In the late 90’s a public skatepark boom happened across the country. Cities that had long outlawed skateboarding throughout their downtown areas were now accepting skateboarding by creating public places to skate.
With this new wave of public skateparks came new construction innovations. Steel modular ramps (shown left) hit the scene and towns started buying them. Playground companies soon jumped on the bandwagon and made a fortune selling things like eight-foot-wide modular quarterpipes for $10,000 dollars each. With the introduction of these modular ramps the number of problems with skateparks arose: Steel rusting (shown far left), faulty kickplates, structural problems, and unimaginative designs. Although these problems were obvious to most skaters, their complaints and desires were typically not communicated to the Park managers effectively. During this period the modular companies continued to sell their substandard products directly to Parks Departments with bold marketing schemes and well-staffed sales teams.
In response to the explosion of crappy skateparks skaters started honing their advocacy skills and even forming their own companies to build the kinds of concrete skateparks they wanted to ride. These were not the lumpy concrete parks of the 70’s but visionary skateboarding landscapes. Skater-run builders set a new standard for skatepark construction by using custom-made tools that would allow them to shape the concrete in special ways. They also upped the ante by designing skateparks that replicated well-known street spots and bowl designs that would attract skaters from across the nation. Prefabricated ramps could not match the creativity and unique innovations these companies were introducing to the world of skateboarding.
As quality concrete parks began to gain notoriety more skaters became inspired to get organized and lobby their city for a concrete skatepark. Today we have more concrete skatepark-building companies than modular manufacturing companies and more emerging every year. The companies who were dominant in the modular world are now mostly out of business. Those who are left offer concrete skatepark services in addition to their prefab ramps.
Concrete skateparks are not without their detractors. Some cities and modular sales people believe that concrete is more expensive and that prefab provides a turnkey solution to their skatepark needs. This misconception is fading due to the growing number of companies in the skatepark industry comfortable delivering creative concrete skateparks within humble $50,000 to $100,000 budgets.
In August of 2010 the Tony Hawk Foundation changed their guidelines on providing grants for public skateparks in a significant way. Projects over $50,000 no longer qualify for Tony Hawk Foundation funding if they include steel framed or wood framed prefabricated structures (shown left). Another item the Tony Hawk Foundation is no longer funding is above-ground precast which are concrete ramps placed on top of a slab featuring a steel kickplate.
However, if the project is over $50,000 dollars the Tony Hawk Foundation will fund poured in place concrete and in-ground precast concrete. Poured in pace concrete has proven to be a sustainable, fiscally responsible and user friendly method of building skateparks since the 1970’s.
But a lot of skaters and city officials are not familiar with the method of building an in-ground precast skatepark. With the precast pieces properly built and professionally installed you can build a long lasting sustainable skatepark using precast concrete.
Here are the steps for successful in-ground precast installation:
Step 1: Properly test and compact the soil.
Step 2: Pour the footers.
Step 3: Install the precast elements. Weld adjoining coping and edging.
Step 4: Pour lower flat slabs smoothly up to the flat bottom of the precast structure(s).
Step 5: Backfill and compact upper area.
Step 6: Cast upper footers, place upper features and pour deck slab.
Step 7: Grout joints and pick holes with high-strength grout and ground smooth, as appropriate.
After allowing for a proper curing time and any grounds grooming, the park should be good to go!