Milwaukee, Wisconsin locals who aren’t content to wait for the Turf to be dug up again or settle for facilities like the one you see above (no joke!) have taken things into their own hands. RideMKE is a non-profit organization committed to establishing sustainable concrete parks in Milwaukee. (MKE is the airport code for Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport.) The first item on the agenda is to clean up and improve the abortion that is Estabrook park, but the ultimate goal is to spread concrete to new locations. The county is on board because it isn’t costing them anything. Check the story out on OnMilwaukee.com, or stop by RideMKE blog or Facebook page.

The Turf may be filled in, but the momentum is not dead. The same station that covered the digging out effort aired an editorial (Ted’s Take) coming down on WDOT bureaucracy. There’s an official web site for the voce of saving the Turf, appropriately named Save the Turf. The Mayor of Greenfield, (It’s technically not Milwaukee, I always forget that.) seems to be cautiously in the corner of the effort. Wisconsin’s DOT seems to be passing the buck. Their stance is that they need the land as a staging area until the off ramp is finished, at which point the land is scheduled to be given to the city of Greenfield. So theoretically, if they cover it with enough rubble so it doesn’t get further damaged, when the project is over they could dig it out again and repair it. Ted’s Take after the jump, or head on over to Save the Turf.

Guess what? It’s Turf week on Skate and Annoy. All Turf, all the time. We have a campaign going to help save Surfin’ Turf/ The Turf skatepark here in Milwaukee, WI. We even went so far as to dig out one of the bowls last night and made it on the 10:00 news. Details about whats going on, a video of the news story, and most importantly what people can do to help save the park are all at beercity.com. More information and the video after the jump. UPDATE: It’s been filled in. I don’t know how this effects the big picture.

Martin Defatte sent in some more pictures from the digging effort at the Turf. These were actually from late Wednesday, but I couldn’t get to processing them until now. Martin said the cops showed up that evening which put a damper on things, but the bright side is, there’s all kinds of positive publicity now, and what could have been just an epic session for a bunch of hard working guys may possibly evolve into a more permanent solution. Please contact the wisco DOT, as they are currently in charge… Here is the phone #: (608) 266-1114 Here is the email: Frank.Busalacchi@dot.wi.gov Take 5 minutes and shoot them a friendly email, note the historical significance as well as the potential tourism dollars. We need your help! I may have left the Midwest for the land of amazing skateparks, it’s my home now with a capital “H” but right now my heart is in WIsconsin. Thanks again to Martin.

Seeing this made me wish I could afford to take the rest of the week off and fly back to be a part of this. Josh Ellis has a bunch of photos up on Wiskate.com that are going to give you a warm fuzzy. So it’s the Shot of the Week here on Skate and Annoy, but all the action is in Wisconsin. Beer City has another installment too.

Midwest skaters over a certain age have a fond spot in their hearts for The Turf skatepark in Milwaukee. Covered once in the 80’s and then uncovered and re-opened only to be shut down again in the 90’s. Filled with dirt, but not destroyed. The Nude bowl has been dug out so many times, why not the Turf? Last year was the 30th anniversary of the Turf. There were rumors about the property being available, but they proved untrue. We used to be able to dream, but now the final death knell has rung. The land that holds the once beloved concrete is being repurposed into a freeway onramp (Curse you I-94!) or possibly-a-park and ride structure for mass transit. Beer City skateboards has some shots of the excavation, and reader Martin Defatte sent in his own shots after the jump. Bonus video section of the Turf From Streets on Fire too.