Things are rolling at Iron Horse Skate Park.

The renamed and significantly upgraded Mineola Community Skate Park was dedicated as a large crowd of skaters representing a wide range of ages – some who drove hours to participate – checked out the new concrete ramps that make up the first phase of the park, first envisioned three years ago.

The park has been dubbed the best in the East Texas area, and promises to get even better when the second phase can be implemented.

Nathan Witt, who helped spearhead the effort through the Flint and Steel Coalition, said many of the park’s users have taken it as a home.

People came out of nowhere to donate, Witt said, as he listed those whose support made the park possible, from a $30,000 grant from the Meredith Foundation to donations of supplies and materials, untold man hours of labor and meals and lodging for the workers.

The park began on the lot just north of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, which provided the space, with wooden ramps that required constant maintenance and replacement.

The coalition set about trying to get it replaced with more permanent concrete ramps, and the result greatly enhanced the park’s viability, as it can now host pro-level competitions.

The park’s design included input from its users, Witt noted, as designers met with students in the middle school after-school skate program referred to as The Grind.