Emporia rings in the New Year opening brand-new skate park

EMPORIA (KSNT) - Emporia is ringing in the new year with the official opening of its brand new skate park in Whittier Park Thursday Jan. 2.

The city first announced its plans for the new skate park back in 2023. The park cost $500,000 to build and took nearly a year and a half to come to life. Emporia now has two skate parks, one at Whittier Park and one at Santa Fe Park.

Local skaters have already noticed some differences between the two parks.

"It has a lot more different obstacles," Emporia native, Symone Vongthega said. "It turned out good."

One skater touched on the new park's overall visual appearance.

"It's more vibrant for sure," skater Dusty Stockton said. "It will draw a lot more attention. It's really nice. I like it a lot. I love the colors, the flow of the park is really nice."

Stockton and his friends made the hour drive to Emporia from Wichita today to celebrate the opening. They plan to come back to the city to enjoy the park once warmer weather starts to hit.

"I can't wait to come up here when we can get a nice warm session cause that cold definitely makes it a bit harder to commit to those scarier tricks," skater Jaden Zhilger said. "I'm excited for the summer to come back for sure." 

For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.