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Virgil Abloh's Ghana Skatepark Faces Closure 2 Years After Its Opening (UPDATE)

Back in Dec. 2021, Off-White, Daily Paper, and Surf Ghana joined forces to create Ghana's first skatepark.

Christian Vierig / Getty Images

UPDATED 1/7, 2:30 p.m. ET: Travis Scott is looking to resolve the recent closure of Virgil Abloh's skatepark in Ghana.

On Sunday, the Astroworld rapper hopped in the comments section of an Instagram post from Wole Olosunde—a New York designer who took to IG this weekend to reveal that the Off-White founder's Freedom Skatepark has shuddered—to offer his support to get the park back up and running.

“Man, what? What we doing?" Travis wrote. "Let me know what we gotta do to get my brother's park back going, please."

See original story below.

Two years since Virgil Abloh gave Ghanian skaters a place to call home, the late fashion designer's Freedom Skatepark has been forced to close amidst challenges brought forth by outside contractors.

Over the weekend, Wole Olosunde, a designer and native New Yorker, hopped on Instagram to shed light on a recent visit to Ghana, where he discovered Abloh's Freedom Skate Park has been shuddered after a contractor built a cement wall to keep skaters out.

"Finally got to visit FREEDOM, the skate park Virgil Abloh built in Accra, Ghana," Olosunde wrote. "One of his last projects before he passed. I left heart broken and confused. Cause why tf is no one talking about or fighting for this?"

Olosunde continued by explaining that a business owner has "built a cement wall then poured sand through the park to keep all skaters out."

"It has been like this for almost a full year, leaving these kids with nowhere to skate," he said. "To the point they built their own temporary skate park to be able to keep spreading the love of skating and building community."

Wole concluded his post by wondering why no one is talking about the park's closure, considering Abloh "worked so hard to raise money to help get this done before he passed."

"VA did so much for the world in his time here why can’t anyone do this for him?" he shared.

Back in May, OkayAfrica reported the challenges facing Ghana's first skatepark.

“When we first came, we wanted to buy the land but then we couldn’t afford it so we opted to rent it instead,” park founder Sandy Alibo told the outlet. “We rented it for 10 years and paid all expenses.”

Alibo added, “My vision for the skatepark was to increase the practice of skateboarding, improve African and Black representation in the community, and create a safe space for the people."

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