"What is it about skateboarding, anyway? All that back and forth and up and down and hanging around? All that noise, those ramps, those kids so focused on that seemingly unattainable trick…

What are the rules? Are there rules? It's cheap enough, as far as I can see. There's no major outlay for equipment. There are no team colors... as a matter of fact there are no teams. There are no coaches. There are no referees. And that suits skaters just fine, this solo effort amid a sea of others so like-minded.
What is it about skateboarders? The confident way they swagger around and seem to be directed by someone or something that no one else seems to hear? To an outsider it’s just a game, a distraction… but to skaters it’s a passion, an unavoidable and insatiable draw that only a few understand.
It's the body language that sets them apart. The slouching and casual way they set up a trick, all loose and swimming in their baggy clothes. The daredevil approach. Once they push off and start to execute a trick, there is no turning back. I would say they're showing off except they don't seem to care if anyone notices or not.
Everything is on the down-low. Everything is between them. It's private, an inside joke. Watching them talk and laugh is like watching a group of jazz musicians strike a chord or hit a note and then snicker and chortle. What's so funny? What's the joke?
For years I've thought of them as bandits, roving miscreants wandering the streets looking for concrete to navigate, looking for ways to get into trouble.
But leaning against the fence at the local skatepark, I started to have a different take. I saw a community. I saw people outside, exercising, working on skills. At first, all I saw was movement then I began to notice the synergy, the orchestration. No one waited for a coach's command. They were not practicing in sync or following directions. They were focused. When they messed up, they got up and did it again. And again. And again. “Dude, you’ll NEVER stick that, NEVER!!” and silently “Dude” rolls off to prove the nay-sayer wrong… over and over again.
No one was holding a cell phone; no one was texting.
And they had the look - the decals on the helmet, the T-shirts, the baggy pants, the talk ("Man, you should have seen the back tail revert I did. It was gnarly.") - but here's the thing: They were legitimate, they were legal.

If not for the public Skatepark where would this group be? Downtown? In their living room playing video games? Skaters are athletes, no different than any others with the one exception- dedication. Skaters practice not because of a screaming coach, not because of a league title… they practice day-in and day-out for the love of sport, the unattainable trick, the passion that cannot be described…"

-Anonymous...

What may appear to be on of the simplest questions to answer is anything but. The simple answer should be the skaters, right? Wrong...

Although a skater should design your park a very unique skillset needs to be in play to properly design a skatepark which will;
* be challenging but not deadly
* be indicative of the local skaters
* be indicative of the local skate terrain, but...
* provide terrain that isn't offered locally
* not cater too completely to any one group, young or old, street or pool
* come in on budget when the bids are tallied

Topics we will discuss are-
1.) architects design the SPACE that the skatepark fits in to, not the skatepark. Unless your Architect is a skater they have NO business designing a skatepark and need to be kept at arms length during the design process.
2.) local skaters design the obstacles they would like to see within the park with guidance from a professional designer
3.) pool skaters design pools and have no business designing Plazas
4.) street skaters have no business designing pools
5.) engineers will spend your money like you've never seen... sorry, but it is true.
6.) Know the difference between a salesman and a designer



Item 1 Involving an Architect in the design process
Simple question- WHY? Skateparks are unique in every sense- Six inches of concrete to support a 150 pound kid? 5,000 square feet of playing field for a small group of teenagers? Yes, and yes. The enemy of a skatepark is frost and mother nature, not the weight placed upon it but for some reason Architects seem to want to treat them as though the new World Trade Centers will be placed on the site in the coming months. Skateparks support no weight and need to be designed in such a way as to limit the effects of frost not failure due to settling. Consistent slab thicknesses, limited use of footings and careful consideration of bond beams all work together to create a good product that not only stands the test of time but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Just remember two simple rules- overkill does not always create a better product but it does effectively help you get rid of all that extra funding you had kicking around.

Speak to your skatepark builder and see what they've seen work well then, if an architect needs to be involved, have them confer with the park designer rather than go it alone. You will be glad you did.


Item 2- Local Skater involvement
This has always been such a tough topic. Sure, your local skaters "skate" but do they have a concept of construction? Do they really know if the Hubba should be 22" or 18" high? 4' or 7' radius at the bottom of the flat bank? If they're 12 or 13 have they traveled to many other parks? Have they skated useless prefab parks, death-defying concrete parks as well as refined and clean indoor parks? The answer is probably no... They skate in the driveway, take an occasional field trip to the local park two towns away and read a lot of magazines. None of these facts lend themselves to producing a teen worthy of spending copious amounts of taxpayer money on a skatepark, does it?

Now, before you start typing an angry reply, consider my direction... hire a designer. Kids have an idea of what they want in a park but any salesman worth his or her salt can convince a group of kids (who think they're entering the final stretch of the process) of about anything he or she wants... "no, dude, you want an 8' quarter pipe here not a 4'er". Or better yet, "you know Mrs. Johnson, Johnny will really become a far better skater is he learns to skate this 72' deep pool. He's really not progressing unless he learns to skate pools" or "street is really a dying fad, they really need to learn to skate vert"...

Listen to your kids, watch their expressions as the plans are unveiled and step in when you think they're being railroaded. If I read another article declaring saying that "So-and-so skatepark company had their final design meeting with the kids and they really got the park they wanted" when what they really got was overflow inventory from a bygone era on a tennis court. This is a topic for another time but you get my drift.

I guess I should summarize this whole thing- your kids know what they want for dinner and can order it in a restaurant, but can they cook it themselves? If your son or daughter orders a bowl of spaghetti with meatballs and the waiter says "what you really want is our double-fire-hot porcupine met chili!!" do you think you'd step in? Of course, give the skatepark the same attention. Help your kids be the skatepark experts in your town, don't allow them to be...

Item 3 and 4- Pool Skaters Designing Plazas
It's funny how a certain segment of our industry fails to admit that street skating exists- problem is it does and has for almost 20 years. I'm fine with that, your opinion is your opinion but when one of these "designers" is forced to include a street obstacle or, dare I say it aloud, an entire street area, the consequences are disastrous. Not that it's funny, more ironic I guess, but I love reading the opposite story when a street-based designer lands a job designing a park with a pool the uproar is heard 'round the world!!!

Basically, there are skater-owned companies who do more harm than good when they attempt to incorporate street into one of their designs. The kids lose and the designers actually consider it a triumph when they build something that no one can skate. The problem is that they actually think it's because they designed something too hard to skate when, in fact, they just botched it so bad that it simply doesn't work!!!

Pick your designer carefully and be sure that they have the staff to create a park that truly delivers an accurate depiction of the local skaters.


Item 5- Engineers and your money
This is a touchy subject but engineers should not be your first call when you decide to build a park. Your designer, if properly chosen, should know everything there is to know about the construction process and an engineer should refine those thoughts if required by local or state regulations.

Item 6- Salesmen vs. Designers
I will probably rant about this as its own topic soon but let me just touch on it briefly. What's a salesman? Someone who is employed or compensated by the sales of a particular item. In the instance of skateparks that would be steel ramps or methods that no other company can supply.

So, what's a designer? We always joke that a salesman tells a client what they want, while a designer asks. Sure, some of the criteria is the same- pay based on sales of an item, etc. But, in this case, a designer is there to help design a project regardless of the outcome. A designer will help a City or Town develop a plan for a skatepark as a complete project, good site or bad, big budget or small and with the best interest of the taxpayers or skaters in mind.

I guess ultimately it's up to you to decide if you're dealing with a salesman or a passionate designer...

Well, yes and no... but mostly no... Contractors come in all shapes and sizes, we all know that and concrete installers and excavators are no different. Flat work guys usually freak out when the slab needs to be tilted, foundation guys are generally not equipped or experienced in finishing flat concrete and, in general, no residential contractors are prepared to provide the extra hours to provide a finish that is so smooth it passes the "knuckle test". What's a knuckle test? When you can turn your hand over and rub your knuckles as hard you want on a piece of concrete and it doesn't hurt... that's smooth, and that's what a skatepark should look like.

Now don't get me wrong- there are some GREAT concrete contractors out there but the process necessary to create a proper concrete skatepark is simply not something that most contractors are willing, or able, to provide. A skatepark is more like a HUGE concrete counter top, perfect in every way, hand rubbed and polished to perfection... only we have to do it with curves, angles, vertical faces, steel edging and, most importantly, we have to do it without cracks or expansion joints.

This crack occurred in a skatepark before the it was even opened. Obviously poor attention was paid to the substrate (dirt) compaction or rebar placement within the slab and the customer is left with a safety concern before the park even opens!!



Skatepark builders not only have unique skills but unique tools and very unique motivation... we skate and understand that a broom finish hurts, a radius needs to be perfectly tangent at the bottom and coping needs to stick out JUST the right amount...

The best analogy is to ask if you've ever tried to tape drywall... without the ability to sand it when you're done!