NEW MODERN PARK: ROYAL OAK, MI
November 30, 2008 @ 5:18 PM - Mike O
A new Modern Skate and Surf skatepark has opened up in the Detroit area within the past couple of days, and it looks like a real treat to say the least. This park will be located in Royal Oak, which is central on the I-696 corridor just north of Detroit proper. This should be a good central location for all the riders in the metro-Detroit area to make way to for one of their three bike only sessions that will be held each week.
Davey Coop with a flip for the cameras....
Hearing of the new park brings back many memories of the old Modern park in Novi. The old park was a winter haven for many of us who needed our fix during the long, cold winter months. Lansing lacked (still does) an indoor park so on Tuesday or Thursday nights, every week during winter, we would venture our way down I-96 for a few hours of riding. When I first rode the old park, I hated it. In general, I don’t have a whole lot of fun with indoor parks. But riding there with all of my close friends, it really made me enjoy it and some of my fondest riding memories are from the sessions we had at that park. It was always the same group of us, everyone knew eachother, and it made for great times. After riding we’d head over to Buffalo Wild Wings for some food and a frosty beverage before venturing our way back home (often through snow storms, this is Michigan in winter after all).....
The bowl I want to ride.....
My only real complaint with the new park would be the fact that bikes won’t be allowed in the new bowl section. It has always been a love/hate relationship with Modern, they involved BMX’rs in raising money for the Lansing public cement park only to protest to the city that they were dangerous, so we have been banned from that park since it opened in 2002. When they bought the old park in Novi (previously Vans), they didn’t allow bikes in the cement pool there....and now this. This bowl looks like it’s made of skate-lite (unless the B&W photography is throwing me off), and the whole rest of the park is made of skate-lite, too. So, if it’s okay to ride on skate-lite in one part of the park, why the hell wouldn’t you let bikes on this section? To be honest, this bowl looks like one of the best parts of the entire park, and it will be disappointing to many if riders won’t be allowed to ride it.
Outside of that one issue, the rest of the park looks awesome.
Address: 1500 N. Stephenson Hwy. Royal Oak Mi 48067
- Tuesdays 6:30pm to 9:30pm
- Thursdays 6:30pm to 9:30pm
- Sundays 6pm to 9pm
Note: Photos were taken by the one and only Joe Gall of Team Young
