Carolina Beach Skate Park

Construction of the Carolina Beach Skate Park was completed in June 2007.

Creation

Construction of the Carolina Beach Skate Park was completed in June 2007. After five long years of discussion and debate, the Town of Carolina Beach, NC, opened the gate to the towns first public skate park. Town officials and citizens alike, finally agreed upon the location of the park. Original plans called for the park to be built behind the Carolina Beach Town Recreation Center, but do to noise ordinances and concerned residents, the park had to be built in Mike Chappell Park, located at the middle of the island off of Dow Rd. Admission is free, which is unlike other skate parks of the area. The "Skatebarn" in Hampstead NC has a membership fee, and Wilmington's city skate park at Greenfield Lake Park costs a couple of dollars each visit. Hours of operation are also unlike any other of the area. The park opens at first light and stays open until the last of the huge baseball outfield floodlights are shut off at nine thirty at night. This park may be the best thing to ever happen to Carolina Beach's skateboarding youth as well as the old school, pool jammin sk8ter of yester-year(who the hell talks like that). It is an all concrete park, with the exception of some coping and three metal rails(two). The park cost a little over $200,000 (the budget was 100,000, not 200,000) to build and is 4600 square feet( its actually closer to 7500) (www.islandgazette.net)....(some info corrected). Instead of correcting the prior article in your snooty parenthesis way, why not try stepping off of your high horse and just correct the article, don't try to act as though your fecal matter does not stink.

Attractions

The main attraction of the park is the kidney shaped pool in the center of the park. It is eight feet at the deepest end (Its actually seven feet) and around four feet in the shallows. The Pools coping was originally Carolina blue, but because of constant grinding, has become a combination of cement gray, carolina blue and different color paint from truck marks. There is a miniature snake run that hugs the side of the pool. It is very tight and very fast. The park also has a street course that consists of some stairs and a kinked rail. There are also two euro gaps. There are a couple different layers of ledges that have metal coping. Across from the pool, on the other side of the park, is a twelve foot brick coped, clam shell( this also is only seven feet tall! nowhere near twelve feet! who the hell writes this). In between the two is a foot and a half bump which will throw you into a four foot U-shaped bank(Its actually transition but its so mellow that I'll let this one slide). The park is free of any charge but the locals do ask you to throw your trash away. There are a set of rules inside the park, but due to the lack of supervision the rules rarely get followed. You are supposed to have full pads on if you are skating. Full pads are considered helmet, elbow, and knee pads. Most patrons wear partial pads, some wear nothing.