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Recent Articles
- “Underexposed” in the Public Eye: Amelia Brodka Interview
- 2012 Skateboarding Fatalities
- Replacing Modular Parks with Concrete
- The Skatepark Bid Process
- Sample RFP for a Skatepark Bid (Replacing a Modular Skatepark)
- Stand Up For Skateparks
- Just Say NO To Modular Skateparks
- An Interview with Ty Smith: Drop Into Skateboarding
- Putting Wenatchee on the Map!
- Skateparks $100K and Under
- Art of Board and I Ride I Recycle – The Bruce Boul Interview
- 2011 Skateboarding Fatalities
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Design and Construction
The Billerica Skate Festival
The date is March 12, 2008. Winter is coming to a close, and myself, along with the many other skaters of Billerica, MA are getting ready to break free from the cramped garage sessions and head down to the local skatepark. It’s no more than a few quarterpipes and a picnic table, but it’s something. As we head down to the park, an unexpected fate is...
Drop-In to Skateboarding Class-Wenatchee, WA
Ben Wixon, SPS Board Member, Co-Developer of Drop In to Skateboarding (accredited skateboard instruction program) and Author of the book- Skateboarding: Instruction, Programming and Park Design drove several hours from Portland, OR to Wenatchee, WA recently to do a presentation for K-12 Wenatchee School District PE Teachers. The presentation, put on in conjunction with Community for Wenatchee Valley Skateparks and SPS-Wen Chapter was planned to help the teachers learn the basics of...
Building a Concrete Skatepark on an Old Tennis Court
When it comes to building a public skatepark a lot of park managers begin to look at underutilized park space around the city. An old tennis court or an old basketball court can sometimes make a perfect spot to place a skatepark. The great thing about finding a location like this is the park usually has lighting, parking, restrooms, a water fountain, etc. Typically, when a...
STOKED: The Skate Deck Art Show
Artists and skaters go together like kick-flips and barrel rolls. Fundraisers that bring those two communities together are a natural fit. Our most recent skate deck art show, STOKED 3 held in March, featured the works of 95 artists from the community and raised just over $9,000 toward the construction of the Chatham Skate Park. In the three years we’ve held the event, the organization has...
Kingshighway: Building St. Louis Skateboarding
I remember getting the call. It was June of 2009 and my buddy Pat Ritchey called and said, “Come down to the viaduct at Kingshighway and Southwest Avenue.” I am oblivious at this point to what was happening entirely. I rolled down to the bridge that afternoon and straight into the first major pour we ended up doing. It was a flat wall quarter 5 ½’...
Oregon Skatepark Maintenance
Skatepark maintenance is a subject that to this point often has more questions than answers. The main reason for this is the age of most of the modern public skateparks. These facilities as we know them now only started to take shape in the late 90′s, so they are still in their relative infancy. There are many variables, the most significant being the material that...
Programs to Promote a Positive Skatepark
Picture this scenario. A community decides the kids playing basketball in the streets and driveways of homes and local businesses are becoming a public nuisance. In an effort to give kids a safer place to practice their skills, the city creates a community basketball court superior to any other basketball facilities in town. The court is a huge success with hundreds of users daily, and is...
Front Royal/Warren County, VA
In January 2003, I contacted Dan Lenz, Director of Warren County, VA Parks and Recreation to see if there was interest in building a concrete skatepark. Mr. Lenz informed me that his department already met with the Warren County Board of Supervisors about the possibility of building such a facility in Warren County and he asked me to help him form a committee that would be...
The EZ-7 Ditch
EZ-7 is Houston’s oldest skatespot. The best I can tell from researching the construction of White Oak Bayou, is that it was built around 1967-69. I am sure the skaters and surfers found it right after that. The earliest skate photos I have seen are from 1973. There are about 15 of these same type ditches along White Oak Bayou, but none as skateable as EZ-7....
Cedar Park, Texas
Back in about 2004 the City of Cedar Park approved $125,000 dollars for a skateboard park in one of the city’s parks. Every time they tried to approve a location the surrounding neighbors would show up to protest and they did not want this built in their back yard. So the money sat for a few years until the city decided to go in with Williamson...