Without fanfare, Portland’s Holly Farm skate spot opened for business. Monkey business is what went down there this morning. We go there in the rain this morning, but as it let off we were able to push the water around with some rags and it air dried pretty fast. That’s City Comissioner Sam Adam’s aide Tom Miller with a frontside grind over the love seat. Tom was one of the first people on hand to check out the new spot, and why not, he’s a huge part of the reason Portland has a system of skateparks on the books instead of just one or two parks. Thank Skaters for Portland Skateparks and a few progressive individuals in city hall. Where is Holly Farm park? 10819 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland Oregon. How is Holly Farm? Small, funky and fun. These skate spots are a good bang for your buck. Here’s another angle. Be nice to the neighbors and pick up some trash please, even if it isn’t yours. It’s a great age to be a skateboarder in Portland.

…give it a few days to cure so it lasts a little while.

I didn’t know where Swalecliffe was until I looked it up. Turns out it’s in South East England, near Whitstable. “Whitstable?” you ask? Why I believe that’s near Swalecliffe. SnA reader Neil Brown says they’ve been waiting years for a good outdoor concrete park in his neck of the woods, and he’s stoked to finally get one considering the project got the green light way back in 2005. Sometimes it seems like these things will never get built. Neil’s got a Flickr stream of construction and opening day, but he hasn’t given us a review yet. Probably too busy skating. There’s a rendering of the park plans after the jump. Looks decent enough from afar. Swalecliffe. I like the “e” on the end of the word “cliff.” It’s like “shoppe.” I wonder if it’s called Ye Olde Swalecliffe Skateparke. Get it while the weather’s good!

Reading and watching documentaries are no substitute for experience. If you want to learn how to work with concrete to build skate structures, here’s your chance. Marginal Way Skatepark will be hosting the Red Bull 10 Stair contest on Saturday, August 4. Red Bull has offered to pay for skatepark improvements as their contribution to the cause. Part of the improvements are needed for the contest. SATURDAY JULY 28 – ALL DAY – MARGINAL WAY NEEDS YOUR HELP! We have 10 yards of mud scheduled for an 8 AM delivery. The site is completely prepped for a flat pad and transition pour around the back of the pillar island. Come down to the skatepark and help us out. Good times, good karma and hard work = MW Phase 2! Marginal Way Collective

the Home News Tribune (News that hits home in central Jersey!) reports that a new skate park irks neighbors. Noise complaints have neighbors starting a petition to remove the brand new $300,000 skatepark. HNT Staff photographer Jody Somers’ picture clearly shows that these noise complaints could have been avoided or severely curtailed had the city of Linden done a little research and gone with a concrete park instead of prefab. You can read the most compelling study statistics after the jump. Don’t worry, it’s a quick read.

Sorry if you’re tired of looking at Holly Farm construction photos. These shots by Rich Burton should be the last ones because it’s almost complete.

I don’t know. Maybe Mark’s intro was a little off putting, but for some reason we didn’t get a lot of response from our Washington road trip feature, so I’m re-posting again. Hey look kids, there’s even some street skating! Four pages and over 150 pictures – never mind that two thirds of those pictures are of the same 10 guys. Washington Road Trip.

Pictures of Holly Farm from last Thursday at Skaters for Portland Skateparks.

Team Shralp passed along a report on the Vancouver meeting last week. Sorry I’m a little slow in passing along the info. Sounds like there was a decent turnout – a mix of ages and a few skateboarders for a change. Some neighbors thought the skatepark was getting special treatment – dog park people were pissed cause they pay for their trash removal, restrooms, and fencing but the skatepark is going to have those things provided by the city, months ahead of any other feature in the park. What can we say skateboarders have a better lobby. There was some loose discussion of rules, kind of like Battle Ground’s rules: bikes and skateboards all the time, pegs yes, and be polite to each other and people and things around the park. The current plan is to open mid-August and they are going to sneak it – no big event just open the gates and let it happen, just word of mouth. Thanks Jason. skatepark rendering from Grindline

Rich said they are even further along today. Can’t wait. More shots after the jump.