Charlotte skateboarders fight to keep their ‘home’ at Eastland

The Eastland DIY Skate Park and the Charlotte Open Air Market are the two busy spaces in the otherwise quiet area. Their future is unclear as Eastland’s development plans get closer to the construction phase.

The skate park is in the corner of the empty lot near the Movement School. It’s mostly just a lot of concrete with small, brightly painted ramps. But on any given sunny afternoon, the park buzzes with dozens of skateboarders. Find them cheering each other on, falling, trying new moves, falling some more, and just hanging out.

The park is pretty small, about the size of a standard fast-food restaurant parking lot. But it’s big enough to mean a lot to those who skate there everyday.

[Related Agenda story: In a historic vote, City Council approves plans for Eastland overhaul]

Why it matters: “There’s nothing like the Eastland,” said ARMADA Skate Shop owner Patrick Carroll. “When you pour blood, sweat, and tears, and you’re a part of something, you actually contribute to making it, it’s a little different from when you go to a facility that’s already pre-existing.”

Stephen Barrett, a graphic and web designer, built most of the park himself with help from friends. He estimates they’ve spent $15,000 building up the park since 2015. He says he just wanted a place to skate, and he’s happy with how the park has created a community of skaters.

“It brings so much to the east side,” Barrett said. “They’re talking about having a park and green space (at the new Eastland development). I don’t see why some clean up couldn’t be done and it couldn’t be included in that.”

The skateboarders I spoke to mentioned how other skate parks around Charlotte charge entrance fees and require certain, sometimes expensive, equipment. Many Eastland skaters can’t afford to pay, and need a park close by because they have to walk.

Carroll says the park creates a safe space for otherwise stigmatized kids. “Essentially you’re leaving these kids homeless,” Carroll told the Agenda. “This is where they live.”

Part of the Eastland Skate Park community includes young kids. Amy Swaney, a mom from Plaza Midwood with 7- and 10-year-old sons, brings her kids to the park often. She says the older skaters at the park have taught her boys a lot, and have served as great role models.

“They were the most impressive group of young men I have ever been around,” Swaney said of Eastland skateboarders. “I was blown away. … They all kind of took the kids under their wing.”

Part of the culture at the park includes welcoming a diverse group of skaters and being part of racial justice protests like Roll Against Racism, an event held over the summer. Anyone can have a place at the park, Charlotte artist Fred Smith tells me.

What they want: The Eastland Skate Park community is fighting for the new Eastland development plans to keep the skate park. Or at a minimum, guarantee space for another park nearby. But, it’s unclear whether the city will prioritize the skate park.

“It would be crazy to come here and tear this up and not give us … an alternative,” Smith said.

From the city: “We have consistently talked to both of them. Probably more so to the flea market,” Charlotte’s economic development director Tracy Dodson said about extending the skatepark and open air market leases, at least in the short term, or until construction begins.

Buildings aren’t going up anytime soon, but there is “a lot of demolition and groundwork that has to be done,” Dodson told the Agenda recently. Meaning the skate park and flea market’s space won’t really be available while work is underway.

In the long term, it’s “to be determined,” Dodson said. Essentially the market and skate park will have to find a new place during construction, and it hasn’t yet been decided whether there will be dedicated space for them at the overhauled Eastland site once it’s done.

About Eastland: Right now the development plans include housing, retail space, a new Atrium Health facility, and a three-acre park. The city has committed to contributing $35 million to the development project.

Photos by Logan Cyrus

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