It’s been just over a week since the grand opening of the Blake Doyle Skatepark, and it has become a hub for enthusiasts of the sport both young and old.
Jon Shell, founder of Upward Intuition and the designer for the project, has been advocating for the construction of a park in Pensacola for the last eight years. Now, after all that time and $2.2 million dollars later, the park is finally open to the public.
“For me, this all started in 2015 from a blog post called Forgotten Youth that basically outlined why our city needed a space like this,” Shell said on opening day. “A space not just for skaters, but for musicians, artists, and kids that might not be into team sports. For kids that might not have many people to look up to, they’re navigating their way through middle school, through high school, it’s so easy to go down the path that could have real consequences for the rest of your life.”
At the park on Wednesday afternoon, there were skaters of all ages and skill levels including families with young children first learning how to ride. Some skaters were even returning to the sport after some time away. A certain comradery and cheerfulness swept through the air as Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” played through a Bluetooth device.
Shane Sandhoff, who moved to Pensacola from the country of Panama, marks this as his tenth-year skating.
“It’s the only place I want to be when I get off work,” he said.
The park, says Sandhoff, will only advance the sport in Pensacola.
“This is gonna put Pensacola on the map,” he added. “People from California and all over are gonna pull up here. That will show kids more talent, more advanced skaters. It will show them a whole different level of skating.”
1 of — 4F0ED4CF-AB6D-4D0F-BF14-D9D4E1F82B8E.jpegAnthony Potts / WUWF Public Media
2 of — C7EBBA88-14ED-4767-B237-243E9597E26A.jpegAnthony Potts / WUWF Public Media
3 of — 451F2F10-D718-4D2D-9796-175EE0AF0A21.jpegAnthony Potts / WUWF Public Media
4 of — 0EE26317-0EC7-4A5E-9D0E-C07B2B87D84C.jpegAnthony Potts / WUWF Public Media
5 of — E806180C-238F-48DF-8099-42D358722550.jpegAnthony Potts / WUWF Public Media
The opening of the park comes just one month after the tragic death of 11-year-old Avery Stark, who was struck by a car less than a mile from the park’s location. Stark was the exact demographic of people Shell was inspired by to embark on this endeavor in the first place. Forgotten Youth, the blog that started everything, was inspired by skaters who had nowhere safe to go when they wanted to skate. Shell wanted to provide a safe location for everyone to enjoy freely without having to worry about being put in dangerous situations.
“When I think about forgotten youth, it makes me think about Avery Stark.” Shell said. “He lost his life doing what many of us do every single day. Life is just so fragile, it’s so finite. Every day we have a chance to choose what we focus on and how we spend our time. It kind of made me realize I want to focus on love and the things that bring us together rather than the hate that’s thrown at us from all angles and those things that divide us.”
Despite complaints about illegal parking and people using the park past closing time, it’s had a mostly positive response. Sandhoff says the the park is also a safe outlet for young kids.
“I’m seeing a bunch of kids here I guarantee would be up to no good in a couple years,” Sandhoff said. “If it wasn’t for skating, I probably would’ve gone down the wrong path for sure. A place like this, I think is going to help kids get out of that kind of lifestyle, give them a more positive environment to be in. Everybody who’s here just wants to be able to do something, to have fun, Just to have an activity to do during the day.”
Skateboarding, unfortunately, still has a level of social stigma aimed at it due to the background of the sport. It is still illegal to ride a skateboard in many parts of the city, which makes it more difficult for those without a vehicle to get to the skatepark. However, those at Upward Intuition aim to change that by hosting a litany of events at the park aimed at bringing the community together through music and the arts. Furthermore, City Councilman Casey Jones proposed an ordinance in April that would lift a decades-old ban prohibiting the use of a skateboard on sidewalks in the central section of downtown.
“I think skating, art, and music all have the potential to transcend much of what divides us,” Shell said. “We’ve got an event planned out here on June 10, it’s called‘Opening Day’that includes all of these things. We have some amazing bands, some amazing artists that are going to be a part of it. I just hope that all of you can come out, make some new friends, and just have a really enjoyable experience.”
“I feel like this is going to bring a lot of money here, as far as contests with sponsorships and things like that,” Sandhoff added. “Skateboarding is going nowhere but up from here.”
