Those who were expecting one of the big two to get the contract will be surprised to learn that Gabriel Park will be built by Airspeed. Portland’s parks department made the announcement yesterday. Here’s the unofficial word

…the selection process is set up to judge the specific proposals that are
submitted, and while they take into consideration past experience and performance, the majority of the decision is made upon how well the proposal addresses requests and items in this specific RFP. Unfortunately, not all of the great skatepark builders in the world who excel in the field excel in the realm of putting a proposal document together. Many simply just did not give specific consideration to Gabriel Park’s unique topography, opportunities or needs. Airspeed did.

Toledo has been a surprise hit. That’s Waldport Oregon and Pescadero, Mexico in the shots above, both taken from the Airspeed web site. It’s important to remember that the selection committees are changing for each park in the system. Here’s to variety!

Our friend Rich Burton shot some opening day photos for Skaters for Portland Skateparks. Above: Mark Conahan and Molly Quan hanging out by the Peanut.

I can’t find much about Simon Woodstock on the web. There are a couple of reviews of his religious tract disguised as a zine, but other than that, just this video clip, Skim the Fat doesn’t have a single listing of him, even if IMDB lists him as appearing in Boob. STF lists 154 skaters in that video, but no Simon Woodstock. It’s like he’s been blacklisted. Simon was in the limelight at a time when I wasn’t following the industry rags, not that I am now, but through the Interweb™ I sometimes find out about things whether I want to or not. I remember reading about some legendary shenanigans and talented skating in the past tense. What I get from this video is a heavy CKY vibe. Just as some people can’t stand Bam, there are lot of Woodstock bashers out there. You’d have to be blind to say he had no talent. Watch him ride both a skimboard and snowboard set up as skateboards while wearing appropriate attire and shredding as effortlessly as if he was riding a short board. Then there’s the clown suit. Funny stuff, but I can imagine it wears thin after a while. So someone fill in the blanks. Who did he ride for and what video is this from? Watch the vid and more after the jump.

Last Friday, Glenhaven finally opened. Several hundred people came out to see the ribbon cutting and skate the new Dreamland park. I haven’t heard any complaints yet. The street/bricks/ditch is getting heavy use as is the mid bowl. The 8.5 foot deep Peanut bowl is great. It rides a lot like an insanely good backyard pool. Okay, first complaint. I would have liked to see tile in there. It’s just about perfect though. Portland is on a roll.

More pics at Earth Patrol, Old School and Dan Hughes’ photos from Saturday

Portland designer Maple (not affiliated with Maple skateboards) makes earrings, bracelets, rings and purses from used skateboards. Sure, that’s been done before, but this is a slightly different take. It’s mostly geared towards gals, but I could see the bracelets going over well in some circles of skateboarding, like the Ipath crowd. The hexgaon shaped one looks cool. Is there a macho word for “bracelet?” Maple is at the mercy of finding used decks with dyed plies to make her craft more interesting. Extra bonus, part of the proceeds from some sales go to a skateboarding charity to be determined. Both owners of the SPS acronym ( 1 and 2 ) were being considered. Maybe Maple can fill in the blank. Check it out.

Glenhaven opens tomorrow? Wait, how did that happen while I’m away in Florida? I am really dropping the ball as far as Oregon skatepark openings. First I missed Irrgon and now Glenhaven, which is only 15 minutes from my front door. EPM doesn’t have these problems. I guess it will be there when I get back. Get your super limited edition shirts at the event tomorrow. Hey MC! Sign me up for an XL… Oops, they only have large and medium. Must be a result of all the unsold memorabilia they have left over from the Pier Park opening. Maybe Conahan will have them both there. Buy a cool shirt, help us get a roof over a skatepark. Details.