SHERIDAN —Uriel Luebcke said he feels it was divine intervention he was able to rent a building in Sheridan for his nonprofit Skatuary Indoor Skate Park and Youth Center.
“When I’d tell people God’s going to give me a building, people would say ‘you smoked way too much weed, didn’t you?’ ” said Luebcke.
And he did smoke a lot of marijuana, as well as got drunk a lot and did other things he said often go hand-in-hand with the skateboarding lifestyle. Now that he’s been clean and sober for several years, he’s trying to help other skateboarding youth find a positive path.
Skatuary, 3535 S. Irving in Sheridan, is a 20,000-square-foot indoor skate park that has been open for about two months.
Sheridan Mayor Dallas Hall said some neighbors were concerned about traffic and noise coming from the warehouse but police patrolled the area and found no speeders or unusual activity.
Skatuary holds open skating hours from 4-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and then from noon-10 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $7, which Luebcke said is a cheaper admission than other skate parks. It is also home to a 7Twenty Boardshop, game room and snack bar.
Gary Oakley, who has owned the warehouse Skatuary occupies for 54 years, said he’s been willing to rent the property to Luebcke at a very low rate because he believes something like the Skatuary is necessary for many of Sheridan’s youth who have nothing to do.
“The kids have a place to go and good role model to work with,” Oakley said. “I think it’s been a good thing for Sheridan.”
Every Friday night Skatuary hosts Denver Skate Church, the primary reason Luebcke was looking for a building. He had previously conducted his ministry at other churches in the Denver metro area.
“The reason I do my skate church on Friday nights is because I know what I was doing Friday nights,” Luebcke said. “So this is an alternative to them going out and getting high or drunk or whatever.”
He said the skate church brings about 70 youth from around the state every Friday where they hear announcements, pray, and hear a lesson from the Bible. Luebcke also will sometimes sing Bob Marley. The service runs from 7-8 p.m. and youth who stay through the ceremony get to skate at the park for free until 11 p.m.
Aaron Dietzen, Skatuary board member, has been so impressed by what Luebcke has accomplished with the space, he wants to become the facility’s full-time manager.
“I think it’s effective because I think that the skateboarders in the skate community is kind of a lost community they don’t have a lot of direction and there’s a lot of people looking for something positive,” Dietzen said. “I think it works really well because there’s a lot of people who are skaters and friends of skaters and they’re looking for something better.”
Clayton Woullard: 303-954-2953, cwoullard@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yhClayton
