Word is that the lease is up on the tenant that currently resides in the building that houses Milwaukee’s famed Turf Skatepark. I erroneously reported that the concrete had been demoed, but I guess the truth lies closer to some missing coping and a lot of landfill. I here to report on the rumor that there people in Wisconsin working on trying to get a third lease on life for the Turf Skatepark. If there’s no truth to that rumor, then I’m here to start it, in hopes that someone who still lives in the area will get stoked. The Turf still lives in more than memories and photos, a crew of BMXers has the old miniramp from the Turf. At the risk of becoming very unpopular, I was watching some video of that park and it made me think that perhaps the fond memories have more to do with nostalgia than the quality of the terrain, especially compared to the modern crop of skateparks. Still, I’d be all for digging it up and slapping some new coping on. I hope it happens.

Photos – Clockwise: Old exterior shot from Thrasher Magazine, as found on the Facebook page for Pete D’s 30 year anniversary Turf photo show. Next – Tod Swank from one of Pete D’s photos from his Turf photostream on Flickr. Bottom Row – Video stills from some old videos shot at the Turf, circa 1989, found at MNTRS.com.

UPDATE: FALSE! The lease is not up. Check it.

Kevin Porterfield from Dokument Skate Shop sent in some shot from a session at the Harrisburg, Oregon skatepark. Check them out after the jump.

Here’s a detail from a shot I took circa 1989 in Rockford, Illinois at a roller skating rink turned skatepark called Rotation Station. I guess at this late of a date it might have been an Alva demo and not Zorlac. Full frame shot after the jump.

This week’s Shot of the Week is from Jim Gray, pictured at Skate City in Whittier, CA. This shot was used for his first advert ever, which was in Action Now magazine, circa 1980 or so. He can’t remember who took it, and I can’t seem to find it in the couple of Action Now’s that I have access to. So maybe our readers can help. I’m working on putting together an interview with Jim, so if anyone has any questions they’d like me to consider, go ahead and email them to me.

Check out the Shot of the Week.

When is a hippie jump not a hippie jump? When you hippie jump a hesher. Here’s a few more pics from the Hood river field office, AKA Carl Warren. Bonus shots after the jump.

Taking influence from a skipping stone, this design focuses on a rhythm of circular plazas that are linked through paving and skate-boarding features. The design offers features for riders of every skill-level and style. The paving pattern consists of a large saw-cut concrete pattern within a circular paver banding that helps de? ne space and add visual appeal.

The first meeting for the Happy Valley, Oregon skatepark saw three different Newline concepts presented, and this is the design that was the overwhelming favorite. The plan now is to refine it to “to serve as many different levels of skateboarders as possible.” The argument about street plazas vs. tranny and out of state (and Country) contractors is moot here, so please don’t waste anyone’s time by flogging that dead horse. The Clackamas County planners would do well to talk to Portland about the Ed Benedict project. I have heard that when it came time to actually build the park, there were numerous delays and attempts to get more money out of the project than was set forth by the agreements in the contract.

This is a shot of an amazing looking collection of concrete at Chingaucousy Skatepark in Brampton, Ontario, as designed and constructed by Spectrum Sk8parks. Soak it all in, then watch some video after the jump.

Time for more input on the Happy Valley skatepark in Clackamas County, Oregon. We must have missed a meeting or two, because from the looks of the tiny renderings, they appear to have chosen a designer already… Street plaza city, Newline? The meeting is Wednesday, April 29, 2009, from 5-7 p.m. at Sunnyside Elementary school on 13401 SE 132nd Avenue in Clackamas, OR. No word on whether the infamous Happy Valley back biter (seen above, lower right) will be allowed in the park. This is as good an excuse as any to post some more photos form the Happy Valley pool you love to hate.

I thought this Battle Ground, WA video montage from Joe Stevens contained some footage from the same session in Battle Ground that I was poaching him in back in January, but it was uploaded before that day. I’m trying to talk Joe into becoming a contributor. I love seeing videos of my friends skating, but it gets literally and figuratively, uh, old after a while. As The Dogs said, I traded in all my old attitude, for a younger point of view.

It looks like Tuscon’s new lighted skatepark is almost ready to open. The top shot is from Danimal’s friend Erik and the bottom two are from TusconSkaters.org. It’s funny how you can get an idea of who builds these things just by looking at them. This park has Site Design written all over it. The shot that gave it away for me was this one. Except that conflicts with a story and video in AZStarnet.com. Both Site design and California Skateparks list it in their portfolio. California must be the build contractor. Strange design choice, that keyhole pool. You don’t see too many of those being built now, and for good reason I think. Still, the channel looks fun. Notice that it’s not just a straight roll in for some reason. It’s a $1 million, 12,000 square foot project.