ARLEE — For people in Arlee, the closest skate park is either in St. Ignatius or down in Missoula. However, that is soon going to change.
To learn more about Mission Valley skating, MTN visited Taelman Park and connected with local skater Kaiven Patten. He shared that he first got on a board a few weeks ago, “I'm a skateboarder, but just started."
At first, Patten was worried about judgment from others.
“I thought people, would like, judge me but turns out people just like to say a couple things to help you get better," he explained.
Patten noted that since getting the hang of skating, he enjoys spending time trying new tricks at the St. Ignatius park with friends. “It's just a blast when a bunch of the kids come down here.”
He believes another skate park on the Flathead Reservation, like the one being built in Arlee, will benefit anyone looking to skate in the Mission Valley.
Dreamland Skate Parks has joined forces with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, the Montana Pool Service, and the Montana Skate Park Association to build Arlee's newest addition.
"It's a beautiful place and every town needs a skate park for the kids to play at,” stated concrete worker with Dreamland Skate Parks Douglas Floyd.
"There's a lot of skate parks around Montana, especially in places like this thanks to all three," he continued.
Around the time Patten started skating, the crews broke ground on the new Arlee park.
“We started about three weeks ago, we started by doing the dirt work, getting all the elevations and everything right," Floyd detailed.
He added that the park, which is right next to the community center, will benefit the community and positively impact the people who use it.
“I think it's a great thing because, you know, in towns there's nothing for kids to do they could get in trouble, but they have a place to play at and have a good time," said Floyd.
Dreamland Skate Parks told MTN that the Arlee Park should be done around the end of June.
