Building a skating community

(ABC 6 News) – Shredding its way into Rochester, a new indoor skate park opened its doors for the first time on Friday.

The Garden Skatepark is not your ordinary indoor skate park. It doubles as a coffee house, offering a warm place for parents to stay as they watch their kids shred.

Laura and Adam Kramer came up with the idea after many trips to the Twin Cities and Winona to take their son skating during the winter.

“Winter seems like 6 months out of the year here and the closest skate park to Rochester is in Winona,” Krammer said. “Plus, I always like to have coffee when I’m there so I just figured I’d combine the two.”

The Kramers bought the old Whiskey Bones building back in August of 2022. Since then they have been working to make this indoor skate park, that’s beginner friendly but also challenges more experienced skaters.

Christopher Peineg has been skating in Med City for the last six years. He says the park has been a great addition to a community that has nowhere to skate in the winter.

“Especially when it comes to the younger kids, now we’re all kind of blended and it’s really nice,” Peineg said.

Being one of the older skaters, Peineg shares what he’s learned with younger skaters regularly. But says everyone acts as a mentor to one another.

“Skateboarding is really hard to learn but once you learn it it’s easy to do,” Peineg said. “A lot of it is just if you fall, you get back up and you keep going.

We’re going to be right here to support you, even if you fall and get hurt, we’re here for you.”

One skater Peineg watched grow as a skater is Laura and Adam’s son Charlie. Who says, it took him around 4 years to do tricks.

“The older skaters would kinda take him under their wing and teach them things and encourage him,” Laura Krammer said. “It was super awesome to watch and it’s just really impressive, they’re a really good group of people.”