Beau Bowman
KCCI Des Moines
DES MOINES, Iowa — People from all over the country are still raving about the nation’s biggest skatepark one year after it opened.
The Des Moines’ Lauridsen Skatepark celebrated its one-year anniversary Saturday.
Tom Miller with Skate DSM says that was what the park was designed to do.
“It’s a place people want to come to,” Miller said. “You can really grow the sport and grow yourself as a skater throughout the park.”
Skate DSM hosted an anniversary party at Lauridsen Saturday. Skaters, young and old, traveled from all over the Midwest to be there and compete in contests.
“It’s really big for all the young shredders that are trying to just go big,” Jett LeBlanc from Omaha, Nebraska, said. “There’s like a 25-foot corner over there for people who like doing big stuff like me and there’s also some really small stuff for people who are just beginning.”
“This place doesn’t even feel like it’s been open a year, it feels like a day,” Reese Bunn, an 11-year-old from Des Moines said. “I got a lot better from this park, but yeah I’m just trying to have fun and skate.”
And Lauridsen Skatepark can’t stay out of the national spotlight.
One of the sport’s biggest international events, The Dew Tour, is coming back this summer. The Olympic qualifying event was held in Des Moines last year with restricted capacity due to the pandemic.
“Last year it was a bit of a scaled-back version of their event, this year it’s going to more of their full version,” Miller said.
