TUPELO — Tupelo officials are still considering what to do with skateboarding obstacles donated to the city over two years ago.
Built by local welder Welding Willie’s, the obstacles include two quarter pipes, two pyramids and two boxes. The equipment, designed to be set up as a beginner-level skatepark, were purchased with prize money a group of Tupelo skateboarders earned by winning the 2023 Red Bull Terminal Takeover for best video, beating out teams from much larger cities, including Houston, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Pensacola, Florida, among others.
The win netted the Tupelo team $5,000 in winnings. The team raised another $5,000 from local law firm Mama Justice through its Macon a Difference Foundation and an additional $1,000 from Corey Seawright, owner of Mississippi Premier Inspections, and his brother Jonathan Seawright. Cody Floyd, who is the head instructor at Tupelo Jiu-Jitsu Academy, also donated.
The proceeds were used to jumpstart a batch of obstacles for a second, beginner-friendly skatepark for the city.
Since their donation, however, the ramps have remained in storage inside the city’s former police station.
“What’s important is how meaningful it still is to see the community come together like that,” said Matt Robinson, owner of local skateboard shop, CHANGE, and the organizer of Tupelo’s annual skateboarding festival, CHANGE Fest.
Robinson said it’s disappointing the city hasn’t installed the obstacles for young and beginning riders to use, especially after so many people contributed to its purchase.
“CHANGE Fest people raised the money, built the stuff and gave it to the city and then the city is doing their thing,” Robinson said.
Robinson said following the 2023 CHANGE Fest, he and city officials began working on ideas of where to place the obstacles. The original plan, he said, was to place the ramps at the old farmer’s depot downtown.
Those plans fell through, however, and city officials have yet to land on a new location to set up the equipment.
Tupelo Parks and Recreation Director Alex Farned said the city is still considering multiple locations for the equipment’s installation, but there is nothing concrete. He said the city plans to look at its options again during the upcoming budgeting season.
While the other wooden obstacles stores in that area are subject to weathering deterioration, Robinson noted that the donated ramps are made with gator skin, a composite wood designed for skating in outdoor ramps.
Robinson said he saw the community do-it-yourself attitude toward building beginner-level parks in every ward as refreshing, noting that he and others involved in the festival planned to build more obstacles every year and donate them to the city for different wards.
Robison said he’d like to install small skate parks in every ward, one following each iteration of CHANGE Fest.
Though he said he felt the delay in installing the obstacles has “put a wet blanket” on building community-funded parks, he does not see this as the fault of the administration, noting that as president of the skatepark association, it was up to him to help facilitate the projects.
“I actually understand and appreciate that (the city) has a process that they have to go through,” he said. “In the meantime, we don’t need a park built for that. All we need is a flat piece of concrete in the city and to not be arrested in the city.”
To Robinson, the need for beginner obstacles is higher than ever with the renovation and complete reconstruction of the Boerner skatepark at Ballard Park, which opened in 2023. The $572,000 park is built to tournament specifications and isn’t suited toward smaller or beginning riders.