As a child, 7-year-old Tyeasha Bell Lindsey would place her left foot on her then-new, green skateboard, using her right to push herself across the grainy street in front of her childhood home in Meridian. A lot of streets around her had been worn down, leading to bumps that made the pavement difficult to skateboard or rollerblade upon.
“You’re not skating on a smooth surface because if that skateboard hits a rock, you’re pretty much thrown off a skateboard,” the now Meridian Ward 5 councilwoman explained to the Mississippi Free Press.
To avoid injury, a young Lindsey moved to the small walkway five big steps from the front porch of her home. The surface was much smoother, so she could skateboard back and forth, but the activity was not as fun in such a limited space, she found.
Today, Meridian’s skater population largely consists of young adults, whom Lindsey sometimes sees skateboarding through traffic lights downtown. While some skateboard recreationally, others use the skateboards as means of transit around the city.
Grindline Skateparks created these concept designs for the future skatepark in Meridian, Miss., which the city council approved. Photo courtesy Grindline
“A skateboard is a lot of people’s transportation sometimes, and people overlook them, but it’s a free, cheap form of transportation—I mean, it’s cheaper than a bike sometimes,” Lindsey said.
The mode of travel, however, can sometimes be dangerous as cars have almost hit skateboarders, she heard. Recreational skaters find garages to skate in at night before police often run them away, the councilwoman who won her seat in 2021 said.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God. They need to have a safe place to skateboard,’” she concluded.
By the end of 2023, Meridian will have a skatepark in Ben Arthur Davis Park, where people who bike, skateboard and rollerblade can maneuver safely.
“Being a new city councilwoman, it was important to me, especially since I’m a traveler, to see what other cities have done and see what can make our city better in the quality of life,” Lindsey said.
‘Not Just A Meridian Project’
The councilwoman began contacting