South Elgin grad, father bring the streets indoors in new Elgin skatepark

A new skatepark in Elgin soon will bring the streets indoors for local skaters.

Ian Nathan Jr. of Bartlett, with help from his dad Ian Sr., is opening Syndicate Skatepark in a long-vacant 13,500-square-foot space at the McLean Plaza Shopping Center at 820 S. McLean Boulevard.

“There’s such a need for this here and everyone I’ve spoken to is really excited about it,” said the 21-year-old Nathan Jr.

Evidence of that excitement can be seen on TikTok, where a post Nathan Jr. made showing a progression of the site from start to late November went viral and now has nearly 3 million views.

He said at the time he only had a couple hundred of followers. The South Elgin High School graduate now has more than 57,000.

“The support has been crazy,” he said, adding that a number of local skaters have come by to help him work on the park for free.

“They just want to have a place to skate,” said Nathan Jr. “And with the weather, there’s a lot of pressure to get this place open.”

The skate park definitely fills a niche, Nathan Jr. said, noting the next closest indoor facilities are in Elk Grove Village and DeKalb.

The street-style skatepark is hidden in the enclosed loading dock behind what was most recently a Sara Lee Bakery store about nine years ago. The store space will serve as a lobby where they’ll sell some merchandise, have a place to lounge and maybe host pop-up businesses.

Once you open the door to the loading dock, you’re transported to an urban oasis for skaters.

Graffiti murals surround the skating area on all the walls and the 10 garage bay doors, reinforcing the street vibe. And nothing says urban street like a city bus, which the park also has. LED lighting gives the interior of the bus a blue glow where skaters can hang out and relax and watch TV.

“I just think from any skatepark I’ve ever seen, this place is different,” Nathan Jr. said. “There’s no indoor parks that look like this.”

Nathan Jr. said they’ll have all the essentials in the 13,000-square-foot skating space, including ledges, a fun box, a street spine, a pyramid with a hip, a eurogap, various sizes of quarter and bank ramps and multiple types of rails.

“We’re building it out in phases, so we’ll add some more stuff as we go,” he said. “We’ll see what the people want in here.”

Nathan Jr. said he hopes to open the park soon. They’re waiting for a few supplies in order to finish the ramps.

“Once we get those, I could have it ready in a day,” he said.

Father and son have been working together on projects for years. Nathan Sr. spent 10 years working for the U.S. Secret Service before leaving to spend more time with his family. Since then, he’s opened businesses with the help of his son that included a gym and a couple of paintball centers.

“I’m an entrepreneur, and he’s always been right on my hip with everything,” Nathan Sr. said.

That spirit definitely rubbed off on Nathan Jr., who has spent his post-high school years organizing events, such as vintage clothing sales and car shows with hundreds of entrants.

“He’s really developed that mindset in me, so with the other stuff we were doing, the skatepark was just a natural progression,” Nathan Jr. said. “I’ve been skating most of my life, it’s what I love. And I knew Elgin was the right place with how creative and diverse it is.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20221229/new-elgin-skatepark-brings-the-streets-indoors