FDR Skatepark
FDR Skatepark is a skatepark located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is accessible from the Pattison Avenue stop of the Broad Street subway line. The park has long been popular with notable local skaters such as Willy Akers, Chuck Treece, Bam Margera and various other local pro skaters. The park was built on unused public land in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park beneath an overpass of Interstate 95. The park came to be through volunteer labor and donations of materials. Over time the park has expanded with additions and inclusions to the area around the original components of the park.
Features
Created by skaters, for skaters, it is considered within the skateboarding community to be an excellent park with endless speed lines. The park has several "areas", including the core park that lies under the aforementioned overpass, the neighboring and connecting pool section, and a mini ramp and vert ramp. South Philadelphia's FDR Skate Park has been described by professionals and in magazine articles such as Thrasher and Skateboarder to be a concrete, skateboard 'paradise', as it was designed and built by skateboard enthusiasts. The original core of the park includes features like the "Bunker," a 60-foot-long (18 m); the "Dome," a 4-foot (1.2 m) wall of concrete that climbs up into a burly overhang11-foot (3.4 m) next to the Bunker with brick coping and provides privacy from the road; a 6 ft patch of humps called the "Amoeba", this park provides a challenge for skaters of all skill levels, even professionals. As mentioned the park is situated right under the I-95 highway overpass, right off Broad Street, so it is protected from rain and snow.
Popularity
FDR played host to the Gravity Games in 2005. The whole Park is also playable in the video game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground by Activision and Neversoft. The park has been featured in countless skate videos since the mid-1990s, including Transworld IE and Toy Machine's Jump Off A Building. It is featured in at least hundreds of skateboard and videos on YouTube, through contests, and every day footage. Location: 39°53′55″N 75°10′46″W / 39.898541°N 75.179563°W