A group of skateboarders have been in discussions with the city about using a portion of the abandoned tennis courts at Emry Park for a do-it-yourself skatepark.

The group has gained support through a Facebook group which in the short time since it was established on July 21 has swelled to 407 members.

“I think it’s a good idea,” said Chris Spence, one of the skaters who discussed the plans earlier this week. “It’s obviously been an empty lot for a long time. It would be cool to split it in half and do something like a flatground street park on one side and maybe basketball goals or a pickleball court or something else on the other side for other people.”

Emry is a nice park, Spence said. “It's shadier over here than it is at the other skatepark. Plus, the other skatepark is so steep.”

The issue with the skatepark at T.J. Davis, Spence said, is, “It’s not very beginner-friendly. I stopped skating when I was maybe 21 and started back a year ago. That park — everything’s too big. It’s a nice park but it’s too crazy.”

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Spence said he would like to see the Emry courts repaved and the skaters could build it up themselves. “It just depends on what the city would do.”

He said the response to the idea has been positive. “It was kind of an idea that we didn’t think would turn into anything. The next thing we know, within a week-and-a-half we have 400 people in the Facebook group.”

Justin Kerr, who has been discussing the plans with the city, said the skaters love the T.J. park but described it as being “a little bit aggressive” and not beginner-friendly. “We had been down to the skatepark in Williamston and saw how packed it was.”

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Daniel McElewee, a longtime skater, supports the effort and says the answer to the question of why another skatepark is needed is simple. “Do you go out and eat at the same place every night? You like options, right? The same thing goes for us.”

McElewee said the first step is discussing the plans with the city council, which will occur at the panel’s August 15 meeting. “Then after that it’s getting funds.”

Kerr said the discussions have been going well. “It sounds like folks in the community agree that it’s something else to bring to the kids. We’ve got a problem here: Obviously the courts at Emry Park have gone bad and something needs to be done with it. We’re just trying to offer a solution to the problem. We’ve suggested the other half be a dog park, pickleball court — whatever as a compromise.”

Kerr said there has been movement across the state with towns putting up skateparks. “Twenty or thirty years ago the concept of skating was we were tearing stuff up. It's like now skaters actually come out and take care of this. Who you see tearing up the skatepark now is more the troublemakers trickling down. You’re going to have that stuff anywhere you go.”

McElewee said the skaters are thinking of a more street-oriented concept for the Emery courts compared to the T.J. park which is more transition-oriented.

What the street-oriented concept means is more flat edges and flat rails — something more friendly for beginning skaters.

Kerr said a friend who has a degree in sustainable development is preparing talking points for the city council meeting that will focus on how the DIY concept can help the community.

John Carter Jr. said he sees the idea as a way to help get kids outside of their bedrooms instead of playing games like Fortnite 12 hours a day. “It’s a good resource. We’ve got great fishing around here, we’ve got great hunting around here, but for the kids who aren’t into those kinds of things skating offers a great outlet.”

Carter said the skaters will be invested in the upkeep of the DIY park should it become reality. “You’ve got a group of guys right here who are willing to make sure it’s kept up and people are being safe. You skate at your own risk and you wear a helmet if you think you need it.”

He said the most-skated features at the T.J. park are the elements at the top of the hill. “The majority of the people out there aren’t skating the big six-footer out there. A lot of people are scared to go down the little pyramid section. Not everybody is able to skate that big stuff.”

Ted Vanaernam said he sees the Emry idea as something for the younger crowd who are looking to get into skating. “We don’t really have a good, proper outlet for that. I don’t think the park we have now supports that. I’ve been riding and skating for a long time before there was a skatepark.”

Keegan McElewee, Daniel’s son, is 11-years-old. “With a new skatepark I can learn new tricks.”

Kerr said, “I’m really ecstatic. I really thought when I went to (the parks department) I was going to be laughed out of the room and be like ‘we’ve got one skatepark — what do you want another for?’ But when I told him (parks Director John Simeon) he said ‘that’s a great idea. That sounds excellent.’”

The original thought, Kerr said, was that the T.J. skatepark was going to be more mellow and beginner-friendly. “Once the money got to flowing and the Duke endowment got involved … it ended up becoming more aggressive and a lot more BMX riders got involved so it is a compromise between skateboard and BMX riders. We’re looking for something that’s strictly more for skateboards.”

Kerr said the group has already discussed possible grants for the project as well as any Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. 

He said Brandon Woodard, who will speak on behalf of the group to the city council, told him that he would start researching what kind of grants are available. “I’ve got two more business owners that I want to talk to. We’re still waiting on what the costs are going to be.”

Kerr believes the potential is there. “As long as we can get it past the city council, I’m sure we can pull the funds together, the grants together. I’ve been absolutely floored by the amount of people who have stepped up and offered their help and services. There’s a lot of folks here who when they were my age skate-boarded in town and folks were running them off. There wasn’t a place to skate. They want to see something like this for the next generation. There’s a lot of us who have kids. Not everybody plays sports. Sports are great and they’re fun but some folks like doing stuff like this with a group of friends.”

The skaters have taken it upon themselves to clean up trash at the T.J. site, Kerr said, and have even trimmed some of the weeds growing at the Emry courts. “This is a dark corner in the town that has a lot of potential to be made into a great family park. You’ve got the picnic shelter, the playground. We’ve been out here cleaning up and the folks out here have been thanking us. We’re trying to find the most cost-effective ways to do it.”