Skate Park

[ysabetwordsmith]

Blind skateboarder creates 'world-first' adaptive skatepark: 'I've never had a place where I can skate with full confidence'

About seven years ago, he started dreaming of creating the world’s first adaptive skatepark right in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan.

Finally, the park is a reality.

Called “The Ranch,” the 5,000-square-foot skatepark is completely accessible, allowing both seasoned low-vision boarders to take it for a spin and newcomers to the sport to feel welcome.


Everyone should have access to opportunities for physical activity and creativity.

Comments

AWESOME!

[dialecticdreamer]

That is so incredibly great to read about. Even though I'll never NEED it, and am about as likely to go to a skate park as I am to go to a serpentarium, the very EXISTENCE of an accessible skate park makes me more hopeful about the future!

Re: AWESOME!

[ysabetwordsmith]

You don't have to mount a skateboard to enjoy a skatepark. There's a skate dot near us. I enjoy watching people tricking around on it when we drive by.

[readera]

I saw another blind skater use it while explaining the features. I'm not a skater or blind or in the area but I'm super excited about it! I forsee more local blind people picking up skating as a hobby due to its existence.

[kellan_the_tabby]

& THIS one is getting sent off to whoever's in charge of the stuff they have planned for the big city park, which is gonna be mostly bike jumps, but they already have a skate park & could totally make more of it

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

An adaptive skatepark or even skate dot could be very useful.

Also consider skateable / climbable sculptures.

Re: Yes ...

[kellan_the_tabby]

ooooo CLIMBABLE SCULPTURES. I'd be all OVER that.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

There's a whole range of multipurpose park fixtures. Say you have a big rectangular solid, or a winding curve of same. It can be a retaining wall, a bench seat, and a skateable sculpture all at once.

Similarly, you can work a banked slope into a retaining wall so that people could skate over the top or along the curve, or bounce balls at it.

When you don't have a lot of money or space, you can get more functionality with multipurpose items that will last a really long time -- as opposed to paying for a retaining wall, a lot of benches, and a skate park.

If you have local artists, they may want to get in on the action. Some of our local towns have a lot of public art. A destination skateable sculpture could really boost an artist's career.

Re: Yes ...

[kellan_the_tabby]

Salida has rows of similar-ish sized boulders lining the Arkansas River, & they are SO fun to climb on. Alamosa's looking at doing some work along the riverfront, & I hope they do something similar there.

We also have a yearly sculpture thing in town; they're all displayed along Main Street, & they're all for sale. I wonder if the group that does that would be interested in doing a call for skateable or climbable sculptures ...

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Salida has rows of similar-ish sized boulders lining the Arkansas River, & they are SO fun to climb on. Alamosa's looking at doing some work along the riverfront, & I hope they do something similar there.<<

Boulders make terrific climbable art.

>> We also have a yearly sculpture thing in town; they're all displayed along Main Street, & they're all for sale.<<

Yay! I've seen some around here, and at least one for sale, but I don't know how much is for sale and what the frequency is. I'll keep an eye out because it's a great idea.

>> I wonder if the group that does that would be interested in doing a call for skateable or climbable sculptures ... <<

You should absolutely suggest it. Several of the more popular materials would suit those uses. And what skater wouldn't love to have their own skateable sculpture at home on a patio?

Worth considering for climbable sculptures, you can get ordinary steel pipe and joints of several angles at a plumbing hardware store and assemble it into any desired shape like giant tinkertoys. Just read the labels to figure out what schedule of pipe you need for your desired weight amount. There are other types of pipe too; I've seen at least one company showing off pictures of backyard exercise equipment that people built with theirs for calisthenics.