skatepark

A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, quarter pipes, ledges, spine transfers, pyramids, banked ramps, full pipes, pools, bowls, snake runs, and any number of other objects. History Most of the early skateparks were in the United States. The first skatepark in the world, Surf City, opened for business at 5140 East Speedway Road in Tucson, Arizona on September 3, 1965. Patti McGee, Women's National Champion, attended the grand opening. The park had concrete ramps and was operated by Arizona Surf City Enterprises, Inc. A skatepark for skateboarders and skaters made of plywood ramps on a half-acre lot in Kelso, Washington, opened in April 1966. It was lighted for night use. California's first, the Carlsbad Skatepark opened on March 3, 1976. The World Skateboard Championships were held here on April 10, 1977. It operated until 1979, when it was buried intact beneath a layer of dirt for more than two decades, before being destroyed in 2005. The current Carlsbad Skatepark is in a different location. The East Coast's first skatepark, Ocean Bowl Skate Park, in Ocean City, Maryland, opened the first week of June, 1976. Due to time, wear, and the current needs of skaters, the old bowl and ramp were torn down in the Fall of 1997 and the new park opened in July 1998. The Sandy Hills Skate Park, in Lansdowne, Maryland, is the oldest operating municipal skate park in the United States. In 1999 the city of Hermosa Beach, California opened a small skatepark at the site of the first skateboard competition. The competition held at the Pier Avenue Junior High School (now a city museum) was organized by Dewey Weber across the street from his surf and skateboard shop. Makaha Skateboards was a sponsor of the competition. In 1987, an all wooden indoor skate park, called CT Bike, opened in Bristol, Connecticut . CT Bike is where Tony Hawk made his debut when he was a young boy on his first East Coast tour. Until its closing in 2022, the indoor skate park was operated by the same family who built the park despite a fire that threatening the park in 1988. As of 2022 the park is now permanently closed. In more extreme climates, parks were built indoors, often using wood or metal.