• Aug 03, 2016
                     

There is a reason why Apex is the #1 city in North Carolina. The basis of this inspiring skate park story comes from the community and local officials working together. In 2012, Police Cpt. Jacques Gilbert, had to tell a young skateboarder, Tracy Stallworth, that he couldn’t skate in his own driveway because it was illegal. This did not sit well with the Cpt. and after residents’ complaints about skateboarding downtown and in the neighborhoods, Cpt. Gilbert decided to work with Stallworth and the skate community to advocate for a skate park and eventually the Town and community came together to start working on a plan for this much needed facility. Because of these efforts, the Apex Police Department, was honored by the White House for positively connecting law enforcement and community youth. Captain Gilbert and Stallworth took part in the “Champions of Change” ceremony on September 21, 2015 at our nation’s White House! In 2013, the project was initiated by CLH Design. They conducted community input sessions before bringing the skate park project to Team Pain in 2014. The skaters request was mainly for a street plaza and one bowl. We formulated a value engineered plan to deliver the entire facility to the community and in turn, an 18,000 square foot skateable area was integrated inside a multi-use youth plaza that doubles as skate park, concert hall and all around “hangout area”. The skatepark is primarily a street skate plaza with various stairs and ledges, banks with brick textures along with rails surrounded by numerous quarter pipes to assist in flow and direction, creating many endless lines. The skate park also features a multi-level bowl that is 5’6” shallow and 8’6” deep offering a fun flowing pool style bowl for all levels. Tile and pool block coping were also added features to give a more authentic appeal and rideability. The park opened in August 2015 and with an amazing effort by the entire community, the skatepark is now a HUGE success. Receiving recognition by the White House for building bridges between youth and law enforcement is a very relevant subject in current events and a long-lasting subject with the skateboarding culture! Kuddos to Apex and many thanks for letting us be a part of this very positive movement!

There is a reason why Apex is the #1 city in North Carolina. The basis of this inspiring skate park story comes from the community and local officials working together. In 2012, Police Cpt. Jacques Gilbert, had to tell a young skateboarder, Tracy Stallworth, that he couldn’t skate in his own driveway because it was illegal. This did not sit well with the Cpt. and after residents’ complaints about skateboarding downtown and in the neighborhoods, Cpt. Gilbert decided to work with Stallworth and the skate community to advocate for a skate park and eventually the Town and community came together to start working on a plan for this much needed facility. Because of these efforts, the Apex Police Department, was honored by the White House for positively connecting law enforcement and community youth. Captain Gilbert and Stallworth took part in the “Champions of Change” ceremony on September 21, 2015 at our nation’s White House! In 2013, the project was initiated by CLH Design. They conducted community input sessions before bringing the skate park project to Team Pain in 2014. The skaters request was mainly for a street plaza and one bowl. We formulated a value engineered plan to deliver the entire facility to the community and in turn, an 18,000 square foot skateable area was integrated inside a multi-use youth plaza that doubles as skate park, concert hall and all around “hangout area”. The skatepark is primarily a street skate plaza with various stairs and ledges, banks with brick textures along with rails surrounded by numerous quarter pipes to assist in flow and direction, creating many endless lines. The skate park also features a multi-level bowl that is 5’6” shallow and 8’6” deep offering a fun flowing pool style bowl for all levels. Tile and pool block coping were also added features to give a more authentic appeal and rideability. The park opened in August 2015 and with an amazing effort by the entire community, the skatepark is now a HUGE success. Receiving recognition by the White House for building bridges between youth and law enforcement is a very relevant subject in current events and a long-lasting subject with the skateboarding culture! Kuddos to Apex and many thanks for letting us be a part of this very positive movement!

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