Harrison Street DIY Skate Park
In April of 2017 a crew of volunteers had been building the Harrison Street DIY skate park in an abandoned cul de sac in Kansas City’s Columbus Park Neighborhood, at 4th and Harrison Street.
What started out as a few bags of Quickcrete, mixed with shovels and formed into ramps on a few jersey barriers turned into yard after yard of truck-delivered commercial ready-mix concrete. The skateboarders built ramps, a pool, quarter pipe and at least a half-dozen other custom-designed skatepark features.
All the labor was volunteer. Not just the labor to build the park either. The neighborhood pitched in by advocating for them, helping work with the city and media, and eventually getting approval for this space.
The story of how this skate spot got to this point is the story of how the skaters and the neighborhood banded together. How everyone involved took up elected leaders of Kansas City Missouri on decades-old challenge to cooperate and build the community they want to live in.
It’s also the story of how this privately-funded, volunteer-built, amenity has earned the social capital to affect development plans for the Columbus Park neighborhood and lay down the marker for other neighborhoods in Kansas City to affect development in their own community.
Zach and his dog, Opie, pose in front of the skatepark they’ve been building for almost 3 years.
The skaters at Harrison Street DIY regularly have skate days for the kids in the surrounding neighborhoods where they give out complete board setups to any of the kids who want to learn to skate.
Max takes a break from working on backfilling a new ramp feature in preparation for a concrete truck pour.
Not every feature at the Harrison Street DIY park is complete. Skaters have to improvise ways to warn one another about incomplete feature builds.
Craig is a visitor from outside of Kansas City who heard about the welcoming community at Harrison Street DIY Skatepark.
Columbus Park and the surrounding neighborhood of Northeast Kansas City is one of the most diverse areas in the city. Many refugee families settle in that part of KC which means a lot of kids show up for the neighborhood Skate Days at Harrison Street DIY.
Kevin, Hunter and Gustavo are regular volunteers and users of Harrison Street DIY Skatepark.
