New skate and BMX park opened in Jenaer Paradies
The new skate and BMX park in Jena's Paradise has opened. The modern facility on Rasenmühleninsel now provides roller sports enthusiasts with a contemporary meeting place for skateboarding, BMX, rollerblading, stunt scooters and WCMX. The city of Jena invested around 1.2 million euros in the new building.
"The skate park in Paradies has been an important meeting place for the regional and national skate and BMX scene for many years. With the new building, we are creating a contemporary facility that meets the needs of the users and at the same time blends in sensitively with the surroundings," explains Dirk Lange.
The original facility from 2001 was badly worn out. The city of Jena therefore decided to completely redesign it in 2023. Construction work began in September 2025 and was completed in May 2026 after a construction period of around one year - interrupted by a two-month winter break.
A central component of the project was the intensive involvement of users. Local skaters and BMX riders developed the new facility in several workshops together with the planning office Landskate GmbH from Cologne. All equipment and elements were closely coordinated with the local skate and BMX scene and further developed in line with the latest technical standards. The result is a "skate park for everyone" with facilities for beginners and experienced riders alike. The facility now has a clear separation between the skate and BMX areas. While the skate area was built using durable in-situ concrete, the BMX elements were constructed using wood with a special plastic riding surface. The previous asphalt surface was completely replaced by modern concrete surfaces.
Functionality and safety have also been improved. For the first time, the new BMX start ramp offers a lockable storage area for cleaning and maintenance utensils, for example. All side areas of the BMX elements were also clad with air-permeable steel sheets to make the facility more resistant to vandalism. Special attention was also paid to the quality of stay and lighting. The facility was designed to be open and clear and equipped with dimmable lighting based on the "light on demand" principle. Users can activate the light themselves as required; it dims down again automatically after one hour.
As the facility is located in the listed Volkspark Oberaue, both nature conservation and monument protection had to be taken into account during planning and construction. Green embankments ensure that the installation blends harmoniously into its surroundings. Three new trees were planted to replace two trees that had to be felled.
The city of Jena would like to thank everyone involved - especially the local skate and BMX groups, the JG-Stadtmitte, Crossroads and the planning and construction companies involved - for their support and cooperation.