Cinnaminson Officials: We Want Black Diamond Skatepark

Cinnaminson has reached out to the Black Diamond Skatepark owner in hopes of bringing the popular destination to the township, days after  Moorestown Mall in March.

“It would be a perfect fit,” said Deputy Mayor Anthony Minniti about the possibility of moving Black Diamond to the Route 130 corridor.

Minniti reached out to Dan McCollister, Black Diamond owner since 2006, after Mayor Don Brauckmann, also a officer, made initial contact.

“I thought he would make a good tenant for Route 130 somewhere,” Brauckmann said.

Minniti suggested two locations to McCollister: the  and the .

“Those two center owners are interested in talking to him,” Minniti said.

McCollister just spoke with Brauckmann and Minniti last week, so it’s still very early.

“I don’t even know what’s going to come of it,” McCollister said, explaining he hasn't even seen the two aforementioned properties yet.

He said his criteria for space is 20,000 to 30,000 square feet. Minniti feels the Acme spot is too big for McCollister’s needs, but the former Gold’s Gym building is an "ideal" fit, the deputy mayor said.

The Gold’s Gym at Mainline Shopping Center is 30,000 square feet. A call to the property owner was not returned over the weekend.

McCollister explained he wants the skatepark to be close to retail space and “no more than two turns off a major thoroughfare.”

Based on those criteria, he said a location off Route 130 in Cinnaminson would be ideal.

He said he'd "very much" prefer to keep Black Diamond in South Jersey and has looked at multiple locations around the region, but has so far come up short— either because the locations don't meet his criteria or the property owners aren't interested. 

However, McCollister is also in talks with Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), who are the owners of the Moorestown Mall, about moving the skatepark to the Plymouth Meeting Mall in Pennsylvania.

"It's one or the other," he said. "I don't have the wherewithal to open two brand new, 20,000-square-foot parks at the same time."

McCollister said he has to come to a decision in the next two months, so the new location would be open for the holidays.

“Hopefully a deal will work out,” Minniti said. “We are very interested in having him in town.”

Additional reporting by Rob Scott.