JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — All eyes are on Riverfront Plaza, which is now set up for the Street League Skateboarding Super Crown Championship.
An 8,000 square-foot, specially designed skate park has taken over the plaza, which is the old site of The Landing.
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The sold-out event welcomes guests Saturday. A winner will be crowned Sunday.
”It’s huge. I grew up in this town. I grew up skating in this town. For them to bring something like this here, it’s awesome,” Mike Peterson said.
He’s a Jacksonville native and pro-skateboarder known around the world. Now he owns The Block Skate Supply in Springfield.
”I feel like our whole city is getting revamped. You look around and see all the construction going on.”
He’s not alone. Ruby Beach Brewing was once at the heart of Jax Beach. Now it’s at the heart of downtown Jax.
General Manager Corey White helped open doors at the brewery in August. It’s the first of what he expects will be many more businesses to take a bet on downtown.
”The general buzz about downtown is really great, and we couldn’t be more excited about what we’re doing, where we’re doing it, and when we’re doing it,” he told Action News Jax’s Robert Grant. “To get in now and become part of the fabric of what’s happening here is what we’re doing.”
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Events like the SLS Super Crown signal more momentum to come. White said it will help bring new customers to the brewery.
”An event like that — we’ll get a lot of people who’ve never been here before, which is what we’re going for.”
The event brings nearly two dozen Olympic athletes to the Bold City, which has deep skateboarding roots.
Kona Skate Park is the world’s oldest skate park.
The event starts Saturday at 9 a.m. Click here to learn more.