downtown April 20 to support the Knoxville skatepark effort,and enjoy a collection of graphics and entertainment promoting the soon-to-be-skate-mecca. Featuring design and artwork by Justin Hudson and Patrick Barry. 505 W Depot Ave, left off N Broadway, just before Graning Paint, when coming from the strip (if using online mapping, enter 585 W Depot Ave, as the map is inaccurate). Friday, April 20, 7-10 PM, no public restrooms."

4-10-2007
Sundown in the City
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will have booth at Sundown again this year. Come on by and check out the latest info on the Knoxville Skatepark. We will have stickers and t-shirts for a small donation with proceeds going to the Knoxville Skatepark Fund. We are still needing to raise a little more money to get a park that Knoxville and Knox County can be really proud of. So, come on out enjoy some music and GIVE to the Knoxville Skatepark.

We will be hosting several events this summer to raise money for the skatepark, so check back soon for the latest info.

3-29-2007
The Big Push
After taking the winter off, the final push for the Knoxville Skatepark is underway. We are still on schedule to break ground on the biggest skatepark Knoxville has ever seen in August at Tyson Park. The "skatepad" at Concord park has been a great success, and similar small skateparks are in the plans for Fountain City and Powell/Karns areas of Knox County.

The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will be holding quite a few fund raising events this summer to generate more funding for the skatepark at Tyson, and we are just a little bit away from adding a few new skateable elements to the current design, so beg your parents, ask your local businesses, get a summer job, or just help out by buying a t-shirt to donate to the skatepark. We are also seeking Corporate/Business donations, so feel free to contact us if you would like to help. Keep checking back for the latest fundraising events, and help to support the upcoming Knoxville Skatepark.

1-18-2007
Metro Pulse Article
Good article in the Metro Pulse today about the Concord skatepark, and the upcoming Tyson Skatepark. You can check it out here, or on this website here.

1-15-2007
Wally Hollyday and Tony Hawk
Wally Hollyday, skatepark designer for CA skateparks was in town last week to take a look at the Tyson park site, and to show the plan he is working on for the upcoming Knoxville skatepark. The meeting went well, and the new plans are looking good. Several ideas for layout and future expansions were also discussed. Things are looking good, and we should be able to break ground this August with completion in about 4 months.   You can read more about in the News-Sentinel article.

In other news, the Tony Hawk Foundation has committed a $25,000 grant to the upcoming Knoxville Skatepark. This is just one of the first things we will be doing this years to raise funds and awareness for the skatepark. Remember, the more funds we can raise, the more sponsors we can get, the bigger and better a park we will have. Thanks to world famous skateboarder, Tony Hawk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

1-9-2007
Fountain City Skatepark Meeting
Last night the there was a community meeting in Fountain City to discuss their need for a skatepark.  Joe Walsh of the City parks, and Brian Beauchene of Pluto did a short presentation on what is going on at the Concord skatepark, and how it was organized, and about plans for the upcoming Tyson Skatepark.  I would like to thank Joe Walsh for all the excellent effort he has put in on the whole skatepark system idea. 

The community of Fountain City is forming a committee to take a look at some sites for a future site about North Knoxville, and to raise funds for the park. It should wind up being something like the Concord skatepark.  I will keep everyone posted as new developments come around.

12-21-2006
Concord Skatepark - It's OPEN !!!!!!!
Knox county's first public skatepark opened for skating a couple of weeks ago, and you can skate there today!!!!

Thanks to the Knox County Parks and Director Doug Bataille for giving skateboarders in knox county thier first legal place to skate. It has become very popular in the short time it has been open, and local skaters are ripping it up! This is just the first of several small parks planned for Knox County, with the big park still schedule to begin construction at Tyson Park in the summer of '07. Grand opening celebrations for the Concord park will be going on sometime in the new year, so check back for the latest info.

11-25-2006
Concord Skatepark - Update 3

Lastest picature of the construction on the new Concord Park satellite The ramps have been delivered, and the new ashphalt painted. The ramps should be setup soon.

11-20-2006
Concord Skatepark - Update 2
An asphalt slab has been put down at the site of the upcoming Concord skatepark. I am not sure what else needs to be done to finish it off, but I know that the ramps for it are on order, and should be here very soon. Hopefully the first skatepark in the Knoxville area should be open and skating before Christmas. This will be the first of several small "satellite" skateparks that the city and county are building to augment the big skatepark that is going in at Tyson park next summer. Make no mistake, the big, concrete skatepark, to be built by Wally Hollyday, is still on for next summer, but this small park should keep things moving forward. Check back soon, more details on the Concord park, and when it will be ready for skating should be coming soon.

10-29-2006
Concord Skatepark - Update

Lastest picature of the construction on the new Concord Park satellite skatepark. The ramps are on order, and should be there soon.

10-21-2006
Concord Skatepark - Update
It looks like construction has begun on a small skatepark at Concord Park. It is next to the hockey court and you can see it when driving by on Northshore Dr. Should be done sometime near the beginning of the year. No word on the exact layout just yet, but we should know something in the next month or two.

10-13-2006
Photo Auction - Update
The auction went great. Thanks to everyone who donated to the park and helped out. A special thanks to the Oaks Family for running the bidding, and to Sapphire for hosting the event. We raised a nice chunk of money for the cause and had a great time doing it. We will soon be having more events so we will soon be having more events, so check back soon.

Things are being planned right now for the future layout and design of the park. It looks like the site will become available on Aug 1. 2007. During this time we will be moving the effort forward, raising more money, and keeping the faith alive. More to come..........

10-2-2006
Photo Auction - Oct 6th, THIS FRIDAY
We have gotten a lot of good response from the photographers who are donating. Look like it should be a great auction. The bidding should start around 7:00 at Sapphire on Gay St. in Downtown Knoxville. The proceeds going to support the upcoming Knoxville Skatepark. You can see a partial list of the photographers on the events page. So come on down, check out some great photographs, and help support the Knoxville Skatepark.

City/County Parks Survey
The city/county are conducting a online survey of what direction the parks system should take over the next few years. Go take the survey and let them know how much we need a skatepark. You can take the survey here.

9-13-2006
Photo Auction - Oct 6th
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force in conjunction with Chocolate Shores will be hosting a Photography Auction on Oct 6th at Sapphire in downtown Knoxville. We have received donations from local and internationally known photographers and will be auctioning them off the the highest bidder with the proceeds going to support the upcoming Knoxville Skatepark. You can see a partial list of the photographers on the events page. Our last auction was a great success, and a lot of fun, and we are planning on a great time for all at this event. So come on down, check out some great photographs, and help support the Knoxville Skatepark.

8-23-2006
Boomsday
The Knoxville Skatepark Task Force will have our booth set up at Boomsday this year. Come on by and find out the latest news on the park, buy a Glow-Stix or a t-shirt to support the skatepark, all funds are going to buy more concrete. Also, don't forget about the movies in the park at the World's fair on Sept 8th, and our upcoming Photo Auction in Oct.

8-15-2006
Good News, Movies in the Park, Photo Auction
The good news is that the park is definitely on for next summer. The delays have been resolved, and we will be getting the site by Aug. 1 of next summer, with the possibility of getting it as early as June. Now we just need to raise another half a million dollar so that we can get a prime skatepark. So DONATE TODAY and help Knoxville get the park it has been needing for years.
Movies in the Park
The next movies in the park will be held on the World's Fair site on Sept 8th. The movie is not decided yet, but it will be a PG-13 flick. So come on out, enjoy a movie, and support the skatepark.
Photo Auction
We are currently working on a auction featuring work by famous photographer from around the world. This is still in the works, so check back soon for further details on photographers, location, date, and time.

7-24-2006
Scott Miller, Movies in the Park
The Knoxville Skatepark will have it's booth set up Aug. 3rd on Market Square for a free Scott Miller and Robinella show! Come on by and hear the latest on the park, pick up a t-shirt, or some stickers. We will also be doing some more events this summer such as another skate jam under the south knoxville Bridge, boomsday, and the premiere this fall of a local video. So check back soon for the latest.
Movies in the Park
The last movies in the park at Victor Ashe park was called off due to bad weather, but has been rescheduled until further notice.

7-13-2006
Skatepark Delayed...............
Read the News about it, or watch the Video, it will explain everything. There will be some ramps and a little street area put up temporally until the main concrete park can be built. On the good side, we are going to wind up with a killer place to have a park, and this will give us more time to raise money for a Louisville size park.
Movies in the Park
National The Knoxville Skatepark Booth will be at Movies in the Park on Fri. 7/14, at Concord Cove Park in West Knoxville . So come on out and show our support, buy a t-shirt and see a movie.

6-23-2006
Movies in the Park
National Go Skateboarding day was a great success, with about 100-200 skaters, parents, and spectators showing up. We sold a lot of t-shirts and waters, and gave out massive amounts of stickers. I would like to thank everyone that showed up and all those who help. A special thanks to Pluto Sports for donating the water we sold, to JD Murr for bringing the ramps, and to the Brownie Man (sorry I didn't get your name) for the excellent brownie donation. All this helped us to raise about another $300 for the park. This is just a drop in the bucket compared to what we need, so give often, and give generously, and get everyone you know to do the same.

Tonight we will have our booth set up at the Movies in the Park series that starts tonight at Concord Cove Park in West Knoxville. You can find more information out on the KnoxNews website. We will be having more events this summer, and we will hopefully have some more information about the delay in getting the site for the skatepark in the near future as well, so check check back soon.

6-6-2006
National Go Skateboarding Day - June 21st

The pro's and am's for Team Satori showed up and rode with all the local skaters on Sat. It was a great session. There was also a high ollie contest with the winner taking home a crisp $100. Satori gave out tons of stuff, stickers, and even a new deck. Later that evening the new Satori video was premiered at the World Grotto. The food was excellent and the video was great. Thanks to everyone who can out and donated to the upcoming skatepark. More events are being scheduled, so check back for the latest updates.

Winner of the $100 big ollie contest

5-3-2006
Donate Online!!!

The guys from the Knoxville Skatepark, and knoxvilleskatepark.com kicked off the spring season right by showing up with a booth at Sundown in the City this week. Tons of people stopped by to show their support to the cause, picked up some free stickers, and signed the skatepark petition. We will be showing up at all the sundown shows, so come by the booth and check out the latest news about the skatepark.

Sundown in the City 4/20/06 Click to picture view larger Image

The Knoxville City and the Knox County websites both have great press releases with the mayors concerning the skatepark. The pictures were taken right before the Paint-a-Blank Skateboard Art auction. You can read the text of the press releases on the websites or on the News page.

I have also added a Notes from the Editor page to this site, which will have information on the comments and emails I receive concerning the park. Check it out and leave me a comment. I might post it if your nice.

4-10-2006
Press Conference/Art Auction

The press conference and the art auction last friday were a great success. Thanks to everyone who showed up and bought a board. It began with a press conference with both the city and county mayors, who accepted a check for $100K from Mike Fleming of Lamar Advertising for the park. It was also announced that the new park will be breaking ground on June 1st, and should be finished by sometime in Sept. of this year. The site of the new park was also announced, at it will be located in Tyson Park on what is now currently the UT Women's Softball field. After the Press conference the art boards were auctioned off, and several more thousand dollars were raised for the park fund.

VP of Lamar Advertising, Mike Fleming, presents Mayor Ragsdale and Mayor Haslam with a $100,000 for the new skatepark Click here to see a video of the Mayors Speech

Over all it was a great success, and a lot of community support was shown for the upcoming skatepark. The Knoxville News Sentinel covered part of the event, and you can read the article here. You can also see some pictures from the event here. Special thanks to Mayor Ragsdale and Mayor Haslam, Jason Oaks, the knoxville city/county skatepark task force, all the people who bought boards, Lamar Advertising, and Sapphire for hosting the event. There are a lot more events in support or the skatepark coming up in the near future, so check back soon.

4-7-2006
Press Conference with the Mayors

3-1-2006
Skateboard Auction Opening

On Friday, 3-3 there will be an opening for the display of the artist skateboards, next door to Yee-Haw on Gay St. in downtown Knoxville. These are the boards that will be auctioned on March 18th to raise funds for the new skatepark. Come on down and pick your favorite and donate to a great cause. Also be looking for a press conference coming the the next couple of weeks from the powers that be, concerning the builder and the site of the new park. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but the news will be very exciting. Stay tuned for more details.

2-20-2006
Paint a blank skateboard Auction

This event was created to bring awareness to and raise money for the Knoxville Skatepark. 50+ artists from around the globe were asked to donate a work of art on a blank skateboard deck. Find out more on the Events page. You can check out some of the boards here.

2-10-2006
Receiving of the Bids

Bids were received from three company's on Feb. 7th. The bidders are a local company, Grindline, and Wally Hollyday. The stuff from Wally looked really excellent, better than the park he did in Nashville. The selection committee for the builder was set and is Joe Walsh, Doug Bataille, Chris Woodhull, Blaise Burch, and longtime Knox skater Nate Holder. The next meeting will see the selection committee making a decision on the company to build the park. Picking an quality, experienced builder will give give us a skatepark that will put Knoxville on the map in the skateboarding world.

1-30-2006
Knoxville News-Sentinal Article

There was an article in the Knoxville News paper last wed. about the skatepark. You can see it on the News page of this site.

1-16-2006
Skatepark Design board Meeting - Part 7

Things began to move forward at the last meeting. The Request for proposal has been sent to several high-quality skatepark builders and was posted in last sunday's paper. Here it is.

Bids/Proposals - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR A DESIGN-BUILD SKATE PARK FOR THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE AND THE COUNTY OF KNOX The Public Building Authority of the County of Knox and the City of Knoxville, Tennessee, is seeking a qualified design-build team to design and build a new skateboard park for the City of Knoxville and County of Knox. Interested firms should contact Mary, January 17 or later, at 865/215-4659 to obtain additional information in order to submit their bid. A Pre-Bid will be held at the Knox County Parks and Recreation office building located at 2447 Sutherland Avenue at 2:00 P.M. EST, Wednesday, January 25, 2006. The bids are due at 2:00 P.M. EST, Tuesday, February 7, 2006.

Although the final site is still up in the air, the selection of a builder will be a big step forward, as the builder can add some input into the final site selection. Viva la Knoxville Skatepark.

1-3-2006

Back from the Holidays
The last skatepark meeting was held during December, and some progress was made on the final selection of a site. A couple of exciting new possibilities have come up, and we should know more about these in the near future. The committee then took a break for the holidays, so not much has progressed since the last meeting. The next meeting will be taking place in a couple of weeks, and we should be able to starting moving forward at a more rapid pace. There are some interesting fund raising ideas in the works, including a board auction with graphics by such famous skater/artists as Mark Gonzales and others. More info on this will be posted as it comes in.

11-30-2005

Skatepark Design Board Meeting - Part 6
This week was an shorter, informal meeting of the entire group.  Each sub-committee reported back to the whole group as to where we stand in each aspect of fund raising, marketing, and location.   We discussed the need for an "identity" for the skatepark project and ways to get local businesses and other sponsors on board.  The location is still being decided.  The final draft of the RFP will be completed in the next week or so and should go out by December 15th (thanks PBA!).  Finally, we had some representation form the biker community at this week's meeting.  There has been concern that the Knoxville skatepark would not allow bikes.  Getting this issue out in the open was important.  Everyone got along and any animosity that may have existed between the bikers and skaters has now been put to rest.  You know...we can all get along.

Update 11-1-05
Skatepark Design Board Meeting - Part 5- The Trip
This week a few board members took a trip to Kingsport, TN; Johnson City, TN; and Asheville, NC.  First stop was Kingsport, TN to check out their new concrete park.  We also met with the Kingsport director of parks and recreation as well as the architect that was hired to manage the project. Although the park is looking good, and set to open sometime in Nov. There have been a few problems and it could be a much better park. Next the group was off to nearby Johnson City for a quick look at their street style concrete park. Not a very big park, also with a few kinks. Finally, the group headed in to NC to the Food Lion Skatepark in Asheville.  There we met with the Asheville director of parks and recreation and one of the skatepark’s employees. Asheville is a nice park, built on a tough site (A large hill) with seperation between the areas of the park. If there was a little more of a flow area like Nashville, this also could be a better park.  All in all, the trip was very informative for the small group that was able to go.  We learned some good things as well as some bad things about the skatepark construction process. The Knoxville Skatepark Design Board is on the right track and I believe that we a world class skatepark that will put Knoxville on the map. 

Update 10-14-05
Skatepark Design Board Meeting - Part 4 - The Tour
This week the committee members were taken on tour in to prospective sites for the park. First stop was Caswell park. The site was located in a back area of the park, next to the ball field for the old stadium. The next stop was the Blackstock Ave. site. Although a nice site, the property may not be available. Next it was Tyson Park. The site was located in the picnic area, across the street from the UT women's softball fields. This site looked nice and could be a good possibility. Next was another area of Tyson, between the tennis courts parking lot, and Concord Rd. This area seemed a little small and could flood. Onward to Victor Ashe park. The location was to the left side of the parking lot, above the soccer fields. This is also a good piece of property, but a little out of downtown. Each site had it's advantages and disadvantages, but a decision should be made soon. The next meeting is a planned trip to an out of town skatepark like Asheville or Louisville. Stay tuned for more.....

Update 10-10-05
Skate Board Committee Meeting - Part 3
The third skatepark meeting also went well. The various subcommittiees met and discussed each of the issues they are dealing with. Although much of the same ground was covered, some new ideas and views were heard. A representitive of the PBA (public building authourity) also showed and discussed the Design/Build method of constuction, and the bulider selection pricess. Next week the committee will be taking a tour of some of the proposed sites and doing a review of each. The next step will be a finalization of the site, and then bids will be going out for a builder. Interviews to finalize the builder should happen sometime next month.

Update 10-10-05
2 Pitfalls
I have been reading about some of the problems that cities are running into as they are building a skatepark. These are, type of terrain, and interfacing with the builders. I have been reading about the large number of skatepark projects that are happening in the middle Tennessee area. Since the success of the Nashville skatepark, Gallatin, Franklin, Hendersonville, Lavergne, and Cookeville are all building or planning parks. This is great, but all is not well in the beautiful state of TN.
Point 1
Kingsport TN. Apparently there has been a disconnect between local officials and the builders they have hired. This now causing the park to be "toned down" for beginner skaters, and losing some of it's better features, and the quality of the design and construction. What once was looking like a cutting edge park, is now already obsolete and out of date. This is because the builders were not given the room to do what they were hired to do, and the design was changed by factions that don't and have never skated. Remember, skateparks are built for skaters, not community activists (unless they ride).
Point 2
Build for the future. If you have ever been a skateboarder, you know that a spot can get old quick, and then it is time for something new. As a action sports athlete, participants are continually looking to advance there skills. At a skatepark, that means trying new and ever more challenging terrain. Building a skatepark that is primarily for beginners may be OK for a small neighborhood park, but if you want to be on the map in the skateboard world, you will have the best, most advanced, most innovative design/terrain that can be afforded. The magazines all where reporting on the skatepark in Louisville, KY. even before it was finished. Pro tours and magazines will not waste their time coming to your park if it is built for beginners. All skaters are beginners at one time, but a skatepark is a facility for improvement of those skills. Build something that the skaters can grow into, not out of.

Update 9-29-05
Skate Board Committee Meeting - Part 2
At the second meeting of the Board, groups were assigned to look at three areas -- Site/Location, Design/Designer, and Marketing. Each group had a good meeting, and started to lay down some ideas about what the skatepark should be like. Many good ideas were voiced, and things are heading in a very positive direction. A location should be decided in a few weeks. Take the survey and let everyone know where you want the skatepark to be. More updates soon.

Update 9-29-05
Suggested Reading
Check out this article at http://www.skatersforpublicskateparks.org. A good example of what is needed in a public skatepark. This is something that anyone interested in having a skatepark should read.

Update 9-19-05
Skate Board Committee Meeting
The first meeting of the "Skate Board", a committee of citizens, skaters, and city officials was held on Monday, Sept. 19th. The discussions went very well, and the process is off to a good start. Although the final location is still undecided at this point, a schedule has been planned out, with a park opening date of July 1, 2006. Some of the issues that are currently being looked at include the location, the park design, the size and amenities, and marketing. If you have any ideas regarding any to these topics, post them to the input board here at KnoxvilleSkatepark.com so the committee members can see what you think.

I believe that the city/county officials have a real good idea of what it will take to have a world class park in Knoxville, and what it will mean to Knoxville and it's skaters. Another committee meeting is scheduled for next week, where more details will be decided. I will be posting information about that meeting sometime after the meeting, so check back soon. Input meetings open to the public are planned for some time in January.

We should all be skating by this time next year!!!!!!

Update 9-11-05
Support the Skatepark!
Wednesday, September 14th: 5-9pm
Pluto Sports DVD Night at Preservation Pub
Premier of "All Day"
Celebrity Bartending
Free pizza from 5-7!
(Skateboarding isn't allowed on Market Square, so please leave your boards at home.)

Update 7-8-05

Knoxville takes a look at the Nashville Skatepark (L-R) Joe Walsh - Knoxville City Parks Director Brian Beauchene - Owner of Pluto Sports Tim Netsch- Nashville Parks Planner Chris Woodhull - Knoxville City Council Photo by Karen Nolt

Update 7-8-05 Joe Walsh, Chris Woodhull, and Brian Beuachene have returned from a very informative meeting with the Davidson-Metro Parks officals in Nashville on 7/6. Things a progressing very well toward our future park. Also Check out the article in the Metro Pulse about the park. More to come soon.

Update 7-5-05
The city and county budgets have been approved and Knoxville is finally get a much needed skatepark. A design committee will be forming sometime in August. The City and County Parks Directors are going to Nashville this week to take a look at the facilities there, and share information with the Nashville-Metro Parks officials. I am confident that there will be public meetings about the skatepark by this fall. Stay tuned to KnoxvilleSkatepark.com for details as they come in.

Also look for a redesign of KnoxvilleSkatepark.com in the near future. Improvements will include a posted suggestions, surveys, donation areas, the latest news, and more.

Update 4-30-05
"The City will partner with Knox County to build a Skate Park for skateboarders " -City of Knoxville Website

"And there's more good news about our parks….we have some young people out there who have a future as lobbyists, I can't tell you how many kids have asked me when we're going to build a skate park, I'm happy to tell you that the time is now. We're partnering with Knox County to build a Skate Park. I'll be there for the grand opening next year, but don't expect me to get on that ramp on a skateboard. We will also continue to invest in our greenways, ball fields and tennis courts across the city."
-Mayor Bill Haslam's speech on the proposed budget

Skaters stoked by park funding
Article on Knoxnews.com - 5/2/05

Update 1-26-05
It seems that the Knoxville Dept. of Parks and Rec. is tight on their budget and lacking the funds for a public skatepark. On Feb 9, the city government will be planning a budget for the city. Email your Councilman, the Parks Dept., or the Mayor and let them know that we need a place to ride. If you have done it before, do it again and tell a friend.