Spott Dreams of Skate Parks: 2020

Monday, 28 December 2020

We Helped Newcastle!

(FYI - Park is Done! Check it out HERE)

Now let's do it again.

UPDATE - We did it again. Update at the bottom.

The Municipality of Clarington heard our concerns about the pre-fab metal skatepark concepts they had released in May of 2020. I sent an open letter pointing out some of the issues with these types of parks. Read it HERE.

According to the municipality, Newcastle will now have a cast-in-place skatepark. The change to concrete from a pre-fabricated metal park was due to overwhelming public feedback. Check out the Durham Post article HERE. A design has been released and a survey has been included to receive feedback.

Click HERE for the Newcastle Community Park Project Page

EDIT*** - This is a place holder design. A really good skatepark company has been awarded the design/build contract and will adjust the design based on survey feedback. The place holder Skatepark Photo led to my confusion.

There is a few things I will point out regarding this design and its survey. Note- this is my opinion based on experience and may not be fact or what the local users desire out of their skatepark. I have also been contacted and this project is in good hands.

1) It lacks basics. There's no flat rail, no flat ledge and no manny pad. These should be the first obstacles considered in any skatepark design. EDIT* - The city has added to the survey and it asks about the importance of obstacles to the user.

2) There are 2 rollers. This is a waste of space and materials. At minimum, one should be a bank-flat-bank with a rail. The survey calls this a table top.

3) The design looks like a pre-cast skatepark. The difference here is a pre-cast park is built off site and shipped. The obstacles are arranged on site but there are always issues with gaps and edges not meeting cleanly.

Pre-cast skatepark issues.

A Cast-in-place (or Poured-in-place aka PIP) Skatepark is completely formed of site. Experienced build crews can work with a pre-cast design and make it great but starting with a great design will create a better park. The elevated bowl in this design looks out of place.

Pre-cast Design

Cast in Place Design

Final Result in Beamsville

4) There is a question in the survey about landscaping. Over the summer, a Markham Local contacted the city about the woodchips that were getting into the park from the landscaping at the edge of the park. The woodchips were removed and the city said sod would be added later. New trees planted just off the park are great provided they don't shed acorns or maple keys onto the park. Woodchips, mulch, pea gravel, soil and other substrates should be kept far from the park to prevent them draining onto the park.

Many parks have filled their planters in to prevent run-off issues.

5) There's just something unsettling about this whole project. The first person I had been in contact with retired and by the time I reached his replacement, they informed me that they were in the process of awarding the design build project to the successful company. The park looks a little smaller than Gellert in Georgetown (population ~45000). Of course this is difficult to tell as the design had no dimensions of any kind. Is it a 1" bowl? Is it a 12" bowl? Newcastle has a population of around 10000 (as per stats Can.). Based on stats from Skaters for Public Skateparks, Newcastle doesn't need this much square footage. Should they get a big park? Yes. But a better designed and cost effective park. I have also heard from a source that the build crew knows their building this park next year. EDIT* - I'm less worried about this now that I know who's involved.

I'm excited for Newcastle. It's close enough for me to be a regularly skated park and I have friends with kids who are looking forward to having a skatepark.

Update

Nearly 300 people responded to the survey and the updated design is now out with an additional feedback form for last minuet adjustments.

Link to the project page and feedback form can be found HERE.

Monday, 21 December 2020

Goodbye & Good Riddance 2020

2020, for the most part, was not the year a lot of people had planned on. My plans included road trips with the Dirty Jags and Skatosis guys. While I didn't make it to Wisconsin, I was able to meet up with Kurt of the Dirty Jags in Picton for a skate. On top of that, I hit 26 new Skateparks, including my 400th park. I got some advocacy done in Pickering and sent some useful info to Clarington which may have convinced them to go concrete instead of pre-fabricated (Check it out HERE). My map was picked up by Canada Skateboard (the Olympic Body, but now they aren't returning my e-mails so IDK).

I was honoured to be a guest on The Goat Cave Podcast and later in the year, went out on a little road trip with Cam.

I hit my 400th Skatepark but it was not without some frustration with the city - Check it HERE

With some help from my buddy, Chris J. Brown, I made a Halloween video. I took on the look and tricks of one of my favourite skaters, The Featch, Mr Richie Jackson.

Lastly, one of the things that has kept me busy and sane was building skate obstacles for friends and myself. I had a second run of building this fall for the basement ramps, anticipating another lockdown.

I'm thankful to be back at work (Paramedic in a heavily Covid infected area) after the Clavicle fracture from last year. Thankful my family is safe and healthy, pissed at idiots who think this is a joke & my heart goes out to anyone who has lost someone and this is their first Christmas or holiday season without their loved one.

Wear a mask. Get ready to roll up your sleeve.

Spread Love, Not Germs.

Merry Christmas and Have a Happy NEW Year from The Loonies.

Emphasis on NEW!

Thursday, 1 October 2020

Knifeside DIY. Somewhere in Niagara Region

Knifeside DIY

Somewhere in Niagara Region

Petition

DIY's Rule! But DIY rules prevent me from revealing the location. I was invited to Knifeside by a local friend we'd met up with at the Virgil Skatepark.

Oh look, another tree!

Imma jump outta it!

(Full disclosure - I don't know if THIS was a make. You'll have to check out the Alex's Video when it comes out.)

Niagara-on-the-Lake Skatepark. Virgil, ON

Niagara-on-the-Lake Skatepark

Virgil, ON

1565 Four Mile Road

It wasn't without some challenges (See Here) but the new skatepark in Virgil, ON is open and it is awesome. There are some easy ledges and small quarter pipes but there's definitely some gnar here too.

This extension is ~6ft tall with a lot of vert and topped with pool coping. I didn't figure it out but the locals were ripping it.

There I go, climbing trees again.

Kudos to Pro-pour Concrete Services on another great park.

Monday, 28 September 2020

Chippewa Lions Skatepark. Niagara Falls, ON

Chippewa Lions Skatepark

Niagara Falls, ON

3970 Welland St

Thursday, 17 September 2020

Kilbride Park. Burlington, ON

Kilbride Park

Burlington, ON

2175 Blessington St.

In this sleepy Burlington community sits a pretty good park.

It was fun but has all the negative hallmarks of a prefab/precast skatepark

Looks nice but where is the flat ledge. Fundimentals, People!

The pump track is concrete. It's nice to tool around on.

But pre-cast never lines up perfectly

I'm still trying to figure out what happened here. Are there grounds bolts on the new ramps, replacing transition plates? Are they put in drilled holes or put in wet concrete? What pushed the ramp back 2 inches? Either way, it's another pre-fab fail.