AN INDOOR skate park in Swindon has been demolished after rising costs and expensive roof repairs forced its owners to move. 

ATBShop Skate Warehouse has been a fixture of the Hawksworth Trading Estate for 11 years after it was set up by owners Diana and Stuart Kirk.

But in September, the pair revealed that they could no longer keep the local facility going as their business costs had soared upwards and repairs totalling £200,000 were needed to repair the roof. 

While the shop will remain open until mid-November before it is relocated, the indoor skate park was taken apart last week marking the end of an era. 

There is some good news, however, as the Kirks confirmed that they'd found a suitable new owner for it, a start-up Community Interest Company based in Salisbury with aspirations of running a not-for-profit site in Salisbury, complete with skate park and indoor climbing wall. 

Diana Kirk said: "We didn't know where the skate park was going to end up, we didn't want to scrap it and we knew that we'd be able to sell parts of it in sections, but it wasn't about the money.

Swindon Advertiser: Diana and Stuart Kirk of ATBShopDiana and Stuart Kirk of ATBShop (Image: Dave Cox)

"For us it was about making sure it was going somewhere that everyone could enjoy it still."

Throughout most of last week, Salisbury joiner and cabinet maker James Babb has been going through the painstaking process of dismantling the park piece by piece and then numbering them so they can be put back together later when a suitable venue is found in Salisbury. 

"I came up with the idea after watching my children do lessons at a skate park in Poole. I was blown away by the sense of community there and how everyone was helping and supporting each other.

"We're in the early stages of setting up the CIC, but we're hoping to have the indoor skate park, a bouldering wall and a cafe as well as studio spaces."

The final part of the demolition finished on October 24, which Diana said was a bitter-sweet moment. 

"The first time James went in and started taking things apart I was really happy,  it wasn’t until day two that it really hit me that the park was in in pieces. It made me feel very sad that that’s 11 year’s worth of work being taken apart."

There is currently a sale on at the store with discounted scooters, padel boards and other equipment so that the store can be easily moved when it's expected to close for good at its current location in December.