I have lived in Asheville my whole life, and supported the skate scene in whatever way I could. I have been to this park a fair amount of times and have never been trouble.
Recently, I was outside at the non-profit community outdoor park that's right next to it, and I fell on my face. I was bleeding from the eyebrow area. My friend sees this, and goes running into RAD. He comes in and says "can I please get an icepack and some paper towels? My friend just hit their head outside" and the man working, who was Christopher Dow, says "sorry bro, we only help out the skaters that fall inside."
The people that work at/own RAD skatepark have no human decency to lend out an icepack for 15 minutes, just because we were outside and not inside. I wouldn't wanna leave my child there under supervision like that. Luckily, I wasn't badly hurt, no concussion or anything, just a scar on my eyebrow. Needless to say, I will not be supporting this establishment any further. I'd rather not skate because it's raining than support someone as inhumane as them.
The outdoor park right next to them is in NO way affiliated with RAD skatepark, and is entirely community-organized and funded and built, and everyone there represents what skateboarding should be all about: community. When I fell, and Christopher refused to help, one of the skaters at foundation brought me one of their own ice packs, and paper towels, and some other first aid items. Very lucky to have fallen around such a supportive bunch. read more