Indoor skate park extremely accommodating.

Byline: Tyler Mack The Register-Guard

CORRECTION (ran 12/17/2005): Ammon Henrikson's first and last names were misspelled in a story about The Edge Bike Shop and skate park on Page 14 on Friday.

SPRINGFIELD - Cats and dogs. Republicans and Democrats. Oil and water.

Some things just don't mix.

The same could be said for skateboarders and bicycle-motocross riders. They both enjoy navigating the same terrain, but most public skate parks have policies that ban bicycles.

"It's discrimination," local entrepreneur Amman Henrickson says.

In his first business venture, Henrickson opened The Edge Bike Shop last spring. He says it's one of the few indoor parks in the state that welcomes both BMXers and skateboarders.

"There's no reason that BMX bikes shouldn't be allowed," he says.

Tucked away among the industrial buildings, warehouses and storage facilities on west Springfield's Shelley Street, The Edge is an indoor haven where BMXers and skateboarders share the same turf - 10,000 square feet of ramps, mini-ramps, half-pipes, rails and grind boxes.

"It's a great place to ride in the winter when it's wet everywhere else," says Matt Grassauer, 17, of Eugene, just before he speeds down the warehouse floor on his mountain bike, up and down a 9-foot quarter-pipe ramp and over a 10-foot box jump.

Josh Dwyer, 27, of Eugene, says he's hooked after only a month riding BMX bikes.

"It's a good release after work and it's great exercise," he says. "I've really learned a lot from the people who ride and work here."

Word has spread, and the facility was used this past summer to shoot a new BMX video titled "Sentenced to Life." The video starred such professional BMX bikers as Dave Mirra, Scotty Cramner, Josh Harrington, Matt Beringer and Mike Aitken.

"They loved it," says Henrickson, 28 and a business school graduate of the University of Oregon.

Henrickson opened The Edge Bike Shop with $2,000 in his bank account and some loans from family to help pay the first month's rent. He took profits from the subsequent months and reinvested them into the shop in order to provide bike parts and inventory for his increasing customer base.

Those customers now average roughly 200 to 300 people per week.

Board sports central

Henrickson grew up in Venice Beach, Calif., at a time when the popularity of surfing and skateboarding exploded. He later found a love for BMX biking and developed an interest in flatland riding, which Henrickson describes as "ballet on a bike."

Sparked by the inaugural X-Games in 1995, BMX gained enormous popularity, and skate and bike parks sprang up all over the country. In many parks, however, bikes were banned because of wear and tear on the parks or users ignoring safety rules that put skateboarders at risk.

Many public parks also lack the supervision to monitor enforcement, and have reported problems with alcohol, drugs and fights.

The Edge has taken steps to avoid trouble, Henrickson says, by attempting to provide a cooperative environment where people can learn more about biking and skating and improve their skills.

"If I smell alcohol on someone's breath, I don't allow them in the park," he says. He adds there's been only one fight at The Edge since it opened, and it ended in a handshake after he intervened.

Henrickson says he wants to provide a safe environment for skaters and BMX bikers, a place where both groups feel comfortable and welcomed.

"At public skate parks, a lot of times, the smaller, younger kids get picked on and pushed out of the way," Henrickson says. "Here, they have a place where they feel they can hang out without worrying about, 'Who's going to pick on me today?' '

Gary Stefanek, 15, spends a lot of his BMX time at The Edge. He is one of 15 volunteers who have helped build ramps and features at the park.

"Here, everybody gets along," Stefanek says.

With the help of those volunteers, Henrickson constructed the ramps out of scrap from lumber yards, spending hours pulling nails and smoothing surfaces.

Henrickson also adds music to the mix. Bryce Hoeper, 18, of Springfield, is in charge of booking acts, which mostly have been hardcore punk mixed with metal.

The bands play in the bowl of the skate park while the audience is seated around the edges of the ramps. Bikers and skaters still can use part of the park during the shows - at least until the crowd gets too big.

Attendance has been growing. Henrickson plans to move future shows into a separate room.

Henrickson - who also sells bike equipment, does bike maintenance and offers instructional classes at The Edge - says he hopes to continue to increase the music. He also wants to add an outdoor street course.

Although Henrickson has no paid employees besides himself, he does have six to eight volunteers who work with him on a regular basis. The support from local skaters and bikers, he says, will allow The Edge to evolve and grow.

"When people come here they're not just buying something, they're supporting a cause," Henrickson says.

THE EDGE

Address: 845 Shelley St., Springfield

Hours: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week, later during music events

Phone: [phone]

Admission: $5 for 90 minutes, $8 for 3 hours, $12 for all day

CAPTION(S):

The Edge Bike Shop's indoor skate park in west Springfield is one of the few facilities of its type that welcomes bicycle riders.