Construction is about to begin this week on the largest skate park in the United States. The Lauridsen Skatepark along the Des Moines River northeast of Wells Fargo Arena will be roughly 88,000 square feet. It beats out the Spring Skatepark in Houston, which is 10,000 square feet smaller than the one being built in Iowa.

Original designs of the park had it around 65,000 square feet but Chris Hensley, who is the co-chair of the group organizing the project said in a statement, "We were so close already, we said we couldn't imagine not being the largest," so they added on!

According to the Des Moines Register, the skatepark costs $3.5 million, which was raised through private donations. Supports are predicting that the new park will bring in nearly 40,000 skaters per year and have the capacity to host several local and national skating events throughout the year.

The park is set to be open for skating by this fall.

 

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