Skimming the surface: the skatepark industry has been grinding for 40 years, and has finally found its footing.

Almost 12 years ago, the city of Peachtree City Parks and Recreation Department decided to build a skatepark. At that time, the skatepark industry was just coming off a lull in participation from the mainstream community, which left the department on its own for most of its research. Since then, the department has had to play catch-up on the Shakerag Knoll Skateboard Park, which was one of the first public skateparks in Georgia.

The 50-by-50 park initially had a six-foot metal halfpipe with a wooden frame, concrete surfacing mad several other obstacles. But the wooden frame was beginning to rot, and the metal surface grew hot under Georgia's sun making it unappealing to skateboarders who feared first-degree burns on their exposed skin.

When Jim O'Connell joined the department about two years ago, he was given the task of replacing the decrepit halfpipe. The budgeted $25,000 could not get him a halfpipe, but he did manage to purchase two quarter pipes with a metal frame and a Skatelite Pro surface part--of a group of emerging synthetic surfaces that are becoming the industry standard (See chart on page 52).

Since then, O'Connell has tried to update the park's elements in hopes of luring skateboarders away from shopping center parking lots and government courtyards.

"We just haven't gotten around to designing a facility that meets their needs," says O'Connell, leisure program coordinator for the department. "It's not convenient for them to come here as opposed to the Kroger's [The Kroger Co.] shopping center nearby."

Faulting Asphalt

Jeff Greenwood, editor of the skatepark resource Web site www.concretedisciples.com, says skateboarders will usually drive dozens of miles to find somewhere else to skate if their neighborhood skateparks are not designed correctly. And for those skaters who do not have transportation, "They'll spend a little time at the park and then go back to the parking lots," says

Greenwood, who has skated for 20 years and visited between 200 to 300 skateparks nationwide. Greenwood says his ideal surface is concrete, and he does not like skating on asphalt because it is "rough and bumpy." The temporary skateparks are feasible, but they tend to deteriorate more quickly and have poor transitioning between the ramps and the ground, he says. Greenwood would rather a public skatepark be designed properly and take longer to build, than bought pre-fabricated for the purposes of getting the skateboarders off the public streets.

"You get a lot of communities who think they can't afford anything but asphalt," says Chad Ford, one of the executive directors of the Skatepark Association of the United States of America (SPAUSA). His organization is a California-based, non-profit group created almost eight years ago to provide free information to public agencies interested in building skateparks in their communities. Ford says, "There is absolutely nothing good about asphalt."

Ford, who has been a skatepark designer for more than 20 years, says the main misconception parks and recreation departments make is that they think skateparks are a youth-oriented activity, and are as simple to design as a pool or tennis court. But Ford says the industry is 40 years old and has people with 40-plus years of information that they would gladly share. "They're [parks and recreation department officials are] not aware of the history there and that wealth of knowledge. They kind of inadvertently sidestep all of the information out there."

Asking the Experts

The town of Groton, Conn., decided to build a skatepark in 1999. According to Groton's Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jerry Lokken, the town wanted a quick turnaround with the skatepark. Because not many skatepark builders were located in the area at the time, the department asked a local pool contractor to build the skatepark's primary two elements: a concrete bowl and pyramid. The rest of the park was built by Groton's public works department, which used asphalt for the park's surface. The pool contractor poured the concrete, but coated it with plaster in an effort to make it smoother. Lokken says the plaster coating becomes extremely slippery when wet--potentially becoming a dangerous skating situation. "It may have sounded great at the time," says Lokken. "I think the original idea was that by having them smooth, the skaters would like it, but they don't."

Lokken started renovating in late 2001, adding larger concrete elements and replacing the plaster coated pyramid structure with regular concrete. Another bowl was built next to the plaster-coated one, and more skaters have been using the new bowl since it opened last summer than the older, larger, plaster-coated bowl. More than 50 percent of the park has been replaced, and the new elements are a direct result of comments, suggestions and help Lokken has received from skaters in the community. "It really was a skater-led project," Lokken says. "Each time we've done something, it's been bigger and better than the last time."

Consulting with skateboarders tins been a growing and welcomed trend among some of the more recent skateparks. Onondaga County Parks Commissioner Bob Geraci opened a 17,000-square-foot skatepark last November with the help of skateboarders from the community who worked with the designer. Onondaga County is closest to Syracuse in New York and has a population of 450,000.

When Geraci's department decided it was time to roll with the skatepark craze, he began his research in 1999 by going out West where skateparks are as common as ball fields.

"The Northeast is just trying to understand that kids want skateparks," Geraci says. "And we knew we wanted to build something that would last forever."

After two years of research and a year-long fund-raising campaign that garnered the $400,000 necessary to build the park, Geraci began holding informative sessions between his designer and the community. There were three major sessions with the skateboarders in 2001 before the skatepark was built. Skaters ranging in age from 8 to adult sat with designers who drew their visions for the park.

But even the East Coast might be a few steps ahead of Middle America when it comes to skateparks. Jim O'Loughlin, co-owner of Ohio-based skatepark designer Suburban Rails, says the Midwest is still trying to catch up to both coasts when it comes to skateparks.

"The cities don't talk to the skaters and ask them what they want," says O'Loughlin, who has skated for more than 25 years. "These kids know what's good and what's [not]."

America's New Pastime?

Even with the mistakes local communities make when building skateparks, they are still used. And as more and more parks and recreation departments begin building skateparks, there is more widely available information available--from the thousands of Web pages devoted to the subject to skatepark seminars hosted by the National Recreation and Park Association.

And with all of this activity, the skatepark industry is beginning to become more organized and proactive. In 2000, the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC) had a meeting and created the International Committee of Skateparks and Builders (ICSB). According to IASC founder Jim Fitzpatrick, who was present at the meeting, his group plans on establishing guidelines to help parks and recreation agencies build public skate parks. Their goals also include a national certification course for skatepark builders and designers.

While there is no one organization that monitors skateparks in the United States, SPAUSA founder Heidi Lemmort has said that there are 1,000 finished parks and 2,000 in the planning stages. SPAUSA also keeps track of situations that can happen while building skateparks. According to its Web site, www.spausa.org:

"1) The city of Barnstable, Mass. (near Hyannis Port)just built two concrete bowls, valued at over $100,000 that are unskateable. After completing the whole process they contracted the job to an inexperienced crew, who "brushed" the finish of the bowls. [Occurs when concrete is smoothed using a wooden instead of a steel trowel.] At this point it does not look like anything can he done to correct it.

2) Concrete bowls were built in Colorado and drains were not installed. This could cause a drowning if someone were to fall in, and the bowls will float if the water level rises. They are using pumps to drain them.

3) Many concrete parks have trouble with the transitions. This will cause a higher rate of injury. You will have spent the money and not solved the problem."

Every industry has growing pains, but the skateboarding industry will keep growing exponentially in conjunction with its growing participation numbers. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association's 2001 report on sports participation, there were 11.6 million skateboarders in the United States in 2000--half a million more participants than baseball. And IASC's own study (study based on actual number of skateboards purchased and used at least once a week) states that there are l0 million skateboarders in the United States.

Fitzpatrick, who was the first professional skateboarder in the United States and has been skateboarding for more than 40 years, says kids who are involved in team sports such as football and baseball can not exactly play these games individually in their free time. In contrast, skateboarding is an individual sport that is continuously challenging as more and more skateparks get developed around the county.

"There's just a lot of success stories out there," says Fitzpatrick. "Most of the parks that are being built now and over the last two years--some of them are really wonderful."

BENEATH THE SURFACE**

Researching the type of skatepark surface depends on many
variables: A department must decide what kind of skateboarders
it has in the community; what is its goal in building a skatepark;
and hew long it plans to have the skatepark in the area. Other
variables include cost, environment and durability. Below are some
of the more popular or most-common surfaces in skateparks nationwide
to help with some of the steps in building a skatepark.

Material           Pros                          Cons

Concrete           Durability, long life         More difficult to work
                     50+ years                     with
                   Organic Shapes, curves and    Longer build time
                     bowls flow better in        Expensive
                     concrete.                   Generakkt the most
                   Surface / Structure repairs     expensive surface
                     should be minimal

Synthetic          Specially designed skate,     Expensive
(Includes Ramp-      and BMX and inline          Some or all surface
Armor [c] and        surface                       needs replacement
Skatelite [c]                                      in 4-6 years
                   Good for BMX parks
                   Withstands weather better
                     than plywood, masonite
                   Cheaper than concrete
                   Exceptionally long
                     lifetime indoors

Metal              Exceptional lifespan, no      Absorbs heat, Gets
                     surface replacement           very hot
                     needed                      Non porous, gets
                   Good for BMX parks              very slick with
                   Will withstand the              little moisture
                     elements; snow, rain,       More difficult to
                     ice, fog, etc...              work with than wood,
                                                   requires more labor
                                                   cost to install

Birch Plywood      Smooth skateboard/inline      Not recommended for BMX
                     surface                     Does not last outdoors

Masonite           Smooth skateboard/inline      Not recommended for BMX
                     surface                     Does not last outdoors

Asphalt            Cheap                         Does not last long
(Includes tennis                                   outdoors
court-grade                                      Rough and bumpy
asphalt                                          Tends to melt under
                                                   hot temperatures

Plywood            Cheap                         Does not last long
                                                   indoor/outdoor
                                                 Will deteriorate fast

Material           Cost                          Lifespan

Concrete           Most expensive                50+ years
                                                 indoor/outdoor

Synthetic          More expensive                4+ years * outdoor
(Includes Ramp-    than plywood                  heavy use
Armor [c] and      less than
Skatelite [c]      concrete                      6+ years indoor
                                                 heavy use

Metal              Less expensive                50+ years
                   than poly-carbonate           indoor/outdoor
                   skate surfaces

                   More expensive
                   than plywood

Birch Plywood      Less expensive                5+ years indoor
                   than all of the                 heavy use
                   above surfaces
                                                 1+ year outdorr use

Masonite           Less expensive                3+ years indoor use
                   than all of the
                   above surfaces                1+ years * outdoor
                                                   heavy use

Asphalt            Cheap, in some                1-3 years, depending
(Includes tennis   cases, free for               on use
court-grade        parks and
asphalt            recreation
                   departments

Plywood            Cheap                         2+ years indoor use

                                                 1+ years * outdoor use

* Depends on weather conditions. ** Table information provided by
Suburban Rails, www.suburbanrails.com.

SURFING FOR SKATEPARKS

A simple Internet search for skateparks reveals more than 100,000 Web pages. Sifting through these various Web sites can seem daunting, so we have compiled a short list of resource URLs that might help before your city decides to build a skatepark.

www.skateboarddirectory.com

Includes a listing of skatepark builders, designers, companies, public skateparks, other miscellaneous information. Commercial oriented.

www.skatepark.org

Provides a nexus of skatepark information, including statistical information, planning, anecdotes and a discussion board.

Skatebardiasc.org

The International Association of Skateboard Companies provides information about the organization end contact information of people who have 40-plus years experience in the industry. Helps with insurance and liability situations.

www.spausa.org

The Skatepark Association of the United States of America provides links, resources and information of everything skatepark related. Will also give aid in helping the creation of skateparks in communities nationwide. Also helps with insurance and liability situations.

www.skatespots.com

A comprehensive listing of existing skateparks in the United States, Reviews and provides photos of the skateparks. Not a complete listing of skateparks in the nation, but pretty close.

Maya Avrasin is associate editor for Parks & Recreation magazine. She can be reached at [e-mail].