Margarita Madness At The Purple People Bridge : May 17th

NKY Skate Shop Petitions to Keep Lights on at Florence Skate Park

With Cincinnati still waiting for its first official skate park, Flopa has become a major asset to the broader skating community.

Nov 17, 2023 at 1:35 pm

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Photo: Terrell Stewart

The "Turn on the Florence Skatepark Lights" petition has racked up 619 signatures as of press time.

A Florence skate shop is shedding light on a dim situation in Northern Kentucky.

Alex Evans, owner of Grateful Skate Shop in Florence, started a petition to turn the lights on at the Florence Skate Park, commonly known as "Flopa." He said the lights are much needed now that the sun goes down around 5:30 p.m.

"If you're really a skateboarder you don't just stop with the season," Evans told CityBeat. "I know people who skate in freezing temperatures."

With Cincinnati still waiting for its first official skate park, Flopa has become a major asset to the broader skating community.

"I see someone I know every time I go," Evans said. "Without the lights being on, it's not being used to its full potential."

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Evans' "Turn on the Florence Skatepark Lights" petition has racked up 619 signatures as of press time. The goal is to collect 1,000 signatures to show city leaders there's broad support for turning on lights that are already there. Evans pointed to the success of an Indiana skate park, saying more skating time is actually better for the community.

"In Lawrenceburg across the river, they keep the lights on," he said. "I talked to the community director over there and he said they haven't had any problems — it's actually kept kids off the streets."

Safety is another reason Evans said skaters need more light.

"It's not very safe, the skating isn't going to stop once the sun goes down," Evans said. "I thought the whole idea for building a skate park is keeping people off others' property."

The city of Florence did not respond to CityBeat's request for comment on the petition by press time.

More info about Flopa and the petition can be found here.

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About The Author

Madeline Fening

Madeline Fening is CityBeat’s investigative news reporter. Proudly born and raised in Middletown, she attended Bowling Green State University before moving to Austin, Texas where she dabbled in documentary filmmaking, digital news and bartending. Madeline then moved to Cincinnati to work for WCPO 9 News as an...