No More Surfing in the Streets, the Roc City Skatepark is Finally Here
by George Cunningham
Until roughly March 30, the only skateparks in the city of Rochester were private, indoor parks, such as the Rochester Action Sports Park — or R.A.S.P. The town of Webster, a suburb of Rochester, does have a public park but access to it, the size, and quality of the park were and remain problematic issues.
Shockingly, the Webster Skatepark was the only public park in the Greater Rochester Area, and Rochester was the only somewhat-major city without a public skatepark until a couple months ago. The park was scheduled to open in October 2020, but delayed construction pushed it back to November. Then, COVID shutdowns pushed the true opening day back further into Spring 2021.
Still surrounded by chain-link fences, the skatepark is clearly freshly constructed. The blue and yellow paint is bright and vibrant, beckoning skaters to break the park in. Located under Rochester’s famous Frederick Douglass-Susan B. Anthony Bridge, along the scenic Genesee River and right beside the Court Street Dam Waterfall, the new skatepark can easily be accessed by foot, bike, or skateboard from the Genesee River Trail.
To emphasize how long Rochester area skaters, scooter, and BMX riders have been waiting for a new and public skatepark, the city has seen four multi-term mayors come and go between the time the park was first proposed and eventually finally finished. Other city projects almost always got priority over the skatepark.
A group called The Friends of the Roc City Skatepark and Jim Maddison, the president of the group, have been advocating for it ever since rumors of the new park began. The group helped the project gain momentum and public support, playing a crucial role in the construction of the park. Some of the group’s members even physically aided the construction.
The park was designed with an artistic aesthetic in mind, with the Flower City logo (the symbol in the top left and right corners of the sign next to this passage) appearing in several places throughout the park, as well as practical purposes. Many skateboarders have their first encounter with police as a result of their hobby, so the park was made in a way to both keep and make visitors feel safe, especially at a time when tensions between the public and police are at an all time high. In addition, the park was built in an attempt to change the negative mindset usually associated with skaters, perhaps due to their music and fashion choices. Tony Hawk has played a massive roll in popularizing the sport, which will make its first appearance in the Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo, Japan. The Tony Hawk Foundation’s “Built to Play” initiative was another driving force behind the project, and luckily Rochester was fortunate enough to catch the interest of Hawk and fall under his umbrella. The next step for The Friends of the Roc City Skatepark is to open even more skateparks in the county, accross every town.
