Durham skate park is all smiles

DURHAM (WTVD) -- The skate park on Foster Street in downtown Durham is filled with handrails and pipes and has enough stairs, gaps, and bowls made of concrete to make any skateboarder smile. Therefore, it was no surprise that several wheeled enthusiasts of all levels were dropping in and enjoying the skate park's many repurposed obstacles.

"I like the versatility," said Aaron Panky.
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Panky has been skateboarding at the park since it was built in 2009 and likes the facility because it has a lot to offer skateboarders no matter what skill level.

The park has flat surfaces and easy slopes and gaps for beginners who may need to get their legs beneath them first before trying anything else. For the advanced skater, there is a concrete bowl, a floating quarter pipe, plus several handrails for those who may want to live a bit more dangerously.






However, sliding, scraping, and landing are just parts of what's jumping off.

"I like the environment around the park," said Panky. "I like the people about the park. I just like the atmosphere overall."
A friend of Panky, Spencer Barbera, said the Durham Central Skatepark is a great place to have fun with his friends, adding that he has met some of his best friends there.
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"Everybody is just so nice, and like you can just talk with anybody when you are at the skate park," said Barbera who is one of the founders of the skateboarding website labooshskate.com.



Barbera said he's been skating for 6 years and a lot at the Durham skate park.



The park is there for everyone. Parents relax and watch their children, people sit under trees and watch beneath the backdrop of the Bull City.



While at the 10,000 square foot cement utopia, the sounds of wheels, wood, shoes, and voices carve out a repetitious harmony.
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As a lifetime Durham resident, Panky said, "It's a good way to make friendships and build relationships just from skateboarding. So, that's all I want to do."

And I couldn't agree more.