'I'm not giving up until this is done:' The fight to rebuild Albany's skate park continues

Yahoo

06-03-2025

ALBANY – Three months ago Alex Ranew was just an avid skater, crushed by what he felt was the wrongful demolition of the skate park that had fostered his passion for the sport.
Now, he's the president of the newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Southwest Georgia Skate. He's fervently attended city meetings, he's written up petitions and proposals and he's garnered the support of a coalition of skaters and nonskaters alike who are making sure the city of Albany doesn't forget about the community's hunger for a new skate park.
'We don't want this to be something that's forgotten about and tucked away like projects have been in the past,' Ranew said. 'I feel like we're advocating for a large part of the community that's just given up because they feel like their voices are unheard.'
Albany's Riverfront Skatepark was demolished during the first week of December in preparation for incoming construction on the Oglethorpe Bridge. This left a vibrant skating community with nowhere to go. Ranew and other users of the park said they were given no notice. Ranew quickly drew up a petition calling for the rebuilding of the park that now has 1,300 signatures. In January, they confronted Albany's City Commission during a work session to make the case for a new park.
A group of about 30 came together to hold a community brainstorm session on what a new skate park in Albany could look like.
Ranew said not only is the group advocating for a new skate park design, but also an 'Art Park' that would allow local artists to come out and showcase their work.
Ward IV Albany City Commissioner Chad Warbington was one of the first city leaders to jump in with support for a new park.
'As an elected official, it's refreshing to see a group of people who are passionate about the activity they're involved in,' he said. 'They're organized. They're meeting on a regular basis. As much as I can, I will help and be their advocate.'
He called the park demolition an 'unfortunate situation' that the city had not intended to happen as quickly as it did. He said there is no reason the city can't get a new skate park within a year or two.
'We researched existing skate parks around us … Columbus, Macon,' Warbington said. 'We're not trying to recreate the wheel. We need to take some park designs that other cities have done and kind of reapply them.'
However, Ranew said his group wants a skate park that is unique to Albany and would draw people into the community. He said, unknown to those outside of the skate community, people would travel from all over to visit the old park, even posting their visit experience on Youtube channels with millions of followers.
'We don't want to copy and paste a skate park into Albany,' Ranew said. 'We definitely need some features that every skate park has, but we need to invent something that is unique for Albany.'
Warbington also said the city is leaning toward building a park at historic Tift Park. He said it would be more cost-effective for the city to add on to an already existing amenity – bringing the cost down from up to $1 million to start from scratch to about $200,000 to add to a site.
'It's good to have a variety of amenities at a park vs. having a park with just one activity because you're only drawing one demographic,' he said.
Adding onto an existing site would also mean a new skate park sooner.
The Southwest Georgia Skate group opposes the Tift Park suggestion. The group doesn't want speed. They want care and time spent gathering community input.
Adam Inyang, an Albany resident and once a regular user of the skate park, said the group wants to keep the skate park on the east side of the Flint River.
'We want to highlight the positive aspects of why we want it on the east side of the river … how it impacts the community there … revitalizes downtown and brings more energy there,' he said.
Ranew said many of the frequent users of the skate park were youths or Albany residents who didn't have access to vehicles. The Riverfront Skate Park's location just across the Oglethorpe Bridge on College Avenue made it accessible to nearby neighborhoods.
He also said incomplete projects at Tift Park have left a bad taste in Albany residents' mouths. Southwest Georgia Skate members spoke to vendors at the weekly Tift Park Community Market who said they'd been advocating for pickleball and tennis courts for years to no avail. Right now, the park has neglected, deteriorated tennis courts.
Inyang said the city commission discussed plans for development and recreation at Tift Park during a recent retreat. He said he fears adding a skate park into the mix at the park would make it just 'a small little blip' in bigger plans.
Meanwhile, Ranew is planning fundraisers for his new nonprofit. A Skate Day is in the works, and the group plans to start a GoFundMe. The group received its first large-scale donation of $1,000 from King Randall with The X for Boys, a preparatory school.
Ranew said he feels Albany's city leadership is pushing the Tift Park location and pushing out community input.
'It's hard to make these commission meetings and to get in touch with these commissioners,' Ranew said. 'So many people give up, but I'm not giving up until this is done.'
Warbington said the city stands ready to collaborate and come up with a solution.Samantha Lashley and Alex Ranew wear Southwest Georgia Skate shirts, representing the newly formed nonprofit. Staff Photo: Lucille LanniganAlex Ranew, second from right, shakes hands with King Randall, second from left, after receiving a donation for Southwest Georgia Skate. Photo Courtesy of Alex Ranew