Mayor Christoph Böck (front) bravely threw himself into the concrete bowl at the “Opening”.
(Photo: City of Unterschleißheim)
Inexperienced people need a bit of courage. And so Mayor Christoph Böck (SPD) plucked up courage on Saturday and threw himself into the concrete bowl on a scooter. It was also quite passable until he lay flat at the end. “Maybe it was a bit hasty,” says Böck, referring to his appearance at the grand opening of the skate park in Lohhof. “I should have thought about how to brake beforehand.” The skaters and city councilors took it all with humor, as did the mayor. The joy is great in the city that after almost one and a half years of construction, the skate facility was opened, which is unique in the Munich area and even in the whole of Bavaria.
Lohhof has been a hotspot for many years when it comes to sport on wheels, which has a lot to do with the fact that skaters have been working hard there for their sport for many years. It all started in 1985 when BMX riders and skateboarders built a few ramps. Dieter Bürger and Thomas Stellwag founded the skate and BMX club “Rolling Wheels” in 1990. A skate park was set up in the mid-1990s, which has attracted young people to the Ludwig-Pettinger-Weg for more than 20 years. The German BMX Championships were even held there twice. But the facility was getting old. In the end, the wooden ramps had to be repaired almost more often than they could be driven on. That’s over now.
Because the Rolling Wheels, which have long been a department in SV Lohhof, have realized a dream of all skaters, skateboarders and BMX riders cast in concrete for around one million euros on an area of 3000 square meters with the broad support of the city. Thomas Stellwag, the face of the city’s skater scene, says flatly: “This is a competition facility.” There, the standards of the Union Cyclist International (UCI) would be met. “I don’t know that there is anything comparable in Bavaria.” The joy is “definitely” great, says Stellwag, who has also run a bike shop in the city for many years. For some time now, there has been a large influx of young people in his department. Even in Corona times, the anticipation of the “Skatepark 2.0” brought many to the department. It currently has 230 members. He expects around 300 in the foreseeable future.
Anyone interested may use the facility under supervision
The interest in the Lohhofer sports facility is not only great in Unterschleißheim, but also far beyond, because the well-connected scene has long since taken notice of the formidable facility. Mayor Böck even ascribes Olympic qualities to it and, by the way, considers it to be extremely successful, not only from the point of view of highly ambitious athletes. “It’s the most beautiful concrete structure we have in Unterschleißheim,” he says. At the opening, he also found that not only a mayor can be happy with the scooter in the bowl. Children can also get around quickly with these scooters. He didn’t even know before that you could drive there with them. The sports facility is a great asset.
The city also paid a lot for it. The town hall contributed 400,000 euros, 400,000 euros came from the club and 200,000 euros from a subsidy from the state sports association. The city once again jumped to the side of SV Lohhof with a good 160,000 euros, because the costs for the sanitary facilities had increased drastically due to a necessary pressure line. Next, to top it all off, Thomas Stellwag is planning a clubhouse, which should also cost around 200,000 euros. The concrete ramp landscape was largely finished by the end of 2021 and has so far been available for test drives. It has been officially open since the weekend and the Rolling Wheels invite you to do sports there under supervision.
If possible, the skate park opens four hours a day in the afternoon; in May from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., in June from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The prerequisite is that a volunteer from the association can be present. There is certainty after a look at the homepage below https://rolling-wheels.net/entry/.