Demo Day Photos
We had a great turn out of about 30 plus skaters, bladers, BMXers and families to the Skatewave ramp demo this week. It's just amazing what a quarterpipe and a bank can do for the park. So amazing in fact that we'll be having a build day in August to build our own for the temporary park. In the future we'll be raising money to purchase some equipment from Skatewave. Thanks to everyone for coming out to support the demo. Thanks Skatewave for letting us skate your awesome ramps...one day we'll have our own Skatewave ramps!
Steve Hill, the director of Crossville Parks and Rec came out to see the last half hour of skating and was impressed. We're working with Councilman Loggins and the City architects to see if we can get a park included in the new $2million soccer complex going up this year.
PLEASE CALL YOUR CITY COUNCIL REP OR MAYOR GRAHAM AND LET HIM KNOW YOU WANT A SKATEPARK. This will really help our efforts. We have a small window of opportunity to make this happen. So pick up that phone.
Keep checking back for details on the build day and keep the dream alive.
- Frank
PS> Special thanks to the Demers for a very generous donation to the Skatepark Association.
PSS> Two skaters went home with our grey rental helmets. Please return them to the skatepark! They are $20 each.
Steve Hill, the director of Crossville Parks and Rec came out to see the last half hour of skating and was impressed. We're working with Councilman Loggins and the City architects to see if we can get a park included in the new $2million soccer complex going up this year.
PLEASE CALL YOUR CITY COUNCIL REP OR MAYOR GRAHAM AND LET HIM KNOW YOU WANT A SKATEPARK. This will really help our efforts. We have a small window of opportunity to make this happen. So pick up that phone.
Keep checking back for details on the build day and keep the dream alive.
- Frank
PS> Special thanks to the Demers for a very generous donation to the Skatepark Association.
PSS> Two skaters went home with our grey rental helmets. Please return them to the skatepark! They are $20 each.
19 Comments:
A prefabricated modular skatepark such as SkateWave is not the answer to a permanent long term skatepark. Prefab makes a temporary skatepark, as you have seen during the recent demo. Prefab salespeople are persistent and persuasive and have the money to provide demo ramps because their product is sold at such a high markup.
Modular equipment has a limited lifespan and will not challenge skaters for very long. When looking at the upkeep and maintenance involved over a 5 or 10 year period, it will be far less expensive to build an all concrete skatepark. If a pad has to be constructed for the equipment, it would be just as cost effective to build a concrete skatepark.
Your skaters will be bored and disappointed with a modular skatepark, and your government will be frustrated and disappointed with the maintenance costs and safety issues when the ramps begin to deteriorate.
Tennessee law limits liability for open access public recreation areas. The insurance "requirement" is based on outdated information provided by the Tennessee Municipal League, which is in the insurance business. Nashville, Kingsport, Franklin and Johnson City have open access public concrete skateparks. Spring Hill is planning such a park. Please take the time to visit these parks and see why a permanent concrete skatepark is a better solution than a temporary prefab skatepark.
You can get more information about skatepark planning and construction at Skaters for Public Skateparks.
I hope you won't go with Skatewave. Their stuff is overpriced and may become dangerous in a short period of time. It also isn't very challenging.
An all concrete park would put Crossville on the action sport map and increase tourism for the city. I've enjoyed Nashville's concrete park for two years and in that time I've talked to many families who said they planned trips to the area because their kids (and often the parents too) like to skateboard or bmx. These families seem to be the "outdoor" type of people. Along with the wonderful State Parks in the Crossville area an all concrete park would be a great added attraction.
The city will probably look at multiple options from multiple bidders and multiple price points and multiple surface options. I hear what you are saying about concrete, but honestly it's sounding like a broken record. Our first priority is to help our skaters and families in our area. Tourism is second. Pros are last. Whether our families in Cumberland County and Crossville be served best by modular or concrete, indoor or outdoor remains to be seen. We'll take a balanced approach though to making our needs known to the city.
Just say no to a temporary park for a permanent need.
We don’t build temporary bridges or basketball courts, why temporary skateparks?
We skateboarders are like beggars from a third world, give us stale bread and we're happy. We've been deprived for so long, that some of us think that a prefabricated park from a slick salesman is going to make us happy. It's time to take a stand and do the right thing. It's time that skateboarders received the same respect that other sports enjoy. We are no different from them. It's time to build skateparks like we intended them to be around a while, and expect them to be the best facility money can buy.
Just say no to a prefabricated park!
Dan, I agree with you in spirit. Skaters are often treated as second class citizens. I don't like this at all. At the end of the day though it comes down to space, money, advocacy, perception and communication.
I'm not convinced that above ground modular = evil/temporary and concrete = best/permanent. They both have their pluses and minuses.
As far as the temporary park goes, that's only what our Association is creating to give kids a chance to skate until the city can build a permanent park. It's like borrowing someone's field to play baseball in until you have a permanent home.
No one is throwing table scraps to skaters. Everyone wants to provide them with the best possible environment to practice their sport.
A collection of ramps on a parking lot is now more a skatepark then an empty bucket in a field is a basketball court. Why waste a few hundred thousand dollars on Temporary? For the same money permanent can be built in cement. Maybe not by the big three,Grindline, Dreamland and Team Pain but it can be done. don't underestimate community support and by that i mean the "skate community" volunteer labor and donated materials and a builder that is interested in building teh scene not just a reputation are all elements of skatepark success stories in smaller communities.
here is skatewaves warranty, copied directly from their propaganda, i mean website.
• 15-Year Limited Warranty against structural failure due to corrosion/natural deterioration or manufacturing defects. This warranty does not include cosmetic issues or defects, wear and tear resulting from normal use of the product, misuse or abuse of the product.
• 15-Year Limited Warranty on TekTrak™ coated steel surface against structural failure due to corrosion/natural deterioration or manufacturing defects. This warranty does not include cosmetic issues or defects, wear and tear resulting from normal use of the product, misuse or abuse of the product.
• 5-Year Limited Warranty on RampX™ Phenolic Resin skating surface against structural failure due to manufacturing defects or workmanship. This warranty does not include cosmetic issues or defects, wear and tear resulting from normal use of the product, misuse or abuse of the product.
why does This warranty does not include cosmetic issues or defects, wear and tear resulting from normal use of the product, misuse or abuse of the product. keep getting repeated?
because skatewave knows that they build garbage. it WILL fall apart, the surface WILL chip and crack, wheel grabbing gigantic seams WILL appear, fasteners WILL rattle loose, presenting safety issues, and skatewave WILL laugh right in your face when you ask them to come fix it.
just like you shouldn't give your local basketball players a gravel parking lot and a bucket tied to a pole, plastic ramps are not a skatepark.
please don't blow it.
Please describe what "blow it" means. I assume anything other than a concrete park is "blowing it"?
Frank, there is no disrespect meant from anyone who posted above, I'm sure. It's just that you and your family and friends have put so much of your time and positive energy into this skatepark project, we would love to see you create a truly unique and beautiful park.
Having seen many communities make the dissapointing, yet "easy" decision to go with prefab, when they could have had a high-quality designed and built permanent park, we understandably get a bit emotional on the subject.
Yes, it is more challenging to get a cast-in-place concrete skatepark built. Yes, you will have to coordinate relationships among many more companies and individuals. However, the end result is well worth the extra effort, from what we have experienced.
We are here to assist you if you want. Thank you for everything you have done and will do for skateboarding, Frank.
I only hope that you, Frank, have visited a concrete park as well as a modular park and seen the enormous difference between the two with your own eyes.
Oxford, Mississippi was almost left with a modular park. However, after doing research and presenting it to the city, we were able to show that yes, that each has pluses and minuses but the difference between the pros and cons of modular vs. concrete is enormous. There is no thin line difference. Oxford has people from neighboring cities that drive over an hour to skate our park AND they have parks in their own towns. Modular parks.
If you are serious about Our first priority is to help our skaters and families in our area, you owe it to them to look at this from a long-term perspective.
At the end of the day though it comes down to space, money, advocacy, perception and communication ... concrete is still an option from all these points.
Have you been to a concrete park in person? and then visit a modular park. and talk to people who have been to both.
Don't go with SkateWave or any other pre-fabricated modular park. Invest more money in a concrete park with a qualified build/design and the city will be much happier!
I've been skating since 1974 and the only place I've ever been seriously injured was at a SkateWave park in Morristown. I'll never ride SkateWave equipment again. Their parent company might build fine playground equipment, but they don't know what they're doing when it comes to skateboard equipment. I know what they're doing. They're building garbage and suckering a bunch of small town city councils into spending large sums of money for it because the people on the council don't know the first thing about skateboarding.
Skateboarders do get table scraps. I see it all the time. You can ride into most small towns in Tennessee and see a park full of top notch football, soccer, and baseball fields that get used for a couple hours on some Saturdays. You see first rate tennis courts sitting empty. Gorgeous swimming pools used 3 months out of the year. The only part of any park you see packed all day every day is the skatepark, and 9 times out of 10 it's a SkateWave piece of junk and the kids there are just trying to make the best out of a bad situation. They all know that it would be more fun to skate the stairs at City Hall or the sidewalks at the high school, but if they do, they're busted. No other athlete in any town is treated in this manner. And no other athlete in any town is willing to give of their own time and effort to build a better facility like skaters. Take advantage of that energy and build something that your skaters are going to love for a long time. Don't do it for the tourists or the pros. Do it for your own skaters.
One last point. I live and work in world where I see temporary solutions become permanent all the time. Don't go fooling yourself into thinking that you can build a modular park for now and come back and build a really nice concrete park later. It ain't gonna happen. As I said before, these small town city councils don't know the first thing about skateboarding. They're going to see a modular piece of garbage being skated every day. They're going to see a bunch of business owners that are happy that all those pesky skate punks are gone, and they'll say, "That works for me". The odds of getting something better built later is pretty much zero. Before you purchase anything from SkateWave, I want you to talk to the City of Gallatin, TN and see what they think of their SkateWave park.
And I'm not finished yet. I just want to say that you don't need to get all tied up in these SkateWave demos. They bring a few ramps out to some small town where the skaters have been totally deprived and the kids go nuts. The mayor always shows up just in time to see the kids having a blast and he knows that they're doing the right thing going modular. The kids are begging the mayor to buy this stuff because they want something now. Check back a year later and see how happy they are. Talk to Gallatin. I could stack up a few pieces of plywood and get the same reaction from the kids. Let SkateWave do a demo in Nashville or Asheville, NC and see how the kids react. They'll spit on that crap and go back to their concrete. SkateWave thrives on this emotion. Don't get caught up in it.
Let's make a couple of things crystal clear:
1. The Crossville Skatepark Association is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to inspire, encourage and educate you through the sports of skateboarding, rollerblading and BMX.
2. We are not a political grass roots organization. By 501C3 rules, we can only provide a small amount of our time toward political advocacy for a skatepark.
3. We are product neutral: modular, concrete, above ground, in ground, whatever.
4. We are building a temporary skatepark with private donations and grants to serve the community and provide a base for our mission.
5. The city will need to build, operate and maintain a permanent skatepark. We will only use that park as a non-profit.
6. The city has its own processes in place to ensure fair play and uphold contracts.
Having said that let me offer some advice to skaters who have posted on the topic:
1. While I respect your passion for concrete and your opinion about modular, I can say that the way you come across to those wanting a park is most unhelpful. You hurt your credibility with your extreme views and polarize the issues.
2. There is always more than one way to skin a cat. When NASA needed a pen to write in space during the Apollo/Gemini programs, they spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop one that could. The Russians took a pencil into space.
3. You can catch more flies with sugar than with vinegar. Please pass the sugar.
4. If you don't live in Crossville, Cumberland County or the surrounding area, then your opinion is just that. Come live in our city or donate land or provide a large donation and your actions will speak much louder than your words.
Frank: as always, much respect for your work and your attitude. Everything you wrote is spot-on, from your perspective as a parent, a leader of youth and as a mature citizen. Everything we wrote is spot-on, from the perspective of lifetime skateboarders and parents of skaters.
Our perspectives are different, but somewhere in the dialogue between them is the birth of a great skatepark. Not just in the facility itself (our selfish concern), but in the positive social aspect (your altruistic concern). In essence, we expect you and your city to do something positive for skateboarding, and you expect skateboarding to do something positive for Crossville's kids.
Please don't take our concerns and comments as irrelevant or disrespectful. We are sharing our experiences with you in the hope that past mistakes are not repeated. Skateboarding can be a wonderful activity for kids and adults, and can bring together a wide range of people who can learn lessons from each other due to the social aspects of skateboarding. a great skateboard park does this much like a great city.
Thanks for your patience, your work and your clarifications. I'm sure it's a challenge to keep yourself and your skateboarders focused and engaged in such a project. You really are an inspiration.
Hi All -
I'm actually a professional skateboarder. I'm friends with people here in good ol TN. Sounds like a bunch of ol hardcore pool riders trying to say ramps are no good. But each are great in thier own right.
Wood ramps are killer, but steel lasts alot longer. And i bet them old school pool rockers won't show you some of the numerous concrete skateparks i've ridden that are all messed up. Too bad but that's alot of them...
Ride to Live Live to Ride
But quit cryin unless you've got a straight $250K + minimum to do a proper concrete park from REAL bonfide concrete specialty dudes. And be sure to hold some extra dough in case things go sour.
Skatewave and Woodwar actually have some decent looking stuff. But these "tough guys" won't et you in on that as you can d=see they are promoting Grindline,etc (love what ya guys do) but its seldom done the way cities need it to be TO PLAN (yeah i've been on building crews too...)
Best of Luck and just amped to see you're putting such positive enrgy into skateparks vs. some new gazebo or something
No respectable pro would endorse skatewave(I guess that is why you posted anonomously).
BTW, Grindline built a bowl in Tyler, Texas for $75,000 (3000 sq ft)
Hello, this information below should help your non profit org.
______________________
WHAT IS A SKATE PARK?
With the explosion of skate parks throughout the United States, municipalities now have the responsibility of providing skate facilities for their community. The only problem is that most people, even skaters themselves, do not know what a skate park is. Hopefully this will clarify your understanding of what skate parks are.
Skateboarding has many disciplines within its name. They are listed below in order of popularity.
• Street skating (local streets, sidewalks, parking lots and wood or concrete built courses)
• Mini-ramp skating (wood half pipe ramp, average 3 to 6 feet tall)
• Bowl skating (wood or concrete, built specific to skating)
• Pool skating (actual swimming pools or concrete replicas, specific to skating)
• Transportation skating (getting around town)
• Ditch skating (concrete ditches which have banked sides)
• Vert skating (vertical half pipe ramp)*
*The mainstream media displays skateboarding in many ads. Vert (half pipe) skating is what most of us see in the media, yet it is one of the least practiced disciplines of skateboarding.
Now that we have covered the disciplines of skateboarding we can move into skate parks.
Private Skate Parks
These parks are privately funded and operated by staff and charge a fee to use the facility. High maintenance costs are usually covered by these entry fees. Typically these are constructed primarily out of wood framing with special skate surfacing materials.
Specialty Structures (pro contests,demos,media)
These usually compose of a vert or mini ramp and/or a street course of some sort. They are typically built out of wood or metal and are temporary.
Custom Concrete Skate Parks
These are permanent fixtures, typically in the best interest for a municipality because of their low maintenance and outdoor location requirements. In design, they carry the most features within the structure and contain more overall “flow”. More like golf courses, “One of a Kind”, is the essence of this type of facility.
Modular Skate Parks
Modular skate parks are TEMPORARY fixtures that should not be used for more than one year in the same configuration or location. Good solution for small events and/or private “driveway” ramps.
Skate Areas
Numerous areas designated for skating that are smaller than your typical skate park but placed through out a city or town. These can range in size from 2,000 square feet to 8,000 square feet and is part of a full skate park master plan intended to satisfy a community.
Good luck!
tito
P.S. pro skater, what is your name?
Im calling you out.
Post a Comment
<< Home