By Marshall Tempest
Reporter
The new Apopka Action Sports Park is under construction, and much of the groundwork and foundation have been completed in the last four weeks. The city of Apopka has a rich history and culture revolving around the skateboarding and BMX scene, and the new park will further nurture that passion in our area.
A significant part of that history includes the Dern brothers, who have been instrumental in this project for years. They returned to their hometown this week to ride its newest and only skate park. Destin, Dalton, and Kanaan Dern are skateboarders from Apopka who have transformed their passion for skateboarding into careers, making their YouTube channel, DernBrothers, a household name. As of this week, they boast some 183,000 subscribers and 79 million views.
Former professional skateboarder and legend Bam Margera joined the Dern brothers on their trip to Apopka to try out the new park. According to Julie Dern, the mother of the three brothers, Margera is like family to them. The Dern brothers skate, make videos with, and travel with Margera nearly every day.
Kanaan was a senior at Apopka High School when he served as president of the Skateboard Club. Together with club members, his brothers, skateboarders from the Apopka community, and residents who supported the idea, he petitioned for a local skate park over 12 years ago, gathering scores of signatures.
“Our main focus was to push to get a skateboard park in Apopka,” Kanaan Dern said. “We went to so many city meetings pushing for it, I interviewed Mayor John Land about it at the time.”
Kanaan told me that Mayor Land mentioned to him at the time that building a skate park, or anything significant, in a community like Apopka takes time. Land also informed Kanaan that it might be completed in 12 or 13 years if they started right then.
“It looks like Mayor Land was right, as here we are 12 years later, right after I gave up believing it would ever happen,” Kanaan said with a laugh.
While Kanaan may not have been directly involved in the groundbreaking or planning of this specific park, he initially proposed the idea of a skate park in Apopka many years ago. Now that it’s finally here, Kanaan and his brothers are eager to participate. They said they would love to return if the city holds a grand opening and turns it into a major event.
When I spoke to each brother individually, they all agreed that this is one of the best things that has happened to this community in a long time. They are just happy that the next generation of kids from Apopka now has access to something they only dreamed of having when they were young.
The brothers believe this could ignite the skating and BMX community in Apopka overnight and encourage kids who would have never thought about skateboarding or BMX to jump right in due to its accessibility.
“I mean, it’s unreal,” Dalton Dern said. “Being an adult now and looking at it, I think about my entire childhood when I dreamed about something like this for so long. I’m so stoked that the kids growing up in Apopka are able to have this safe place to go and learn while also building and creating connections.”
Dustin Dern agreed.
“This has been a long time coming, and we’ve waited over 20 years for this,” he said. “When we were growing up, we had to beg our parents to drive us at least half an hour to reach the nearest skate park. And they did it all the time. For the kids in Apopka to have this so close now is amazing. If we had had this sooner, we would have been here every day.”
The Dern Brothers were fortunate to have parents who could not only support their passion for skateboarding financially but also dedicate hours out of their day four or five times a week to bring their three sons to the closest skate park. Not everyone has that opportunity, which is what makes this park so important: It will be accessible to everyone and is conveniently located in the center of the city at the Fran Carlton Center on 11 N. Forest Ave.
Kanaan emphasized the importance of having a local park that is accessible for young children, allowing them to grow and develop with nothing more than a board and some safety gear. He mentioned that in a few years, we will begin to see more professional skateboarders and BMX riders emerge from Apopka.
The brothers are quick to point out the features of the park and how here is plenty of room for expansion if the park receives as much use as they anticipate. The only thing it needs, the Dern brothers unanimously agreed, is lighting for nighttime riding.
The American Ramp Company constructed the park and pump track.
“The American Ramp Company has vast experience working for over 20 years developing skate and bike park facilities across the country and in 44 countries across the world,” a city of Apopka press release said.
The city did not respond to a request for comment, but at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19, Radley Williams, director of Apopka’s Parks and Recreation Department, said the park should be completed this week and open to the public by the end of March.
The construction crew at the park includes skateboarders who work for American Ramp Company, which was able to transform a plot of land outside the Fran Carlton Center into a fully functional park in just four weeks.
“Dude, they did an awesome job incorporating a bit of everything into the park,” Dalton Dern said. “You’ve got the pump track, which is perfect if you’re not really a tricks-and-ramps type and just want to ride. It’s great for bikes, skateboards, scooters, and rollerblades. If it has wheels, bring it on over, you know? As long as it’s reasonable, of course. And then there’s this beautiful street course. They did a fantastic job with the design, including everything that young skaters need these days to be prepared to advance in skateboarding.”
The course features quarter pipes of various sizes, transitions, and grinding rails and ledges, which Dalton believes are perfect for a street skating park. Due to his background in vert skating, his favorite part of the park so far is the vert wall.
Destin Dern mentioned that his favorite aspect of the new park is that it isn’t just like every other skate park. He noted that it’s unique in the obstacles, various gaps, and transitions it provides, creating a ride that feels distinctive and fresh.
“There is something for everyone here,” Destin said. “If you like the transition, there are unique transitions. If you like the street obstacles, there is something unique there, too. It’s not just like a copy and paste of some other park.”
Kanaan Dern told me that he loves the park’s flow. As a rail skater, he loves the curve rail installed because it’s rare to see in a park.
“They got one, two, three, four, five different rails you can skate here,” he said. “To have that many rails in my hometown is amazing.”
The Apopka Chief is an award-winning weekly newspaper serving the greater Apopka area in Central Florida since 1923.
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