30th Anniversary of the Turf skatepark

30 Years of the Turf

Peter DiAntoni has a show opening tomorrow in Milwaukee (I assume) titled Salad Days: Turf 30th Anniversary. It’s all photos of Milwaukee’s Turf skatepark that also has an earlier run as Surf & Turf, before taking a brief rest while serving as a strip club. I guess they build wooden platforms covering the bowls. Sadly, it’s been permanently destroyed now. Pete D. was the proprietor of Clueless Zine, of which I have a couple issues, but haven’t yet added to the 80’s zine archives. Dang, I need to get on that. If you skated in the midwest in the 80’s you went to the Turf at least once. A lot of people travelled there from other parts of the country. It also appeared in some Santa Cruz and Gullwing videos, possibly others as well. For some it was a travel destination, for others it was more like a home. Mr. DiAntoni will be screening Turf shirts on site at the opening, and if you have your old park ID you can get one for 1/2 price. I wonder if that works via mail order? – Thanks to Matt Grasser for the tip.

April 10th 7-10pm
Vetter Denk Building 161 s. 1st (corner of 1st & Pittsburgh) Milwaukee, WI

[Source: WiSkate]

turf-30-full

Discussion

5 thoughts on “30 Years of the Turf

  1. it was home.
    technically, it has not been permanently destroyed.
    they tore up the coping, filled the bowls with large rocks, and put a layer of concrete over them.
    theoretically, you could break up that layer, empty the rocks and chunks out, and put new coping on.
    as soon as i start playing and then win the lottery, that is what i will be doing.
    you are invited once it’s done.

  2. skaterhusseindave on April 10, 2009 - Reply

    Okay, but while we’re at it, let’s fix the kink in the halfpipe too…

  3. Bell E. Buttons!

  4. just got back from the show. it was more like a party but it was honestly pretty sweet. wished there was more pictures/memorabilia to look at… they showed footage from videos and private collections on a projector… the line for a t shirt was epic. good times… alot of people came out of the woodwork for this one. i even got a Turf skatepark beer coozy out of the deal!

  5. Wow I wish I knew other people were as passionate about the best skatepark in the midwest ever. I have photos,recipts,and tons of stories and memories..Thanks to all who enjoyed….

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