Everything will be forgotten

It’s been a while since I’ve covered the Kings Highway DIY project in St Louis. Much like BSSS before it, Kings Highway enjoyed an existence as an officially tolerated temporary DIY skate a finite lifespan. The crumbling bridge it rests under was built in 1936, and scheduled for demolition next spring. Amazingly, they’re still adding onto it as late as last week. Unlike BSSS, however, There are definite plans for a replacement… of sorts. The city is leasing an unused parcel of land to the non profit for $1 a month, but the non-profit has to pay $2,000 in insurance annually, as well as funding the entire construction. They are also losing the overhead coverage that they used to have, cutting down on the amount of time the park will be usable. You’d think a major American city with no public skatepark could do better than that. The locals have been actively fundraising though, and have even secured a 5k grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, bringing their total fundraising efforts to $13,000. They’ve even got a listing for material and other donations on Craigslist. I’m not sure that the before and after square footage evens out though. The new location and design appears to have more of a public park presentation, and way more sterile than the existing atmosphere. If the skaters are organizing and paying for everything, they ought to be allowed to build what they want. Doesn’t that seem just to you? Watch a short documentary after the jump. The primary aim seems to be explaining the vibrancy of of the spot to the non-skateboarding crowd in St. Louis.

– Thanks to Bob Metchely for the tip.