Skaters Turned this Abandoned St. Louis Church into a Skate Park
Never underestimate the creativity of motivated individuals. That's never been more evident than what a group of skaters did when they discovered an abandoned St. Louis church. They converted it into a wild skate park.
I just learned about this interesting Missouri building conversion on the Missouri sub-Reddit. The former St. Liborius Church in north St. Louis sat empty until local skaters had a vision for the building. They purchased it and built their own unique skating space inside. It is now known as Sk8 Liborious and it is wild.
The aspirations of the skaters has grown from the original vision as they plan to turn it into an art and community development center. Just yesterday, they announced on their Facebook page that Betty Ratermann, a former member of the church who was married there, has now donated to their cause. According to their status update, it was her father who was a key person involved with the building of the church almost a hundred years ago.
While I'm sure there are many who would have wanted this to remain a sacred building, I'd prefer to see a historic building like this rebuilt and become useful like this group is doing instead of allowing it to fall into a state of disrepair.
Sk8 Liborious is an ongoing project that continues to aspire to be a vital part of the community again, but this time in a brand new way. If this is a project that interests you, you can keep up with their plans and progress on their Facebook page and Instagram. The skate park is located at 1850 Hogan Street in St. Louis.