Five years ago, an empty lot in Panther Hollow was converted into a makeshift skate park. Now, it attracts hundreds of attendees.
In 2020, Raul Casas and his friends hauled temporary wooden features and obstacles to an abandoned roller hockey rink on Boundary Street. During their time at Pitt, they never saw anyone use the space, so they decided to reclaim it as a place for them to skate. Now officially recognized on Google and Apple Maps as “Oakland DIY,” the community-built skate park is open to people of all ages and skill levels to skateboard, scooter, rollerblade, bike or enjoy the open air.
According to AJ Haddon, a senior mechanical engineering major who now heads the project since Casas graduated from Pitt in 2023, the park “revived” the vacant lot beneath Forbes Avenue Bridge, turning what was once a “dead space” into an area that now “benefits the city and the community.”
“It’s totally mixed. We get people from the ages of 3 to 70,” said Haddon. “Every time I walk in, everyone’s talking to everyone, whether they know each other or not. Everyone’s giving each other fist bumps and cheering each other on.”
The DIY was built entirely by the local skate community through volunteering projects, which is where the park got its name, according to Haddon. For the first two years, the group only used wooden features they constructed themselves. After starting to raise money through their GoFundMe, they poured their first concrete feature.
Haddon discovered Oakland DIY during his first day at Pitt in August 2022, when he saw an Instagram post seeking help with one of the park’s concrete pours.
“I had moved in all of my stuff. I had nothing to do, and I had yet to meet people,” he said. “I saw [Oakland DIY’s] Instagram post saying ‘However many hands we can get, come down here,’ and that was the first thing I did.”
During that concrete pour, Haddon met Casas, and they quickly connected over a shared background in mechanical engineering. Casas recognized that Haddon was “super invested” in the project and spent the next year mentoring him, teaching him the hands-on skills needed to continue building the park.
When Casas moved to Virginia for work, Haddon inherited the project. Since taking over, Haddon has expanded on Casas’ original vision by removing a fence that separated the park’s two main sections.
“We’ve doubled the space,” Haddon said. “Raul didn’t think that it was possible.”
Ryan Clarkson, a senior mechanical engineering major, has witnessed the park’s evolution since his first visit in 2023.
“If you go to their Instagram and scroll all the way back, you can see the infancy of the skate park, how it used to look, and compare it to now,” Clarkson said. “It’s like a night-and-day difference.”
The park receives occasional support from the City of Pittsburgh — not in the form of direct funding, but through upkeep of the park’s surrounding facilities. The City has contributed by turning on water fountains, donating picnic tables and completing minor asphalt work — contributions that aren’t directly related to skating, but help maintain the park as a “safe, usable and clean” space for the community, Haddon said.
According to Haddon, Oakland DIY took all the necessary steps to ensure the park meets legal standards, a process driven by their effort to “keep this project alive,” he said.
“It’s given people a third [space],” Haddon said. “A ‘third [space]’ isn’t your home, and it’s not your work or school life. It’s your escape from those two things. Having third [spaces] within any city is so vital, whether it’s a skate park, a ski mountain or any sort of hobby.”
Clarkson said he often hangs by the park to “watch talented people perfecting their craft.”
“You can just go and hang out if you don’t skate,” Clarkson said. “There are picnic tables, so you can do work outside and enjoy the trees. You can just sit for however long you want and watch people doing tricks.”
For Clarkson, one of the most important aspects of the park is that “there’s no barrier to entry.” While Pittsburgh has several skate parks, Oakland DIY is the only one that is free, beginner-friendly and accessible to Pitt students without a car.
The closest official park, Switch and Signal in Swissvale, requires paid admission. Polish Hill Bowl is another free, outdoor park within City limits, but some say it is “not beginner-friendly.” The next closest options, Pitcher Park in Carnegie and Sheraden Skatepark, are over 30 minutes from campus.
Although Clarkson doesn’t skate himself, it doesn’t stop him from showing up to help build the features that others will use.
“I’ve done a couple concrete pours. It’s a great time to hang out, and it’s always appreciated,” Clarkson said. “There have been some concrete pours that have 50 people, and some that have seven or eight. Regardless, it always gets done.”
According to Clarkson, Haddon texts “him and a few other regular volunteers” about upcoming projects, but also consistently posts on the Oakland DIY Instagram to cast a wider volunteer net. Joe Paci, a senior computer science major who helped construct a ledge extension at the park in 2024, gets a sense of “pride” from the DIY building process.
“When you’re doing the bigger builds, you get a feeling that, ‘Well, I’m the person who has to do this right in order for it to be used by everybody,’” Paci said. “It’s really cool to know ‘I built this, and everybody can come use it now.’’”
The park also hosts community events, like its recent “Halloween Jam” on Oct. 18. The event featured live music, food and clothing vendors and drew over 500 people, according to Haddon.
“It’s just nice to be here,” Haddon said. “It’s nice to be outside, it’s nice to see everyone smiling and talking to each other, creating new friendships and reconnecting with old ones. People who haven’t seen each other in years are congregating here again. It’s beautiful.”
Ace Levine, a first-year undecided student, started going to the park this fall.
“It’s been the best way to spend my time when I’m not studying,” Levine said. “It’s such a good community over there. Everyone’s super friendly and just wants to see people progress.”
Haddon plans to expand the park’s lineup of events during the 2025-26 academic year. He hopes to adopt a “Women and Trans” skate night, host back-to-school meetups for local college students and introduce an “Old Man Jam” for skateboarders 30 and older.
For anyone hesitating at the edge of the park, Haddon offered the same advice that brought him down on his first day in Pittsburgh.
“The most important thing to do is to just jump into it. There’s no one stopping you from doing anything,” Haddon said. “Go get your hands dirty. Don’t be afraid to be afraid.”