Skateistan Opens Second Facility in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan

Skateistan Gets Land in Mazar-e-Sharif

After months of planning, Skateistan has been donated a large plot of land in Mazar-e-Sharif, northern Afghanistan, to build its second facility. On May 2 Governor Atta Mohammed Noor of Balkh province and the Afghan National Olympic Committee (ANOC) donated the land, which is 3 jerib (6000 m2) and 4km from the centre of Mazar. The handover ceremony took place the following day, and plans are to break ground within a few weeks.Skateistan Mazar will be larger than Kabul, with plans to teach over 1000 students weekly. The design for the L-shaped facility includes a skatepark, a multisport gym, two classrooms, a library and two student workshops (one for textiles, one for wood/metal/clay work). The German Federal Foreign Office has committed to funding construction of the Mazar facility.

The new Skateistan facility will be located within the 4.5 jerib (9000 m2) of Olympic grounds which will shortly be signed over by Balkh province to the ANOC. In 2009, the Olympic Committee’s president, General Zahir Aghbar, donated land to Skateistan for the current facility in Kabul. Plans are to complete the facility by the end of 2011, and ideally have operations begin by 2012.

Skateistan is currently seeking one or more major donors to fund the first two years of running costs at the new facility.

This article was originally published on the Skateistan website. Please view it here.