Unique Skate Plaza in Kettering, Ohio

Kettering, Ohio offers a nearly 40,000 square foot uniquely designed skate park. The Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Foundation Skate Plaza is located on East Stroop Road in Kettering. It is on the southwestern portion of Indian Riffle Park. Rob Dyrdek, the designer of the park is a professional skateboarder and Kettering native.

The unique design of the facility is the fact that it is a skate plaza and not just a skate park. A skate plaza is different in that it is designed like a public square or open city area for street skateboarding. A skate park simply consists of half pipes and vertical ramps for skater's use. A plaza use urban terrain features including rails, ledges and benches making it much like skating in a city or street environment.

Street skateboarding on public streets is illegal so a skate plaza mimics the street style of skating in a legal environment. Kettering Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts organized a group to research the needs of skaters in order to build a park to lessen damages in the city and keep skating legal. Billed as the world's first Skate Plaza, work on the project was completed in June of 2005.

The plans for the Kettering Skate Plaza are on-line and available for download to help other areas that are interested in building skate plaza of their own. Skateboarding is one of the most popular participant sports among youth between six to eighteen years in age. The industry has yearly sales estimated at 800 million dollars.

The Skate Plaza in Kettering is open from dawn to dusk 7 days a week. There is no charge to use the park or the adjacent Indian Riffle Park. The Plaza is designed for skateboards and inline skates only, no bicycles or other vehicles may be used. The use of helmets and other safety equipment is recommended but not required. At this time waivers at not required. Skaters ages 10 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Bringing or using ramps or additional equipment is not allowed. Non-skaters are welcome to watch but must stay out of the actual skating area. Anyone wishing to organize a skating event or do media photographing must contact the City of Kettering first.

The city keeps the Skate Plaza rules simple. No fighting or weapons are permitted. No food, beverages or glass containers are allowed in the skate park area. Indian Riffle Park has picnic areas. No alcohol or tobacco may be used in the skate area. No pets are allowed in the area. Pets can be taken into the Indian Riffle area. Loud music is prohibited in all the park areas.More information is available about Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza foundation at their website.