Kip Moore Announces Plans to Build Skateparks Around U.S.

Kip Moore has announced his plans to provide a safe place for inner-city kids at a series of newly constructed skateparks throughout the U.S.

Moore joined Nashville Mayor Karl Dean on Wednesday (June 3) to announce the creation of his Comeback Kid Skatepark Project, which will oversee the construction of skateparks in Music City; Boston; San Marcos, Texas, and Annapolis, M.D. Moore has also teamed up with the Nashville-based Salemtown Board Co. for the project.

“The pipe dream for me to build skateparks in inner cities was something I had for a long time,” he tells Country Weekly. “My manager knew that, and he saw a video on Salemtown and what they were doing and employing some of these kids and teaching them work ethic and those kind of things. I loved their vision, their philosophy, so it just made sense for us to try to partner together and try to make this thing happen.”

The "I'm to Blame" singer may have had a more rural upbringing in small-town Georgia than the kids he's hoping to help, but he has felt like a "comeback kid" in his own right. The project takes its name from a song about working hard and persevering to hit your goals that will appear on Moore's upcoming sophomore album, Wild Ones, which is set for release Aug. 21.

"I wrote the song "Comeback Kid" at a time when I felt like a comeback kid, but now, when I sing it, I think less about myself and more about the kids we are doing this for and how much I admire and respect them," Moore says in a press release. "We're starting with these four cities, but the plan is to keep growing this as far and wide as we can.”

The four current projects are expected to be up and running sometime this fall. Each park will have its own unique design to fit with its city and the space available, with elements including quarter pipes, bank-to-curbs, hubba ledges, hand rails and step-ups.

Moore skateboards a bit himself, but he says that he stays away from any intense tricks.

“I realized that people are now relying on me to do a job every night. So now I just cruise on my long board,” he says. “I’ve backed off of doing the crazy stuff, so I’ll never be doing the McTwist. I’ve always wanted to, but it’s never going to happen.”