After five years of planning and $3 million in construction costs, Spring is now home to the largest skate park in North America and second largest skate park in the world.

Sally Bradford, executive director for the Greenspoint Redevelopment Authority, conceived the idea of the Spring Skate Park after asking a group of teenagers in 2009 what they wanted to see in Spring.

"A lot of the kids up in this area, they don't have the funds to play tennis or golf or enroll in Little League," she said. "They can go to a skate park with a skateboard and a helmet, and they're set. [They] have a safe environment to skate in instead of ravines or empty shopping centers."

Funded through a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone as part of the new 10-acre Spring Recreational Area, construction on the skate park began in January 2013. The skate park features more than 75,000-square-feet of skate surface area that includes a competition-scale bowl with a full pipe as well as a 12-foot vertical ramp, 10-foot bowl, banked walls and speed hips, Bradford said.

While the park's opening is set for Aug. 14, it has already gained international attention from shoe and skate apparel company Vans as well as skateboarding legend Steve Olson.

"We'd like to have a skateboard event to entice professional skaters from all over the world [to compete at the park]," Bradford said.

The Spring Recreation Center also houses Dylan Park—a wheelchair-accessible park for special needs children that opened July 24. Dylan Park provides a skate area for wheelchairs and can host various wheelchair games.

Spring Skate Park, 12351 Kuykendahl Road, Houston, www.facebook.com/SpringTexasSkatePark, Hours: Mon. 8 a.m.–10 p.m., Wed.–Sat. 8 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.–9 p.m.