10 Twincities Skateparks That Are No More, A Listicle

Summit Boardshop and Skatepark is closing this month or early next month, per the letter above (blacked out portions are in order to not completely blow out their closing sale). They were close to making it nearly ten years in the biz and their rep as a sort-of-skateshop was mostly bolstered by the skatepark, while the tab header on their website reads "Minneapolis Snowboarding | Minneapolis Skiing," sort of a head scratcher with regard their location in Lake Elmo, and previously, Stillwater. They also used to sell patio furniture.

Still, fewer indoor skating options, especially on the east side of the metro, is a bummer. Those with the means should probably look into buying ramps, bowls, etc., in order to avoid a total loss.

As it happens, just the other day in the skateshop a discussion arose about defunct indoor parks around here. A list off the top of the head:

Skate Oasis.
Canaan.
G-Shock.
Graffiti.
Ride XP.
JSAW.
Ollie & Co.
Showcase.
The Hub.
Summit.

Associated thoughts with the list above, in order: Didn't actually really skate when I found out about it on a KARE 11 report, never went; Undone by raves and had a rent-to-own program with helmets; Was south of the river and kept the vert scene afloat with earnest owners; Stillwater; Owner drove a Hummer with "Ride XP" vanity plates, which didn't help; Christian skatepark for which whose acronym I can find no explanation; Undone by repeated burglaries; Owned by a convicted sex offender*; Another religious type park which kept the East Lake thing alive; "It is our way of thanking you for your business and friendship, while at the same time accomplishing our goals."

The indoor skatepark for profit game is a tough one, as evidenced by the guy with the Hummer who couldn't make it happen and all the other examples listed above. It's unclear, too, exactly why Summit is closing up, but the list above offerings plenty of possible reasons. Follow ups as information comes up, below is a response to a since deleted tweet.

@summitboardshop what's the reason for closing?

— Mike Munzenrider (@mmunzenrider) December 10, 2013

*Lots of news outlets around here reported on the arrest and the sexual assault charges against Wayne Lee Cummings Jr., former owner of Showcase Skatepark, but few web results came up to confirm that he was actually convicted of said charges. After a decent amount of Googling, commensurate with the fact checking apropos to a skate-blogger who went to J-school, I found this Minnesota Court of Appeals decision in which the crimes he was convicted of are discussed in detail. The descriptions of sexual assault in the previous link may be disturbing.