JULINGTON CREEK PLANTATION, Fla. — Grinding wheels and scraped knees are the sights and sounds of Cooper Winters' life.
"It means the world to me, I'm here five days a week. I've been here five days a week since I was five years old," Winters said when describing the important of the Julington Creek Plantation (JCP) skate board park.
The park serves a greater purpose than a place to ollie and master your kick flip.
"I see so many kids learning to skate here, I see so many kids that wouldn't normally ever pick up a skateboard and then they come here and they feel the community they feel the love and that's what makes them want to start skating," Winters said.
The park is one of few in St. Johns and Duval County that is gated and supervised, providing a safe, enjoyable experience for families.
"This is the only skate park in the entire county that is supervised it's the only place where there aren't drugs, alcohol, nicotine all that kind of stuff going around every single day," Winters said.
However, that sense of community may soon be gone.
At its Board of Supervisors meeting this week, Julington Creek Plantation shared a proposal to replace the skate park with pickle ball courts.
In a proposal from Sport Surfaces, LLC to JCP Director of Operations, Jeff Branch, the pickleball courts are estimated to cost $133,360 and could cost as much as $210,190.
"Absolute shock, I could not believe it. I mean I'm looking around this park right now I see kids, seven-year-olds, fathers with their kids, my wife is here. This is a great family place," JCP resident, Don Baxter, said.
JCP District Manager, Daniel Rom, told First Coast News the board had sent out a survey to residents towards the end of 2021 regarding amenities.
"Feedback was received from a number of respondents for the desire to have pickleball courts available to them within the CDD. As part of their feedback, it was mentioned that pickleball had recently been named one of the fastest growing sports in the country," Rom over email.
Rom said the board discussed the feedback over the several board meetings, and it determined two potential locations for the pickleball courts.
A pond, which Rom says would need to be filled and cost at least $70,000 to do so. Or, the skate park, which Rom says had been previously reported as an under-utilized area.
"After months of discussion and review, the board approved a pickleball proposal (pending proposal amendment) at the May 24 meeting to be done in tranches, replacing the skate park," Rom said.
Rom added the proposal has not been signed yet.
Winters voiced his concerns at Tuesday's meeting and plans to do so again, along with several other skaters, at the next meeting on June 28.
In the meantime, he's created a petition to spread to word about the uncertain future of his little community.
"It means so much to everyone who lives in JCP," Winters said with a smile. "I mean, I've seen hundreds of thousands of people here over the last eight years and every single person who comes here loves this park, they enjoy the environment. We have nice water fountains, no other park has that, and that's such a little thing."