By Sam Beebe (skateoregon.com )

When asked for a description of Port Orford, Stefan Hauser said only one word, "Modern." Indeed, the word Modern helps us understand a paradigm shift which becomes more visible with each new park designed and built by a small core of individuals based in the Pacific Northwest.

Right now is the most exciting time in skateboarding history.  Unlike the birth of vertical skating (ala Dogtown), modern skate parks are not an unconscious experiment of idle days. Modern skate parks are conscious and deliberate, designed and built with confidence, ability, vision and hard work. The individuals behind these modern skate parks are particularly talented and have creativity levels set at 11.  Luck plays no part in modern skate parks. The previous era of skate park design was dominated by trial and error, community input and traditional patterns.  The country is littered with vacant skate parks compromised in quality by ignorance, fear, fantasy and pride.

Many skate park design companies, like Purkiss-Rose RSI, are exploiting the idea of community input. They prey on the ignorance and fantasy of communities with lines like "You tell us what you want and we'll make sure it has a flow pattern." Community input is very popular because it is an easy source of pride and provides immediate gratification. Almost never is there enough experience in a community to design a great skate park.  Another way to say community input is make your dreams come true, which as we all know is the oldest line in the book and never comes true. But community input gets the skate park bid almost every time. Don't believe the hype. Modern skate parks cannot be thrown together in a meeting with a pack of crayons. The ephemeral pride of the individuals involved in community input is quickly crushed and overcome by disappointment throughout the entire community when the park turns out poorly. The city is left with a vacant facility and the skaters are in the same position they were before the skate park, only they can't complain, because the city just spent $200,000. There is more pride to be had in a lasting and well-created skate park. 

Another idea being pushed by landscape-design, modular skate park companies and the playground industry, is the idea of a "safe" skate park. Like community input, this idea preys on the emotional core of a community. Adults who don't skate, but are in decision-making positions latch on to the idea of a safe skate park because it soothes their fear. A "safe" skate park design comes from scaling everything down in size and usually has a height restriction around 6 feet. This makes the adults feel good and no one understands the consequences. Let's dissect two specifics of a "safe" skate park: scaling down and height restriction. What happens when a sloped handrail is lowered from 4 feet to 8 inches? Visually, it looks a whole lot easier, appealing to a much more inexperienced group of riders. But that's still a sloped handrail and sloped handrails take some skill. Scaling down structures only encourages less experienced, less skilled riders to try them. That is not safe, that is dangerous.

I believe in kids as much as anyone. I have seen a 7-year-old drop in a 7' half pipe (Nehalem), a 10-year-old drop in a 12' quarter pipe (Newberg) and 13-year-olds learn to skate a pool in two weeks. But regarding skate parks, kids shine in the results, not in the process. Kids and adults who don't skate have no place in the design process of a skate park. There are many productive ways to be otherwise involved.

The gap between design and construction was a trial and error that created many bad skate parks. Sometimes the design was good, but the construction was poor, and sometimes the design was poor and the construction good, but neither way works. As Gunner said, "The Army Corps of Engineers don't skate and the skaters don't know concrete." Modern skate parks are design-built, that is they are designed and built by the same group. Design-build allows flexibility and evolution to yield the best park. The first example of a design-built skate park is Burnside, in Portland, Oregon. It was a unique opportunity that allowed evolution through building, skating, adjusting to create a legendary skate park of cultural importance. But again, it was not luck. Burnside was perseverance, vision and a lot of hard work. It is design-build from here on out. Modern skate parks are created no other way.

Newberg, Aumsville, Donald and Port Orford are other exceptional skate parks of Oregon and highlight important ideas of Modern skate parks. As each park opened from 2000 to 2002, each of them offered something entirely new in design. All of these parks offer timeless design and meticulous construction. All of them were design built by Dreamland Skateparks, a group that since 2000 has splintered into four groups: Dreamland Skateparks, Grindline, Airspeed and Stefan Hauser.

Newberg. The best skate park in existence and an exemplary community facility.  Newberg sees hundreds of visitors a day and asks each one of them the same question, "How long can you skate?"  The design is fluid, diverse, and challenging. With a single push, one can skate the entire park, which speaks volumes about its design. It varies in height from 8" to 12'. The dragon rail asserts the challenge put forth by the design of Newberg. The volcano is the craziest structure in skateboarding; its impact cannot be
understated. It is an interactive skate structure that will never ever be easy. A good description of Newberg was heard on opening day, "Oh God, someone please take my board away, I can't stop skating."

Aumsville.  Lighted and open 24 hours, this 8000 square feet park could be replicated across America and everyone would be happy. It is simple and open and riders are able to race around the 12 pockets fast or slow. It was the first obvious glimpse into modern skate parks.

Donald.  The town of Donald has 600 people and is located south of Portland, and between Newberg and Aumsville. Donald supported their youth 100% and so set aside 2500 square feet and sought $35,000 for a solid skate park, an upgrade from the homemade wooden ramps on an asphalt slab. In three weeks and under budget, Dreamland built a micro pipe with a Twinkie in the middle and a left hand kidney pool with three stairs in the shallow end. The pool was an excellent use of space and a cultural addition to skateboarding in Oregon. The pool was also built in confidence in the abilities of youth. At the time the park was opened, most of the skaters were about 13 years old and hadn't ridden much if any vert. Within two weeks these kids were dropping in the 9' deep end and carving over the stairs. That is amazing and demonstrates the power of youth to grow when encouraged. By the end of the summer, the kids were apt
pool skaters and now, a year later, one has professional sponsors.