Gwinnett Daily Post

DACULA - When Duncan Creek Park opens this spring, Gwinnett County will take a step forward in its plan to offer more recreation for young adults.

In addition to a youth football complex, the park will offer a "teen area" with basketball and sand volleyball courts and Gwinnett's largest skate park, said Phil Hoskins, the county's director of community services.

The skate park has been designed for all skill levels and includes six bowls and street elements, such as stairs, benches and pyramids, Hoskins said. The skate park will accommodate skateboarders and roller bladers, as well as those who ride bicycles.

County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly said he thinks the skate park will be a good thing for the area. The park will serve people who live in the Hamilton Mill area and children who attend Mill Creek cluster schools.

Kenerly said when he was a child, children were always outside, building forts and playing baseball and football in the yard. The skate park offers "another way for kids to exercise," he said.

"There's a new wave of kids out there," he said. "Skating's just as important to them as football is to me."

The skate park is part of the first phase of development of the 110-acre park, located on Ga. Highway 124. The initial development costs $7.9 million and is paid for through a special purpose local option sales tax, Hoskins said.

Part of the project includes the installation of a traffic light at Ga. 124 and Pine Road, where the park's entrance will be. The Hamilton Mill branch library will be built adjacent to Duncan Creek Park, Hoskins said.

Pinckneyville Park is home to the county's first skate park, and Ronald Reagan, DeShong and Mountain Park parks also have areas for skating, Hoskins said.

There is also an indoor skate park, Woodward Skatepark of Atlanta, at Discover Mills in Lawrenceville.