Edgewood DIY

The park is located next to the East Lawrence Recreation Center in Edgewood Park (1728 Maple Lane). A small contingent of Lawrence skaters recognized the community’s need for a skatepark on the east side (there are no skateparks East of Iowa street) and decided to do something about it. After building a DIY known as “Riverside” in 2014, and seeing it get bulldozed by the city in 2016, we began talks with Parks and Rec about a city-sanctioned DIY. Scary Larry KS Bike Polo was kind enough to hand over their old repurposed court, and we began Edgewood DIY in June of 2018.

When the initial search for a DIY location began, we knew that we wanted to be in a residential neighborhood, we knew that we wanted to serve an east or northside location (previously no skateparks), and we knew that we wanted to be within a city park if possible. Leading up to our 2nd build this September, Edgewood DIY partnered with the Housing Authority's youth program (Huppee) to lead a "Build a Board" workshop. Youths from the neighborhood were able to choose from lightly used wheels, trucks, and decks and with a little guidance from area skaters, assembled their own completes. This not only gave Edgewood DIY a chance to ensure low-income area youth had access to boards, it also gave us a chance to meet and spend some time with those area youth (mostly serving youth under the age of 14) who would be making use of the skatepark.

We've been hard at work with fundraising by hosting events like local skate video premieres, rock shows, and selling shirts. We were able to use some of these funds along with generous donations from the local Free Masons chapter and great support from our ongoing sponsor TUSK Outreach to complete Phase 1, and Phase 2 of construction. We've got some great plans for Phase III!

We’ve paid neighbors for access to water, paid experienced skatepark builders for their assistance, and paid for 3D designs. We’ve paid for metal coping to be bent just right, and we’re going to paint the obstacles too through a collaborative youth mural project... the list goes on and on... Most importantly we'll be completing  phase 3 of Edgewood DIY in 2019! A portion of the funds would be allocated to design, project coordination, and on-site prep work. Edgewood DIY will also be continuing our community outreach through an ongoing partnership with the Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority's youth program. In the Summer/fall of 2019 we are planning a community-based mural project to adorn the park’s concrete ramps. This tentative mural project will be led by Nicholas Ward in partnership with area skaters/artists and the youths of LDCHA.

Thank you to everyone who has contribute to this project thus far. Especially Mammoth Live through their TUSK outreach program And to Lawrence Parks and Recreation for giving us this opportunity to build something great for the community! There are a so many of you who have contributed in so many different ways. Thank you! It feels great to know we have your support in this endeavor, and because of you there is something awesome for everyone to skate on the east side.

Each phase of design begins with an outreach session. Area skaters are invited to offer design suggestions via photos, drawings, and written notes. Our team receives these suggestions and developes a rough design. Once a good layout design has been developed we move on to 3D plans via Sketchup. These 3D plans then get presented to the city for approvals. Once Edgewood DIY has proper city approvals we schedule a build date and begin ordering supplies, promote the build dates on social media, and prepare the site for construction.

For our spring 2019 build (Phase III) there will be roughly 3 weeks of prep work which includes some light surveying, drain placement, cutting a concrete footprint, mapping placement for the skate ramps, and bulding forms for the concrete ramps. This prep work is done in spurts and includes volunteer labor from 30-40 skaters, youth, and skate advocates. The next step is pouring concrete. For Phase III we'll do 3-5 sessions (3-5 weekends) of concrete pours. On these days there will be between 40-50 community volunteers aiding in the process.

A group of Lawrence skaters recognized the community’s need for a skatepark on the east side (there are no skateparks East of Iowa street) and decided to do something about it. After building a DIY known as “Riverside” in 2014, and seeing it get bulldozed by the city in 2016, we began talks with Parks and Rec about a city-sanctioned DIY. Scary Larry KS Bike Polo was kind enough to hand over their old repurposed tennis court, and we began Edgewood DIY in June of 2018. In addition to being an eastside location for skateboarding, Edgewood DIY is also conducting youth workshops and supplying complete skateboards (through "build a board" workshops) to area youth.