Well folks, sadly, the rumors were unfounded. You can read the bad news here, but the current tenants of the Turf Skatepark’s burial ground aren’t going anywhere. Why can’t the lousy economy do something nice for skaters outside of California? Turf Locals, now you’ve got time to set a plan in motion.

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…

Peter DiAntoni has a show opening tomorrow in Milwaukee (I assume) titled Salad Days: Turf 30th Anniversary. It’s all photos of Milwaukee’s Turf skatepark that also has an earlier run as Surf & Turf, before taking a brief rest while serving as a strip club. I guess they build wooden platforms covering the bowls. Sadly, it’s been permanently destroyed now. Pete D. was the proprietor of Clueless Zine, of which I have a couple issues, but haven’t yet added to the 80’s zine archives. Dang, I need to get on that. If you skated in the midwest in the 80’s you went to the Turf at least once. A lot of people travelled there from other parts of the country. It also appeared in some Santa Cruz and Gullwing videos, possibly others as well. For some it was a travel destination, for others it was more like a home. Mr. DiAntoni will be screening Turf shirts on site at the opening, and if you have your old park ID you can get one for 1/2 price. I wonder if that works via mail order? – Thanks to Matt Grasser for the tip. April 10th 7-10pm Vetter Denk Building 161 s.…

I have to place this picture sometime between 1989 and 1991. This is Matt Swan in the capsule at The Turf in Milwaukee Wisconsin. In the late 70’s early 80’s this park was called Surf and Turf. Pocket Pistols made a deck with the old logo on it, although it’s unclear if they ever actually went into production. The Turf was Mark Hubbard’s favorite skate park. This guy worked there. I wonder if it’s the same Time Door as this old zine?