Friday, June 12 marked reopening day for the Oakdale Community Park – more fondly referred to as the skate park.

Though the reopening date had been firmly set by the city, locals attempted to send around a petition to open the skate park sooner. Still, the city waited until it was deemed appropriate to open up the park.

“I’m glad it opened back up,” Dustin Garrick shared during a recent outing.

Garrick was at the park with Kylie Sill supervising nine-year-old Carson Keating. All shared that they had been to the park a few times, but are excited to start coming more as the summer progresses.

Young Keating found that scootering around on afternoons are the best times for kids his age. During his trip on a Wednesday afternoon, the park was rather empty which gave him and a few other kids the opportunity to skate around as much as they liked.

The skatepark bowls are Keating’s favorite part about the park, but he and Garrick are also no strangers to the basketball court, and shared that they’ve played out there a few times as well.

Oakdale Community Park also features a concession stand, which will be opened up as soon as sneeze guards are installed. Current hours of operation are 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Jane Finkenbine, the city’s Recreation Services Coordinator, mentioned that they are planning on adding ice cream bars to other prepackaged foods that will be sold at the stand.

The park itself is open each day, daylight until dusk, and offers opportunities for skating, a small playground, an outdoor stage, a basketball court, and areas to sit and eat. Officials anticipate seeing the park fill up as the summer progresses.