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 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.
Height restriction is
particularly wicked. It is an easy decision for non-skating adults to agree to a
height restriction, yet it maims the baby before it is born. California
exemplifies this illness best. With the exception of a handful of recently
opened parks, almost all of California's public skate parks are poor facilities,
mainly because they are all too short. See, kids are phenomenal, their mental
and physical abilities grow at astounding paces but only when allowed. After
individual skill exceeds the structures height restricted parks, they are good
for only one thing, stunting growth. Rather than the physical and mental limits
inside themselves, the concrete surrounding them limits users of
height-restricted parks. When skill out grows the facility, the park is filled
with boredom and frustration and then trouble and injury are only a matter of
time. The only ones not bothered by height restriction are those too innocent,
too oblivious, which mixes the innocent with the angry. Height restriction
stifles a healthy atmosphere in skate parks. Height restrictions do not make a
skate park safer.
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.
Port Orford. Concrete
elegance, Port Orford is the final and clear case that modern skate parks are
here and ruling the set. Port Orford is built for skateboarding. The park
represents no compromise. It has no extras, nothing wasted. It is
everything it wants to be, nothing more, nothing less. It is minimal yet
spectacular, simple yet efficient. It has a 13' tall cradle to boot.
Make
it right.
Contact
Dreamland Skateparks, Grindline, Airpseed Skateparks or Stefan Hauser for a
modern skate park.
SkateOregon
This article re-printed with permission from SkateOregon.com