Skatepark to Re-open Next Week

While a crew from the American Ramp Company are putting the finishing touches on some repairs and improvements to the Ackerman Skatepark the skaters who use the park, many of them members of the Official Freedom Charleston group, are finding other places to skate in the meantime.

But they aren't worried about the park being closed for a few weeks, even if it put a cramp in their weekly Sunday cookouts at Ackerman. In fact it was members of the group who reached out to the city in the first place.

Freedom members Bob Mule' and Leo Simonin contacted their City Councilman, Aubry Alexander, with concerns about the state of the park at 55 Sycamore Drive, and Alexander helped set up a meeting between group members and city staff in the Parks and Recreation departments.

"Leo and I met with Jerry Ebeling, Deputy Director of the Department of Parks and Laurie Yarbrough, Director of the Department of Recreation at the Ackerman Skatepark and we pointed out directly what needed some attention and they were listening," Mule' told Patch.com via Facebook message. "They are really working with us on this too which is pretty gnarly."

"They were logical with their requests and we wanted to take care of them," Ebeling said.

He added that the repairs and improvements should be finished by Tuesday.

In addition to replacing some rusted sections of the two quarter-pipe ramps and other equipment at the park, Ebeling said the city will be adding a grind rail and a water fountain to the park.

The fountain was at the request of the Freedom group who wanted it so the skaters using the park can stay hydrated.

This isn't the first time the park has been closed over the roughly 15 years of its existence Ebeling said. The city has performed periodic maintenance over the years replacing rusted bolts and doing other minor work. At one point the city closed the park to remove grafitti, but with the addition of the fountain and a new grind rail it marks the first time new equipment has been added to Ackerman.

Gary McInturff with American Ramp Company was one of the crew working at the park on Friday.

They had already removed several rusted ramp support sections and were in the process of sanding down the ramp surfaces to be repainted.

"A lot of it is salvagable," McInturff said. "When they painted it they used latex paint and it's started to chip, so we have to take that off before we can fix it."