The Skaters of Graveside DIY

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Good morning, readers.

Early last month, a group of skateboarders showed up to the Raleigh City Council’s Tuesday evening public comment session with a request: that the city help them identify property they could use to build a DIY skate park after theirs, Graveside DIY, was torn down to make way for a new townhome subdivision. 

I’ve spent the past six weeks learning about Graveside DIY and the people who built it. While the site, located on a little side street off of Tryon Road in West Raleigh, was destroyed in February, the community that made Graveside DIY what it was is very much intact. 

Graveside DIY was a skate park like no other in the Triangle. The parcel of land, located on private property formerly owned by the Islamic Association of Raleigh, was naturally beautiful, dense with evergreen trees and bordered by a creek on one side and an old family cemetery on the other. The community that grew out of it is vibrant: welcoming, supportive, diverse, and most of all, determined. 

The skaters built the park, consisting of a dozen or so ramps and other obstacles, entirely themselves with less than $20,000 that they raised selling merchandise. And while losing Graveside was a blow, the skaters’ certainty that they’ll find another DIY space inside limits is unshakeable. 

Other cities, including Charlotte, have agreements with local skaters through which they can build DIY skate parks on public property. It’s not inconceivable that Raleigh could follow this lead. Mostly, it’s been inspiring to see residents demanding the kinds of third spaces that are vital to healthy communities, even in the third-fastest growing housing market in the country; these spaces are what Raleigh should be planning for as it continues to grow.

“There’s never going to be another Graveside,” says JRob, one of the skaters I spoke to for the story. “But there’s always going to be another DIY.”

Read the story below, and have a good Monday.

 —Jane

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Durham

ICYMI: Members of the Durham Association of Educators flexed their muscles last week with practice pickets and walk-ins as they push district leadership for more budget transparency, INDY’s Chase Pellegrini de Paur reports.

As the Trump administration ramps up deportations and pushes the boundaries of federal law, Durham is contending with the limits of its ability to protect its immigrant community, Barry Yeoman and Vibhav Nandagiri report for The Assembly.

Wake

Crowds gathered in Raleigh and other cities this weekend to protest the Trump administration, WRAL reports.

Orange

Carrboro’s Bowbarr is closing. INDY’s Sarah Edwards reports regulars are coming from near and far for the dive bar’s last days. 

Chapel Hill has a new inclusive park designed for kids with disabilities, WCHL reports.

North Carolina

A state staffing shortage and jobs cuts at the federal level have crippled the state’s ability to respond to wildfires burning in Western North Carolina, Carolina Public Press reports.

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