NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Mountain Dew and Grammy Award winning recording artist Lil Wayne will host a VIP ceremony to officially cut the ribbon on a brand new skatepark in New Orleans' Ninth Ward district, a key component of the partnership known as the DEWeezy project which was announced in March 2012.

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"We're very excited to be a part of the rejuvenation of the Ninth Ward community," said Brett O'Brien, Mountain Dew's VP of Marketing. "This is a great way for local residents to connect, challenge themselves and ultimately enjoy their surroundings even more - while celebrating skate culture. I'd personally like to thank Lil Wayne, California Skateparks and Make It Right Foundation for aiding in such a positive project for this community." 

Built within the region most devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the skatepark will serve as a New Orleans destination for action sports lifestyle enthusiasts, providing residents and visitors with an opportunity to "DEW® you" on and off the multi-level skatepark features.

Designed and built by renowned skatepark developer California Skateparks and landscape architect Tim Duggan of Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation, under the direction of GLU Agency, the eco-friendly skatepark was designed to mirror the landscape of the Lower Ninth Ward. 

• The main floor of the indoor park represents a portion of the street grid around The Village, with a line down the center representing Caffin Avenue.  Connecting bank and quarter pipe end pieces at either end of the park represent the Mississippi River and the Bayou Bienvenue.
• The park's solar power array was designed and built by Make It Right Solar, and pervious concrete was installed to prevent flooding.
• Well-known New Orleans artist, Lionel Milton, was commissioned to paint a mural inside the park.

"The opening of this skatepark marks the culmination of what has been an incredible, multi-tiered campaign," said Cortez Bryant, co-CEO of Blueprint Group, Lil Wayne's longtime management firm. "The city of New Orleans and skateboarding are two of Lil Wayne's great passions. We are honored to be able to combine the two while giving back to the community that has supported us since day one." 

Following the ribbon cutting ceremony, DEW and Lil Wayne will be joined by the elite Mountain Dew Pro and Amateur skate teams, including Paul Rodriguez and Theotis Beasley, to ride the rails in the park during a one-hour skate demo.

In conjunction with the unveiling of the new skatepark, Mountain Dew has also partnered with Stoked, an organization that promotes personal development, academic achievement and healthy living to under-served youth through action sports culture. The partnership was launched to inspire creativity and a sense of community among fans of the DEWeezy project and to assist in the development of the next Mountain Dew commercial. Click here to view a viral video that provides further information on this phase of the project.

For more information on the DEWeezy Project, visit www.DEWeezy.com or join the conversation at #DEWeezy.

About Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew, a product of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, is the No. 1 flavored carbonated soft drink in the U.S. With its one-of-a-kind citrus taste, Mountain Dew exhilarates and quenches with every sip. In addition to original Mountain Dew® and Diet Mountain Dew®, the permanent DEW product line includes Mountain Dew Code Red®, Mountain Dew LiveWire®, Mountain Dew Throwback®, Mountain Dew Voltage® and Mountain Dew White Out®. For more information, check out www.mountaindew.com, www.facebook.com/mountaindew or follow on twitter @mtn_dew.

About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses—Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola—make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

About Make It Right
Founded by Brad Pitt, Make It Right builds healthy homes for communities in need. The organization is building 150 safe, sustainable homes for families devastated by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans' Lower 9^th Ward.

About California Skateparks
California Skateparks is a fully licensed, bonded and insured contractor specializing in all aspects of skatepark development. They have adapted traditional construction standards and practices to skatepark construction, and developed some of their own, which has given them a real world understanding of skatepark development enabling them to meet the expectations of skateboarders.

California Skateparks construction experience, innovative methods and tools, combined with the professional and skilled workmanship of our crews, enable them to consistently produce high quality custom skateparks. California is at the forefront of the evolution of terrain built for skatebording and as the sport changes California Skateparks will continue to grow with the industry and produce progressive public spaces for a new era.

SOURCE PepsiCo