Last night was the meeting for comments on a revised Gabriel Park skatepark design. Turnout was weak, about 20-25 actual park users at best, a couple of them being BMX riders. There is an online comment form on the parks web site, but it’s kind of premature to comment on the park unless you were at the meeting. The single render available is not very good for understanding the actual design. At the meeting we saw it rotated and zoomed in, and it’s actually a lot different than this picture would lead you to believe. For instance, from this view it looks like it’s all covered in coping, but it actually only has coping in some spots.

Update: More renders available here. Parks will add them as soon as their schedule permits.

It’s important to note, the double funnel is still a possibility, either as is or in combination with alterations from the second design. Double funnel renders after the jump as well. Please try to think of the big picture when you make your comments.

Street Skaters: A street plaza is planned for the very next project, which is Ed Benedict Park. Please refrain from comments like “This should be a street plaza instead of all this tranny”

When your alarm goes off at 7am, and your waking up to go skateboarding, you sit there for a few seconds- thats when the voice chimes in “ARE YOU CRAZY?” Well, that is the voice I heard when I woke up. Coffee becomes the savior, and so does a peak outside to see bluebird skys. That’s when I get it in gear and drive to the West Linn Skatepark.

Last weekend,as threatened, a couple of us went to check out the new Placed to Ride skatepark in Seaside Oregon. Drinving out from Portland, the weather looked like it was going to be a crap shoot. Luckily, although the pictures are all gray and it did sprinkle and mist several times throughout the day, down time was never longer than ten or fifteen minutes. The sporadic moisture kept the crowds at bay. The downside is that the session was not particularly heated so you’ll be getting a lot of general park overview shots. Check it out.

Great shot of the Kona Skatepark sign from Concretins.. Kona is the oldest continuously operating skatepark and will be celebrating their 30th Anniversary July 6-8. Thanks to SkateDaily for the heads up.

Update: Link to Kona Skatepark timeline on The Florida Times-Union web site, Jacksonville.com titled “The Ups and Downs of Kona Skatepark.”

With Sarah expecting, the birth of Tom’s daughter and two completed parks under our belts (my babies: St. John and Glen Haven) Skaters for Portland Skateparks is currently regrouping and trying to figure out the best way serve the Portland skateboarding community.

We continue to advocate for Portland skateparks, keeping track of Portland Parks and Rec’s process on the new parks – getting the word out through various channels – and continuing to push the 19 skatepark system agenda. Citizens have continued to donate to the organization and we are banking that for an upcoming effort. A recent $700 donation recently came to us through the United Way (I’m guessing a workplace donation program).

Grove City, Ohio? I thought this was a weird rendering of a concept when I saw it on The Concretins. But photos of people skating the thing can be found on this site.

It needs to be bigger. Someone needs to get a shot of 4 people hitting inverts on the various walls of this thing at the same time.

Team Pain Skateparks sent in some pictures of a magnificent looking new skate facility they recently finished for Eastern Skateboard Supply in Wilmington, NC.. Eastern is the largest skateboard distributor on the East coast and is owned and operated by former Walker pro Reggie Barnes. The bowl is probably one of the biggest on the East Coast. The first week the park opened it hosted a demo with the Plan B team along with a handful of other pros. I’m just looking at those pictures and I can smell the birch! More pictures and Reggie Barnes after the jump.

Pretty cool overview of Oregon skateparks at SkateOregon with a photo of each one. Dang there are a bunch of them.

So Donald has a new paint job and It looks real nice in photos but guess what? It’s slippery again. I think the artists who take it upon themselves to paint the place now and then should stick to canvas.

The Skateboard Archives has coverage of the Seaside Oregon skatepark grand opening that many thought was rained out. Apparently, nobody told Benji Galloway that the park was wet. I don’t know how those guys ride wet cement without cracking their skulls. What’s the scoop with the strange miniature brass sculpture sitting in the rain on the deck? Go to the The Skateboard Archives for two pages of photos, including some animated sequences. Hey Seaside! look for some of the Skate and Annoy crew and hangers-on at the Seaside skatepark this Father’s day, June 17th. Hopefully some of our new stickers will be done by then.