Sure, we may rib him a little on some of his endorsement choices, but Tony Hawk’s record on advancing the sport and and promoting concrete skateparks is unimpeachable. The Tony Hawk Foundation has just funded the printing of a revised edition of the very valuable Public Skatepark Development Guide which can be yours for the price of shipping. Check out the press release after the jump.

This is a shot from October of 2006. It’s been cropped to fit horizontally. It’s Mike McCarley, one of the owners of Shrunken Head Skateboards. Check out the full frame Shot of the Week.

As we were pulling up to the park yesterday I remarked how small this park seems now, compared to the vast expanse it felt like when it first opened. Battle Ground, Washington has a lot to offer, at least in terms of skateparks. I took some photos yesterday, catch them after the jump.

We’ve got a handful of shots of Jack’s Boardhouse rider Sammy Hagar Justin Shirley at the Medford, OR skatepark. Photos courtesy of Billy Runaway.

Indianapolis skateboarders are bout to get the shaft. Marian College wants to buy manage and use the Major Taylor athletic complex, land that contains a skatepark that is in the middle of a velodrome. Originally they had intended to demolish the skatepark, but thankfully, the city nixed that idea as a condition of the sale. The velodrome is what the college really wants for their bicycle racing team… Hold on, bicycle racing in Indiana… it’s Breaking Away! Sorry. Next they came up with a scheme to convince the city to let them demo the park after all. It involved reducing the hours the park was open and charging admission, with none of the money going towards park upgrades. I can just hear it now… “Oh, nobody is using the skatepark and it’s expensive to operate. We need to tear it down…” There’s a petition up to keep the skatepark free and open 24-7, just as it always has been. Physically, the park is not otherwise noteworthy except for the fact that it’s the only skatepark the city of 810,000 people has. The Major Taylor skatepark has a Myspace page put up by an ex-employee of the park, but so far…

I got an email with some computer renders from Team Pain that made me think they were dabbling with some prefab skatepark elements: Team Pain will be presenting their newest product line for the first time at the January 09 Surf Expo. Bringing a completely new feel to the show with some unique and artistic structures made from both hand poured concrete or solid steel! If you want to be one of the first to experience these new pieces, all you need to do is make it to the Expo and the course will be open to anybody who wants to skate. I thought I’d get some more info before I made the post since there were bound to be questions. UPDATE: Added video.

The final design and contractor for the replacement of Seattle’s skatepark that was dozed by Bill Gates has been chosen. You can check out the renderings or follow the saga at SeattleSkateparks.org. It’s a newline design, but who is the build contractor? For some reason it’s under wraps until the contract is signed. Construction is supposed to start in the spring. What I want to know is where are they growing those alien-like blurry trees that are showing up in the renders? – Thanks to Scott Shinn for the tip.

Trying to raise funds for the skate park in hood river. Purchase any image from the photo shelter site and 20% will be donated to help with a new bonus section. Thanks – Carl Warren Photography

This week’s Shot of the Week is Austin Korte taken at the Springfield SkatePark in Springfield, MO on November 8th. What is it? Frontside ollie to disaster out of the miniramp into the adjacent tranny. The photographer is Brian Infante, who runs 13th Street Skateboarding, a site devoted primarily to skateboarding in Missouri. I’m in the Midwest right now, and indoors is a good place to be. Check out the full frame Shot of the Week.

The Department is hosting what is supposed to be Portland’s biggest contest this year, AKA the Holiday Havoc which is on December 19th. And Windells would like everyone to know that they are now open for public sessions as well as doing the whole skate camp thing. Flyers after the jump.