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Boone Greenway Skatepark Opens After the Completion of Phase One of the Project

By Nathan Ham

Skaters in the High Country have been able to check out the recently opened Boone Greenway Skatepark after phase one of the project was finished. The skatepark was opened on Saturday, November 13.

“We worked hard these past years raising money, we got a good grant and we got enough funding raised to get the first phase complete. It is open and in use,” said J.P. Pardy, an avid skater who owns and operates Recess Skate & Snow on Highway 105 in Boone. “I don’t think I’ve been there when there wasn’t somebody out there even at 8 a.m. From the start of the day to the end of the day, somebody is using it.”

Even with a delay in fundraising and construction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the skatepark idea kept finding supporters and money to make this dream become a reality. One of the biggest contributions to the project came through a $72,500 grant from North Carolina Parks and Recreation that matched the amount of money raised by the community at that time in September of 2020. 

Pardy has been a major advocate for the skatepark over the last few years, including volunteering his time to help the town apply for that state grant early in 2020. The Town of Boone has also been supportive of the project, donating the land that the skatepark is being constructed on as well as $25,000 towards the project. Overall, the first phase of the project cost $150,000. 

The skatepark is located at the end of Casey Lane and there is a parking lot there that Pardy said is easily accessible if you put the road into your GPS. 

“You can park there and you’ll see a little gate and you just walk up the little gravel road right to the skate park,” he said. 

Artisan Skateparks, a North Carolina company based out of Kitty Hawk, was chosen as the company to construct the Boone Greenway Skatepark. The design for the skatepark was created by Pillar Design Studios based out of Chandler, Arizona. The Town of Boone did a lot of the grading work and site cleanup as well.  The skatepark is free to use.

“The town has been awesome and we got this done with the support of our community and local businesses,” Pardy said. 

Pardy said the attention will now turn to phase two of the project. 

“We are permitted for phase two and phase three, ideally I’d like to see it all done as phase two and be done with the park, but it’s just funding-based. We’d like to get on the 2022-23 town budget to get a little more money to get it done,” Pardy said. “We just wanted to get this first phase done so we could have something to use. Now everyone is going to get to see how busy and great it is and I think that will help to show how important it really is and help get this next phase done.”

Once it is completed, the entire skatepark will be roughly 8,000 square feet. Pardy estimates that the completed part that is now open makes up about half of that total. 

“It is a much-needed thing and we’re very excited to have it. Someone came in the other day and said they stopped counting at 45 people out there,” Pardy said. “I think getting it finished up and having that much more space out there will be a good thing. We’re already having people travel up here, people from Raleigh and Winston. Skate tourism is a real thing.”

Pardy hopes that people at the skatepark will continue to be respectful of other people as well as the property and pick up their trash and keep everything nice. 

Pardy wanted to extend a special thanks to the Town of Boone, Artisan Skateparks, North Carolina Parks and Recreation and Chandler Concrete, who donated 40 yards of concrete. Several local businesses also chipped in to help with the project, including The Gamekeeper, Anna Bananas, Peabody’s Wine & Beer, Sunrise Grill, Hatchet Coffee, The Cardinal and many more. 

A GoFundMe for the project has continued to take donations to put towards the second and third phases of the project.