Wheels are rolling on DIY skate park at Raleigh’s Jaycee Park

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The wheels are rolling on a new skate park planned for Jaycee Park in Raleigh.

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“I feel really excited man, especially for what’s going to come,” said Jonathan Robbins from the East Coast DIY Skatepark Foundation.

The foundation brought the idea to Raleigh City Council earlier this year when they realized the City of Raleigh did not have a permanent skate park in a central location for their community.

“As Raleigh is getting larger, I think there should be a skate park on every corner,” East Coast DIY Skatepark Foundation member Miguel Magallanes said.

At Jaycee Park, behind white barriers and hidden in the trees, they are making that dream a reality.

“Our goal is to have kind of a range of transitions, street, plaza,” said Riley Murphy, who is also with the group. “I mean, we’re going to try to combine as much as possible into this somewhat small space.”

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The skate park is completely funded through community donations and will be built by those in the foundation as well as volunteers.

“We opened up a GoFundMe and people are going to donate, and with that we are going to buy different material, we’re going to craft a ramp and pour concrete into molds and then we ourselves are going to do it,” Robbins said.

Their work will turn the now-empty lot into something skaters of all ages can enjoy.

“It’s such a safe place for kids to learn,” Magallanes said. “It’s important to have that kind of community somewhere where it’s not just the parents telling them they need to go to practice. It’s something you can learn on yourself, teach yourself.”

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They hope to open the skate park to the community by the end of the year.

In the meantime, they are accepting donations here.