Bradford eyes National Skateboard Park

Image: C20 Society

An abandoned sports center in Bradford could find itself in a new role as the UK’s first national skateboarding park.

The Guardian said the Richard Dunn Sports Centre escaped demolition after being turned into a backup Covid morgue during the global pandemic.

The venue opened in 1978 and is named after local boxing hero Richard Dunn who was working as scaffolder on the building when he lost to Muhammad Ali in a heavyweight championship of the world bout in 1976.

The new plans for the venue – submitted in the run-up to Bradford hosting the UK city of culture – also involve facilities for other action sports made popular at the Paris Olympics, including bouldering, climbing and BMX, as well as parkour and wheelchair motorcross.

High maintenance costs forced the center to close in 2019 and it was then expected to be bulldozed for redevelopment.

But the venue won a stay of execution by being put on standby as a temporary mortuary during the pandemic.

The new plans have been put forward as a solution for a building that has become a symbol of urban decay and a focus for arson attacks and vandalism.

The Guardian further stated that photographs of the centre last year showed its drained swimming pool, abandoned water slides and ping-pong tables gathering dust and debris.

In 2022 it was granted Grade II-listed status after a successful bid by the Twentieth Century Society (TCS) – a charity that campaigns for modern architecture and design.

The society is now collaborating with the award-winning firm Ian Chalk Architects to reuse the building as the world’s first permanent Olympic-level skateboard park with indoor and outdoor facilities.

The sport’s governing body, Skateboard GB, is backing the proposed center that would be called The Dunn.

A 20-page document setting out the plans points out that the building’s listed status unusually excludes internal structures which it can repurpose for new sports, without demolishing the listed exterior.

Such an approach would save money and materials, it says, but no price tag has been put on the plans.

Catherine Croft, the TCS’s director, said, “If realised, the plans would help write an exciting new chapter for the centre, show Bradford leading the way with environmentally responsible development, and offer young people opportunity and fulfilment through sport.”

Neil Ellis, the head of engagement at Skateboard GB, added, “Skateboarding participation in the UK is at an all-time high and with the success of the Paris Olympics, it is expected that interest will continue to grow.”

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