 Thomas Morley of Driveway Skate Shop is launching an indoor skate park in Georgetown this month. |  Thomas Morley stands in the new skate shop that is part of the indoor skate park on Armstrong Avenue that is set to open this month. |
As he works toward completion of his latest venture, Thomas Morley has been hesitant to install wifi.
“There’s a couch, there’s a kitchenette,” he says. “If I put in wifi, it will be too tempting to stay.”
As much work as it has been, Morley is thrilled to be opening an indoor skate park in Georgetown.
Morley launched Driveway Skate Shop as a mobile store in April 2020. Five years later, he's realizing his original vision. The indoor park will open next week with a one-day March Break camp on Tuesday, Mar. 11.
“Skateboarding is a seasonal sport and Mother Nature takes control for half the year,” he said. “With a roof over our heads we can do March Break camps, day camps, birthday parties. It will be a good space to keep the community and kids active.”
He put word out last year that he was looking for a building for an indoor park and through various connections he had a landlord contact him about a location at 31 Armstrong Ave.
“He showed us the space and I knew instantly we could turn it into a skatepark,” Morley said.
Since December, the vision has been taking shape. A company called Ramp 2 Rail has been building the park’s features.
“They’re a really talented group of skaters out of Toronto who have experience building skateparks, so I put my trust in them,” Morley said.
The new location will feature a permanent retail skateshop, which until now had been operating out of the truck. (The truck will continue to visit local skate parks.)
There will be a classroom with a whiteboard and a projector and a third room with a mini ramp, for those who just want to do transition skating.
And of course there will be the skatepark.
Morley said the skateboarding community has been extremely helpful in getting the new space ready.
“You would be surprised how many middle-aged skaters there are in trades,” he said with a laugh.
Morley, who works mornings as an educational assistant, has operated the Town of Halton Hills skateboarding programming for the past three years and was recently approached about doing the same for the Town of Caledon.
He has also been giving skateboarding lessons at the local parks, where he was limited to one-on-one lessons due to space constraints. Now with the new location, he’ll be able to offer group lessons.
Morley said he intends to run the business as a not-for-profit.
“Skating is not a sport you enter to try to make money,” he says. “It's more of a passion project. It makes me happy. I really just want to create a community of skaters and grow their love of the sport.”
Anyone interested in the March Break camp can email [email protected] or contact the shop through the Driveway Skate Shop website.
Herb Garbutt - Halton Hills Today
“There’s a couch, there’s a kitchenette,” he says. “If I put in wifi, it will be too tempting to stay.”
As much work as it has been, Morley is thrilled to be opening an indoor skate park in Georgetown.
Morley launched Driveway Skate Shop as a mobile store in April 2020. Five years later, he's realizing his original vision. The indoor park will open next week with a one-day March Break camp on Tuesday, Mar. 11.
“Skateboarding is a seasonal sport and Mother Nature takes control for half the year,” he said. “With a roof over our heads we can do March Break camps, day camps, birthday parties. It will be a good space to keep the community and kids active.”
He put word out last year that he was looking for a building for an indoor park and through various connections he had a landlord contact him about a location at 31 Armstrong Ave.
“He showed us the space and I knew instantly we could turn it into a skatepark,” Morley said.
Since December, the vision has been taking shape. A company called Ramp 2 Rail has been building the park’s features.
“They’re a really talented group of skaters out of Toronto who have experience building skateparks, so I put my trust in them,” Morley said.
The new location will feature a permanent retail skateshop, which until now had been operating out of the truck. (The truck will continue to visit local skate parks.)
There will be a classroom with a whiteboard and a projector and a third room with a mini ramp, for those who just want to do transition skating.
And of course there will be the skatepark.
Morley said the skateboarding community has been extremely helpful in getting the new space ready.
“You would be surprised how many middle-aged skaters there are in trades,” he said with a laugh.
Morley, who works mornings as an educational assistant, has operated the Town of Halton Hills skateboarding programming for the past three years and was recently approached about doing the same for the Town of Caledon.
He has also been giving skateboarding lessons at the local parks, where he was limited to one-on-one lessons due to space constraints. Now with the new location, he’ll be able to offer group lessons.
Morley said he intends to run the business as a not-for-profit.
“Skating is not a sport you enter to try to make money,” he says. “It's more of a passion project. It makes me happy. I really just want to create a community of skaters and grow their love of the sport.”
Anyone interested in the March Break camp can email [email protected] or contact the shop through the Driveway Skate Shop website.
Herb Garbutt - Halton Hills Today
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