Skatepark: History, Types & Notable skateparks.

Skatepark: History, Types & Notable skateparks. [Photo by Jonas from Berlin on Unsplash]

A skatepark, also known as a skate park, is a specially designed recreational facility created to accommodate activities such as skateboarding, BMX biking, scootering, wheelchair sports, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark typically includes a variety of features such as half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipes, ledges, spine transfers, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs, and various other objects.

History

The majority of the initial skateparks were located within the United States. The inaugural skatepark in history, known as Surf City, commenced operations on September 3, 1965, at its location on 5140 East Speedway Road in Tucson, Arizona. Patti McGee, the Women's National Champion, was present at the grand opening event. The park featured concrete ramps and was managed by Arizona Surf City Enterprises, Inc. In April 1966, a skatepark catering to skateboarders and skaters was established in Kelso, Washington. The park, spanning a half-acre lot, featured meticulously crafted plywood ramps for enthusiasts to enjoy. The lighting was installed for nighttime use. The inaugural Carlsbad Skatepark, California's first, was officially opened on March 3, 1976.

The World Skateboard Championships took place at this location on April 10, 1977. The operation of the entity ceased in 1979, at which point it was deliberately buried without disturbance beneath a layer of soil for a duration exceeding twenty years. Subsequently, in 2005, it was ultimately rendered non-existent. The Carlsbad Skatepark has been relocated to a different site.

Ocean Bowl Skate Park, located in Ocean City, Maryland, was inaugurated during the initial week of June in 1976, making it the first skatepark on the East Coast. In response to various factors such as time, wear, and the evolving requirements of skaters, the decision was made to dismantle the previous bowl and ramp in the autumn of 1997. Subsequently, a new park was constructed and officially inaugurated in July 1998. The Sandy Hills Skate Park, located in Lansdowne, Maryland, holds the distinction of being the longest-running municipal skate park in the United States. The city of Hermosa Beach, California inaugurated a modest skatepark in 1999, located at the historic site of the inaugural skateboard competition. The competition, which took place at Pier Avenue Junior High School (currently a city museum), was meticulously arranged by Dewey Weber in close proximity to his surf and skateboard store.

Makaha Skateboards served as a sponsor for the competition. In the year 1987, a fully wooden indoor skate park by the name of CT Bike was established in Bristol, Connecticut. CT Bike is the establishment where Tony Hawk initially gained recognition during his early years as a young participant in his inaugural East Coast tour. The indoor skate park was operated by the same family who initially constructed it until its closure in 2022, despite facing a significant fire incident that posed a threat to the park in 1988. As of the year 2022, the park has been permanently closed.

Indoor parks were constructed in regions with more extreme climates, typically utilising materials such as wood or metal. The decline in the popularity of skateboarding by the conclusion of the 1970s led to the closure of the original parks from that era. The decline in the skateboard market during the 1980s, along with the substantial increase in liability insurance costs, played a significant role in the downfall of the initial wave of skateparks. Certain second-generation parks, such as Pipeline in Upland, California, managed to remain operational until the 1980s. However, only a limited number of private parks from the 1970s have managed to endure, with one notable exception being Kona Skatepark located in Jacksonville, Florida. Nevertheless, numerous public parks from that time period can still be observed across Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Types

In contrast to organised sports such as basketball or football, skateboarding lacks a defined arena or set of regulations, and skateparks do not adhere to a standardised design template. Every skatepark is meticulously designed to offer distinct challenges for its users. There are, however, three primary classifications of skatepark design: bowl, street plaza, and flow parks.

Bowl parks are specifically designed to replicate and enhance the experience of skating in a pool-like environment. Skaters in bowl parks have the ability to navigate the park without disengaging their feet from the skateboard in order to generate forward momentum. The concave structure of bowls facilitates skaters to navigate along the edges and across the curvature of the bowl, in addition to the conventional back-and-forth skating commonly observed on traditional half pipes. Bowls and bowl parks exhibit a vast array of shapes and sizes; however, the majority of bowls typically range between depths of 3' and 12'.

Street plaza parks are highly favoured by a significant majority of skaters, as they are specifically designed to replicate and enhance the street skating encounter. The street plaza incorporates obstacles designed to resemble natural street terrain, including features such as stairs, railings, planters, and benches. Skaters utilise a technique of propelling themselves by exerting force with their feet in order to generate forward momentum within a street plaza environment. The Vancouver Skate Plaza, constructed in 2004 by New Line Skateparks, holds the distinction of being the inaugural public outdoor skate plaza.

Flow parks, also known as Park style parks, incorporate elements from both bowl parks and street plazas. In a meticulously planned flow park, skateboarders have the ability to navigate the curved walls, including quarter pipes, pump bumps, and bowl corners, without the need to disengage their feet for pushing. They have the ability to utilise their speed to navigate and overcome various street obstacles, including stairs, railings, and benches.

Skateparks can be owned either privately or publicly. Privately owned skateparks typically require payment for admission, whereas publicly owned skateparks are typically accessible to the public at no cost. Numerous privately owned skateparks are situated indoors, typically within warehouses, roller rinks, or buildings featuring ample vertical space. This arrangement is particularly prevalent in regions experiencing snowy winters. Typically, public skateparks are situated in open-air environments.

The construction of skateparks can be categorised into two primary types: prefabricated and custom-built concrete structures. Prefabricated parks can be constructed using a variety of materials such as wood, plastic, sheet metal, and concrete. The majority of skateparks are typically designed and constructed by manufacturers specialising in playground equipment. These manufacturers often position these parks as a financially viable option compared to custom-designed concrete skateparks. In actuality, custom constructed concrete skateparks can offer a cost advantage comparable to that of prefabricated skate ramps.

As stated by an editor from Transworld Skateboarding magazine, concrete parks have become widely adopted as the prevailing industry standard due to their reduced need for repairs and maintenance.

Notable Skateparks

Alamosa Skatepark Environment – Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Bro Bowl – One of the last skateparks of the 70s, and one of the oldest skateparks in the U.S.; First public skatepark in Florida Tampa, Florida.
Burnside Skatepark – Portland, Oregon featured in Tony Hawk video games and the movies, Free Willy and Paranoid Park.
Concrete Wave Country – Nashville's first public skatepark.
etnies Skatepark, Lake Forest, CA – Largest free skatepark in California.
FDR Skatepark – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Harrow Skate Park – Harrow, London, England
Kona Skate Park - Guinness World Record for Oldest Surviving Skatepark, located in Jacksonville, Florida
Livingston Skate Park - Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland
Lee and Joe Jamail Skatepark – 30,000-square-foot (2,800 m2) in-ground public facility in Houston, Texas.
Louisville Extreme Park – Louisville, Kentucky.
Monster Skatepark, Sydney Olympic Park
Possum Creek – Gainesville, Florida.
Shaw Millennium Skatepark (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) – One of the world's largest outdoor skateparks, designed by Spectrum Skateparks with Landplan associates.
The Palm Springs Skatepark contains a replica of the Nude Bowl, which is the most popular feature in the park.
Pacifica Skatepark – Oceanside skatepark, Pacifica, California
Pedlow Skate Park – Encino, California great for pool skating, more than 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2).
Playing Place, Cornwall, UK
Rampworx skatepark – The largest indoor venue in the UK, covering 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) and located in Liverpool, England.
The Rom
Santa Maria Skate Park – Fletcher Park. 700 Southside Pkwy, Santa Maria, California.
Skatepark of Tampa – Skatepark in Tampa and home of the annual Tampa Pro.
Skatopia – Anarchist Skatepark in Rutland, Ohio
Stockwell Skatepark – South London, England
Turf Skatepark – Built in 1979, included five concrete pools in an indoor/outdoor facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (defunct since 1996).
Pyongyang Skatepark, the first skatepark in North Korea.