LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Skaters have an entirely new venue with Sprak.

What You Need To Know

  • Sprak Indoor Skate Park opened in Louisville
  • Sprak owner, Paul Zitzer, is former skating pro 
  • Zitzer’s pro career spanned 10 years
  • Sprak is located in the Portland neighborhood

In the closing days of July, Paul Zitzer is celebrating the opening of something big.

“We’ve got 13,000 square feet, roughly.”

The former pro skater is the owner and designer of Sprak Indoor Skate Park, in Louisville’s Portland neighborhood across the street from the McAlpine Locks and Dam.

“As far as this course goes, we’ve got all the basis covered,” Zitzer said.

The park has had a soft opening, so to speak, but Zitzer is planning a big event for the first weekend of August.

Even without advertising, Zitzer says there’s been a ton of buzz and support surrounding the park’s opening. Sprak will be the first indoor professionally designed skate park in Louisville.

“I look around at the city and there’s great skaters everywhere here but there’s so many barriers from keeping them from being able to skate every day. Every time it rains, no skating, there’s no indoor spot. In the winter when there’s snow everywhere and the ground is wet, no skating,” Zitzer said.

Zitzer’s professional career spanned 10 years and took him to competitions all around the world and many of the park’s features and obstacles are inspired by his favorite parks he’s ever competed at. The lifelong skater says the Sprak will appeal to professionals and amateurs alike, which was a top goal when designing the park. Zitzer wanted a park that satisfies the pros but is still accessible to those with less experience

“Skateboarding is an art form. At the end of the day the skaters that get other skaters excited are the ones that are doing the cool stuff, the interesting the unique,” Zitzer said.

Here’s something that’s unique to Sprak. Not only is it in Portland, an area of the city with fewer recreational options, Zizter is going a step further.

“In fact, if you’re from the Portland area and you’re under the age of 18, you’re going to be paying less than 50% of what anyone else is going to pay to skate here. So, it’ll be $5 a day for them.”

Making the sport more accessible was definitely by design.

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