People young and old zoomed through the newly opened skate park on bikes and skateboards Tuesday afternoon as the Auburn Chamber of Commerce and Opelika Chamber of Commerce held a joint ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

The new skate park was completed late November 2019. Auburn Mayor Ron Anders was in attendance and spoke about the importance of building the skate park. 

“My responsibility and the Council’s responsibility is to provide amenities for everybody that lives in our community,” Anders said. “I believe this is a great opportunity for those who enjoy skateboarding and bicycling.” 

He said he wanted to include all activities in the community that will continue to unite everyone who lives in Auburn. 

“If something is good for one part of our community, then it’s good for all of our community,” Anders said.

Juan Reyes, a skateboarder who has lived in Auburn his whole life, was in the skate park filming tricks of other skaters around the park.

“I love this park,” Reyes said. “It is a great beginner park, and I love to see younger kids getting out to learn how to skate.”

Kevin Kelly, a project manager for the Auburn Parks and Recreation Department, said during the ribbon cutting that the community had wanted a skate park for a while now. The closest skate park is in Columbus, Georgia. 

Now that the skate park in Auburn is open, many people of all age groups have a safe place to skate.

“I see young adults, little kids and even 40-plus-year-olds out here on skateboards,” Kelly said. “They’re really happy there’s no need to travel far to skate.”

Trammell Shell, 13, joined the Opelika and Auburn city leaders at the ribbon cutting on his bike at the skate park. He said he likes the park’s design because it is not designed just for skateboards. 

“I had been wanting and hoping for a skate park to be built for a while,” Shell said. “I love the bowl and ramps — they’re good for bikes.”