Grand Opening Celebration for Brandon Skate Park Today (May 12)

Built with almost $500,000 in taxpayer dollars, the 11,000-square-foot Brandon Skate Park is open for business in Providence Park East in Riverview. The park was built by Team Pain, a company owned and operated by skaters.

The grand opening ceremony for the newly opened Brandon Skate Park starts with a ribbon-cutting today, May 12, at 1 p.m., with skateboarding demonstrations to follow.

How neat will the ride be? This , offers a clue.

Hillsborough County Park, Recreation and Conservation officials had previously set an April 21 grand opening date, but those plans were changed due to inclement weather.

The Brandon Skate Park is the first skate park built with local tax dollars.

Entry to the park is free throughout the summer. All skaters must wear helmets and sign a waiver. Brandon Skate Park regulations and the waiver are available online.

The hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday, from 10 a.m to 10 p.m. (with 10 a.m. to noon reserved for skaters under age 12); and Sunday, from noon to 8 p.m. The park is closed on Mondays.

______________

From an earlier report:

The 11,000-square-foot park reportedly was funded with impact fees and general revenue dollars. Team Pain, a company owned and operated by skaters that for 30 years has been creating custom skate parks for communities and skateboarders worldwide, worked under Hennessy Construction Services Corp. as a member of the design, permitting and construction team.

The Brandon Skate Park is the first skate park built with taxpayers' dollars.

• .

According to county officials, the park cost $499,501 and is best described, according to a Brandon Patch interview with Team Pain foreman Chris Berry in January, as a "street course," featuring a bowl, "like a swimming pool, 9 feet, 6 inches deep."

The Brandon Skate Park is at 5720 Providence Road, in the Greater Brandon community of Riverview.

Included in the course are radius ramps, stairs, rails, ledges, banks and pool coping, which is the term used to identify the stone, or in this case, concrete material used to cap the bowl shell wall.

Team Pain has built skate parks in Florida in Apollo Beach, Tampa, Dunedin, Sarasota, New Tampa, Inglewood and Naples. Also coming, a park in Bradenton.

______________

Brandon Skate Park Grand Opening Particulars:

• Entrance to the park will be free throughout the summer.
• After that, the skate fee is $4 per day. The cost for an annual pass is $150.
• Hillsborough County has a reciprocal agreement with the City of Tampa. Annual passes will be honored at all Hillsborough County and City of Tampa skate parks.
• All skaters must wear helmets and complete a waiver.

______________

Brandon Skate Park Features:

Bowl:

• An intermediate/professional bowl with rounded walls, two hips and two general depths. The shallow end is 6 feet deep and just under-vert; the deep end is more than 9 feet deep, with 1.5 feet of vert. The entire bowl has pool coping and tile.

Obstacle Street:

• Consists of two main levels that split the park into two sections.
• The lower section has a few street-plaza elements, including a granite bench set at an angle; curved ledges; a cone-pole jam; a manual pad; a small, but long, set of four stairs; a brick-stamped bank with a flat bar on top; and a handrail and flat rail. The area also sports a very wide quarter-pipe, with steel coping, including a 12-foot pool coping extension; a smaller pyramid with a bull-nose flat rail; and a steep bank and hip.
• The lower section is connected to the upper section with a series of banks, including a step-up that links to an escalating transition hip.

Transition Elements:

• Six-foot corner quarter-pipe leading to a long and low A-shaped quarter-pipe, ending at a series of moguls located throughout.
• A third level takes skaters to the bowl, an area also connected with quarter-pipes and more moguls, ranging in height from 2.5 to 5 feet.

______________

RELATED COVERAGE: