Food Court Skatepark opens its doors at McKinley Mall

"It is insane this is in the McKinley Mall, and I love it"
75756A5E-120A-4932-810C-2FD980DB785E

Blasdell, N.Y. (WBEN) - After more than six months of transforming the old Mattress Firm located near the Bed Bath and Beyond at the McKinley Mall into an indoor skatepark, the doors have opened for the general public to Food Court Skatepark on Sunday.

Following a week of a soft opening for skaters who signed up for membership rewards during the presale process, owner and operator of Food Court Skatepark, Weldon Jones couldn't be more excited to get things rolling.

"It's been a ton of long nights, a ton of back-breaking labor and just meticulous planning. I'm just so relieved that we're right there," said Jones.

As of right now in Western New York, there are only a few indoor skateparks that allow for avid skateboarders and others to have fun and be active all-year-round. However, most of the local indoor skateparks right now are only private spaces not open to the general public. The closest indoor venues open to the general public are either open in Rochester, Jamestown or in Toronto, Ontario.

Now, a new indoor skatepark will be accessible to all across the region, and it calls the McKinley Mall its home.

LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:

"It is insane this is in the McKinley Mall, and I love it," Jones said. "Just walking by, everyone that walks by stops and stares. It's a beautiful thing, it looks so out of place. I would love to see this mall just normalize having fun, exciting activities being held in it. It would be my dream."

While Jones has been eagerly anticipating opening day for several weeks, the early reception for the Food Court Skatepark has been far beyond anything he expected.

"Everyone is literally over the moon, they love it. They love seeing something happen," Jones said. "If people don't skate, they just love being able to stand outside and watch it. They can just watch all the action happening, it's a form of entertainment. To the people skating, it's really, really cool, because they feel like they have a crowd to perform for. It's just been overwhelmingly positive."

While the original hope was to have the skatepark ready for business in the later spring months, Jones says just about everything is ready to go. The only stuff he continues to ready for deals with the lobby and other paperwork matters to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

Despite the opening of the skatepark, there has been some recent news over the last few months that may deter others from owning or operating a business in a mall setting.

Back in May, the McKinley Mall was put up for bid in an online auction in an attempt to sell the massive 75-acre complex along McKinley Parkway. While the highest bid was recorded at $7.975 million online, the mall was never actually sold.

Earlier this week, Uniland Development gave tenants who don't have exterior entrance at the Eastern Hills Mall in Clarence six months notice to vacate, as plans are in motion to re-developing the mall into a town center.

While those developments may give pause to some business owners, it doesn't seem to phase Jones much, as he views this as an opportunity.

"I feel like now's our chance to really show them this is something worth keeping," he said. "With the Eastern Hills closing, basically telling people you have to be out by January, that's a good and a bad thing. I know quite a few of them have come here inquiring about vacancies, so realistically, it would be pretty good for the McKinley Mall if a lot of those tenants came here and took the vacant spots. Then we can have two strong malls in the area - Galleria and McKinley - I feel like that's a perfect balance."

While Jones has yet to have a chance to speak with the owners of the McKinley Mall recently, he believes in the current management group, and feels the worst is behind them.

The last time WBEN was on site of the skatepark back in early March, Jones and his crew were at the tail end of the demolition phase and preparing for the arrival of the ramp builders coming from California to help set things up for business.

Upon viewing the final layout of this massive project and dream of his, Jones feels everything at the skatepark was meticulously planned and executed.

"We've placed everything exactly where we think it would be the best. Nothing was just haphazardly drawn in or thrown in. This park was built by professionals, not just professionals of the art. They're former pro skaters, they're people that love skateboarding so much and their bodies hurt now, and they're just like, 'Well, let's help build stuff for the rest of the community,'" he said. "This park is built, I want to say perfectly."

In fact, Jones adds the skatepark was built to be able to host a number of skating contests down the road.

"You'll notice you see a lot of things here in doubles, you'll see like, 'Oh, those two rails are next to each other.' That is so you can do the rails both ways. If you like to skate with your front foot being the left foot, you have the same opportunity to do the rail as if your front foot is the right foot. It's called 'goofy footed' and 'regular footed'," Jones explained. "This park is built to be a contest park. We can definitely, and will definitely be hosting contests here."

Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skate Park
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN

Sunday's opening at the Food Court Skatepark is planned to be one big community party for Jones, as he encourages members of the public to come in anytime from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET and check out what the park has to offer. He adds if anyone wants to skate, rollerblade or scooter that day, $10 gets you in the park all day.

After Sunday, it's all business as usual.

"We're going to be open from 12-to-9 p.m. every day, and we're going to offer lessons," Jones said. "If you liked what you saw on Sunday and you're kind of scared to get into it, we'll have lessons, we'll be able to teach you in a nice, safe, controlled environment. We'll have lessons for kids, adults. We do want to have special community events too that aren't even skateboard-related. So just stuff to really bring people out to the mall and bring people."

As for those interested in a potential membership to the skatepark, Jones says you don't need to be a member to skate, but it's a nice perk to have for special events coming up.

"What happens is if you get a membership, you get 12 free sessions you can use whenever throughout the year, so it basically pays for itself. But you also get access to special events," he explained. "It gives you some special event access, and you also get 20% off our passes. You save money that way too."

Jones encourages people to follow the skatepark either on Instagram (@foodcourtskatepark) or on Facebook (Food Court Skatepark) to get all of the updates on what's going on and all the happenings on the calendar.

Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Food Court Skatepark
Photo credit Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN
Featured Image Photo Credit: Brayton J. Wilson - WBEN