Whangamatā skate park ready for official opening - and everyone's invited

The surf-skate culture in Whangamatā has a long history. Photo / Tony Rea.

The official opening of the upgraded Whangamatā skate park is onsite at 10am on Saturday, June 20 and everyone is invited.

Contractors repaired the skate bowl in December 2019 and built a street skate area next to the existing bowl on top of the bank.

"The project is well-worth celebrating as it has received a lot of positive feedback from the Whangamatā community and created a better flow from the shelter area to establish a street skate 'zone'," says Ken Coulam, Whangamatā Community Board chairman.

"The focus of the project acknowledges the importance of the existing bowl for skating history in Whangamatā, but at the same time we gave it a new lease of life so the next generation can continue to express themselves in new creative and exciting ways."

The existing skate park was built in two separate time periods. The oldest and most iconic part is the snake run bowl, which is over 30 years old.

This bowl has a lot of history in the skating scene in Whangamatā and is known by skaters internationally as one of only three skate areas in New Zealand identified in Thrasher magazine's notable parks.

"We hope the upgrade will put Whangamatā back on the skating destination map," says council project manager Ross Ashby.

Please join the Whangamatā Community Board and mayor Sandra Goudie for an official opening next Saturday at 10am (if it rains, we will postpone until the following weekend Saturday, June 27) tcdc.govt.nz/whangaskatepark.