Tony Hawk Skates in Columbus

CATEGORIES: SkateboardingTony Hawk
PUBLISHED: January 31, 2024

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk stopped in Columbus this week to test out the skate park his dad helped design over 35 years ago.

Hawk was at Dodge Park in Franklinton on Tuesday, testing its newly repaved skate park, according to his post on Instagram. Hawk previously visited Dodge Park Skatepark – which was designed in part by his father, Frank Hawk – in 2022 for the first time, The Dispatch previously reported.

"The skaters of Columbus and surrounding areas felt connected to this space in a way that is hard to explain unless you’ve been lucky enough to have a place like it," Hawk said on Instagram.

The skate park, which opened in the 1990s, reopened last month after being resurfaced, WBNS-TV (10TV) reported. The repairs to the park began after Hawk visited it in 2022 and made posts about it on social media, according to WCMH-TV (NBC4). Columbus City Council later approved $150,000 for improvements.

Hawk said on Instagram that the refurbished park designed by his father "kept its shape and raw charm" and imperfections that made it beloved by skaters in the city.

"In some ways, it is the only (literal) concrete legacy of my father’s impact on skateboarding; he knew us skaters as creative misfits that just needed a sense of community to thrive into our adult lives," Hawk said on Instagram.

Hawk also stopped in Athens for a guest lecture Tuesday evening at Ohio University. The lecture focused on his books and the business side of his career as a professional skater.