Modern Skate in Centerpoint Mall closes

[jthrasher 35]

I'm not sure all the details behind this but this really sucks. It seems like the rent was raised which made it unprofitable for them to stay there and now they want to renovate the mall again? This just seems idiotic to me. This was a great place for kids to hang out and keep them off the street. What a bummer for our community.

http://www.woodtv.com//dpp/news/local/grand_rapids/Centerpointe-Mall-skate-park-closes

[suydam 1]

If it's a viable business, they'll find somewhere else to re-open.

There's a plethora of warehouses that are empty that would make far better skateparks than mall-space.

I'm thinking something like Ray's MTB Park in Cleveland and Milwaukee would be pretty cool in GR.

[fotoman311 50]

If it's a viable business, they'll find somewhere else to re-open.

There's a plethora of warehouses that are empty that would make far better skateparks than mall-space.

I'm thinking something like Ray's MTB Park in Cleveland and Milwaukee would be pretty cool in GR.

http://www.raysmtb.com/

The problem, from what I've read elsewhere, is that it's not a business with huge margins and requires a big capital investment to get the same level of facilities. They might be able to save some or most of the ramps and take them to their other facilities (or a new GR facility if they chose), but there is a big cement pool in there that will probably not be able to be moved and would need to be rebuilt at a new site for a significant cost in the 10s of thousands of dollars.

http://skateandannoy.com/2007/03/grand-rapids-michigan/

Certainly the owners knew there was a risk in building that infrastructure in a site they didn't own, but that doesn't mean it's not a big loss for the community and a large number of youth who won't have a safe, monitored place to skate year round anymore.

[Quercus 58]

Hopefully Modern is able to make the numbers crunch and move into a new indoor space in GR. Meanwhile, folks are still raising funds to build an outdoor skate park at Clemente Park.

[joeDowntown 1026]

It is a real bummer. My kids loved it there. I hope they find another facility!