Hey guys, I work for the Tualatin Hills Parks District, and this morning my boss gave me word that the Thursday after next the parks district will be having an open house with Grindline to hear from local people what they would prefer for a NOVICE skatepark. I highlight novice because I know if there’s anyone that’s all about ripping the deep end, it’s MC…
I swear, if I hear any complaining about building novice parks for beginners, you are all fired, kicked off the staff, team or whatever! I hear that they might consider a bowl if there is enough interest, but please, let’s not stack the deck. Instead we should consider the needs of the community. Plus, a good novice park might draw all the little scrappers away from the more advanced parks in the region.
So there you have it. When: Thursday February 28. 6pm- 8pm. Where: Dryland Conference Room at the Howard M Terpenning Recreation Complex. 15707 SW Walker Road, Beaverton, OR 97006. Additioanl information contact Wendy Bell, Park planner at 503 529 6305 x2932, or wbell at thprd dot com.
18 comments
tobin Z
Dear bikers, if you run into my kid again I will personally embarassss you to the full extent.I mean the court of skateboarding is the only rules i know.Not only have you convinced skateboarding is dangerous to Zane but you may have permanenly turned him off for good. Thank you bmx fags wish you were that good. It’s taken a while and I hope he gets over you attitudes and to coolness. Yea you can go to mommy and tell her some old guy yelled at you. What ever. I mean Zane just stated skating again but what he did’nt miss was bikers wizzing by him on purpose and older teens not letting him take runs. Weve been driving an hour to skate when he so choosee too.
If you havnt been to the new Hood river that would be a perfect example of a Grom park Which Vert skaters can have fast lines too!
Tom Miller
A grom-exclusive skatepark is a recipe for social failure. In the language of bureacratese, it would fail to attract and retain the older, more advanced, more mature skater whose presence is necessary to informally instruct the grom about both how to skate, and how to behave at the skatepark.
That said, 100% gnarly skateparks are obviously not a solution to groms’ needs.
To my mind, the solution is the middle ground. We need to see dedicated grom areas – a la Port Townsend but bigger – physically separated from, but adjacent to, typical more advanced terrain.
And it shouldn’t come at the expense of the rest of us. If I were king for a day, I’d require that every full-on skatepark (i.e. not skatespots) be at least 25,000 square feet with a healthy mix of tranny, including some vert; plaza; hybrid; and grom. That way we’d cover the range of interests and abilities in one convenient place. You shouldn’t have to get in a car and cross town (or region) to skate a different type of terrain. It should all be in one place.
Mac
When I first heard about this plan last year, my first thought was, “Why? Beaverton already has a beginner skate park.” What Beaverton (and every rec district) needs is obvious choices. There are kiddie pools to splash around in, and there are the 50m racing pools with diving areas. Right now, there is no choice in Beaverton but to skate the old ramp park, which actually isn’t a bad park to learn in (if you can get over bashing into the metal where ramp meets flat). Mellow trannys, open layout, roll-ins, a slab and come curb thingies to goof around on. THRD needs Grindline to build a modern cement park (with cover…) that will be an obvious choice for the more advance kids and old guys to skate at. Battle Ground is a great example (as long as its not covered with sand, and bikes). This will leave the current park for the kiddies and be self-regulating. If Beaverton builds a new “beginner park”, the old ramp park will become a bike park, and the more advanced skaters will still have nowhere to skate in Beaverton. As others have said, the bikes are what is intimidating the little kids at Beaverton, not the advanced skaters. My other question is, if THRD builds this great beginner park, what will keep the advanced skaters out of it, besides full-time monitoring? It will undoubtedly be very fun, and plenty of street rippers will skate it, and the little guys may not get runs. Build a great new world class skatepark, keep the old one and maybe fix it up a bit with paintings of panda bears and other cute animals, and ban bikes from it. There, self-regulating beginner park.
Kilwag
I take it back. It might be nice to have a spot for little kids only, where they don’t have to battle older kids and men just to get in a run.
Kilwag
We discussed it. I thought about it some more. I was wrong.
Hateboard
skateboarding for the lowest common denominator…
fuck beginners. fuck novice parks.
driveways are for beginners. skateparks are for those who know the ettiquitte and can at least steer correctly.. whatever. fuck beaverton anyway. actually…fuck little kids too.
Welsh Pete
I agree with MC- there’s no such thing as a ‘novice’ skatepark. What’s more ‘novice’ scratching a frontside grind in a 10′ deepend or a kickflip Back D in a 4′ shallow?
Rich
Skaters of Beaverton deserve better. Look at the aquatic center at the THRC. Those are not novice diving boards and the pool doesn’t have any depths less than 4 feet. They built a facility that was reasonable to teach and to continue challenge those that swim and dive for fun as well as competitive.
Build a skate facility in a similar spirit, a skate facility that provides for a spectrum of skills and continues to challenge skaters as they progress. Choosing a design/build firm like Grindline and/or Dreamland is an excellent starting point.
Just like swimming, tennis, golf, etc…, skateboarding can be enjoyed by people of all ages throughout their life. A well thought-out facility has the opportunity to create a positive community focal point. Skaters, in general, are self-motivated and dedicated to their discipline. So much so that even without public facilities, skateboarding thrives. The skaters of Beaverton deserve a great skatepark and THPRD partnered with the skate community and Grindline can do just that.
slit
That vert ramp was packed with beginners. You’d just have to shoo them away to drop in.
hass
The former director of the Corvallis parks and req dept, Dan Eden, told me the park was designed as a novice/beginner park. I was dumbfounded. This is the reason there is noping and no vert in the corvallis park.
On a separate note. It can’t be all bad, the meeting is with grindline.
conahan
They’re talking about the park that used to have the big vert ramp in Beaverton. That’s the complex where the meeting is and they have been talking about that for a few years.
conahan
What the hell is a beginner skatepark? Is it like that tee-ball crap? Hey, I was able to learn to throw the ball, catch the ball and hit the ball in the way God meant it to be done. Don’t they have sidewalks and driveways in Beaverton? That’s where beginners learn.
The little bowl at Pier was designed as a beginner bowl and it is totally overrun with teenage miniramp champs because it
Eric Cherry
Haven’t ever heard of a ‘Novice’ skatepark, we’re lucky to have one public skatepark in my town. So I had to go take a look around for what a ‘novice’ park looks like.
hass mentioned some place called Corvallis, and ya know. It looks pretty fun to me. Maybe cause I’m 32 with a third knee replacement and knowing my limits is grounding me a bit closer to Earth. But it does look fun… when I was a kid, the novice skatepark was the driveway! And it was uphill both ways…
hass
Corvallis built a novice park. The kids grew up, the park didn’t and the town is worse off from my point of view.
This situation is different because Tigard already has one park.
Concretin
Take the gnarliest(best) park with the coolest layout, and just scale it down… done.
Casey M.
“let
Greg N
I think thats a great idea.. gotta support the kids. One thing thats a must is NO BIKES. When bikes take over the Portland skateparks the kids just leave… I dont blame em. And Im guessing a lot just bag skateboarding in the parks. Skating takes hard work and dedication. The last thing you need is to get run over by some kid on a bike, which anyone six and older can ride at a BASIC level in a skate park.
Also I would not rule out large walls. In many ways they’re easier to ride… I would just make them more accessible to beginners. One way would be to make an easy roll-in that goes to a larger wall.
Anyway… I dont think Ill be able to make it… but Ill try. I like the idea of a novice park… beginners in Portland have to watch out for old-man rippers and bikes. I wanna make sure there are lots of skaters to get me stoked when Im in my twilight years. 😉
Abegnegal
The conference for a “bigginer” park in Tigard is in the “Dryland Conference Room.”
Where they will serve such epicurean delicacies such as saltine crackers and week old bread with a dash of pepper.
Tally ho gentlmen,
let us erect all that sucks until we understand this thing a little better.