This article was written by Garett Spoor and published on the Valpo.Life website. Thank you! To see Valpo.Life’s photos of the event, click here.
After years of anticipation, the Valparaiso community can rejoice. Valpo Parks held its grand opening ceremony for Flounder & Friends Skatepark at Fairgrounds Park on Thursday, November 9.
Kevin Nuppnau, director of Valpo Parks, was excited to see a great turnout of residents in the community upon the opening.
“We tried different capacities, public engagement sessions, surveys, internal meetings, design meetings, and the construction process to put together an awesome skate park here in Valparaiso,” Nuppnau said. “It’s nice to finally see it come into fruition.”
With the location at Fairgrounds Park, the skatepark adds another special amenity to a space that has softball fields and a track around the park. Nuppnau believes this is going to be an exhilarating environment for the skatepark to be in.
“It’ll definitely be buzzing with entertainment,” Nuppnau said. “The kids have a lot to look forward to. People can come in to perform or show off their skills for other people to appreciate. Our biggest hurdle through the years was trying to figure out where to put it, but we feel that this is the perfect spot.
Matt Evans, Valpo Parks Foundation board member, notes how this addition will benefit the quality of life for several groups of people possessing different interests.
“This is going to address an underserved group of action sports enthusiasts in this community,” Evans said. “With Creekside Trails and Fairgrounds Park, we really have made a difference with action sports. These are kids and adults who want to challenge themselves but aren’t necessarily drawn to field or court sports. They’ll get a thrill from being able to do that with the skatepark.”
Evans believes this will become one of the best skateparks in the state in due time. City Administrator Bill Oeding has a similar outlook. He’s confident that this skatepark will benefit more than just the Valparaiso residents.
“Not only will this skatepark serve the local community, but it’ll also serve as a regional draw,” Oeding said. “The design and features elevate the space like the city of Valparaiso. There’s nothing around Flounder & Friends Skatepark that’s quite like it.”
While this process took a lot of preparation to successfully come together, the Valpo Parks Foundation acknowledged that they couldn’t have done it without Dug Ketterman.
Ketterman, a Valparaiso native and the founder of DugOut Design Studio, created the design for the original “Flounder” skatepark in 1998. He created the design for Flounder & Friends Skatepark as a redesign of the original from 25 years ago, with some new and improved features.
“I’m very appreciative of everyone that helped contribute to the making of this awesome skatepark,” Ketterman said. “Having the opportunity to come back to my hometown and see so many different faces that I haven’t seen in forever really made this fantastic.”
Ketterman also provided tours of the skatepark to the residents prior to the ribbon cutting. Afterward, he participated in the demos as one of the skateboarders.
Flounder & Friends Skatepark will also host a skate program to teach others about skating. The Valpo Parks Foundation can’t wait to see how much of an impact this skatepark will bring to residents of all ages.
“It’s been a personal achievement of mine to be a part of this,” Nuppnau said. “It’s been an honor to work on this project and meet so many great people. I’m looking forward to seeing how the community appreciates it and I’m happy that the celebration is here.”
The skatepark was open to public skating at 5:30 p.m. People showed up with a variety of rides such as skateboards, bicycles, and scooters. The park was open until 10 p.m. with DJ music. Food trucks of Travelin Toms Coffee and Ricochet Tacos were in attendance for the event.