Skateboard

World's Best Skateboard Parks

With all the businesses complaining about skateboarders riding all over the side walks and parking lots, the skateboarders needed some where to go. So the Skateboard Parks were something that needed to be created. A Skateboard Park is a recreational setting that is specifically for skateboarders and skaters. Skateboard Parks emerged in the 1950's and were manufactured all over the world. Skateboard Parks will include half-pipes, quarter-pipes, and handrails, trick boxes for jumping, vert ramps and pyramids. The Skateboard Parks will have a lot more features that are too numerous to mention.

Most Skateboard Parks are privately owned due to most people not liking the skaters around the local parks. Sometimes these privately owned Skateboard Parks might have what is called an access fee to keep the park clean and functioning. The private owed Skateboard Parks may be inside that are usually warehouses or roller rink buildings, or a building with high ceilings. These types of facilities come in handy during the cold, snowy weather. The public owned Skateboard Parks usually don't have a entrance fee and are mostly always outdoors. The only private Skateboard Park that still exist from the 1970's is Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville, Florida. But most all of the public Skateboard Parks still remain but were not built too great because they were throwing them up in such a hurry to become wealthy overnight because the skating industry was booming.

In the 90's a man by the name of Alen Walker designed what is known as the Burnside Project. This was basically a DIY barge building that was not in use and converted into a huge Skateboard Park that has all the latest and greatest features of all the Skateboard Parks combined. This design/build idea makes sure that the Skateboard Park has all ride necessities that the competition skateboarders are looking for.

Today's modern Skateboard Parks are more designed to have no one totally responsible for the skateboarder's injury. In 1998 California passed a law that skateboarding is an inherently Hazardous Recreational Activity (HRA) and cleared any municipalities and their employees of any liability for claims of negligence the resulted in skateboarder's injuries. There is a rumor that it is estimated that a new Skateboard Park opens somewhere every three days.

So let's take a look at where some of the most notable Skateboard Parks are around the world. Alamosa Skatepark Environment in Albuquerque, New Mexico that has only recently opened in 2007 and is really unique. This building offers the real-street arroyo segment. It also includes a brick central plaza. Another great Skateboard Park is the SMP Skatepark Shanghai located in Shanghai, China. This world's largest Skateboard Park and is over 147,000 square feet. This Skateboard Park has been open since October 2005 and holds annual Shanghai showdowns every year. We do have one here in the US that is Louisville Extreme Park that is located in Louisville Kentucky. This Skateboard Park is 40,000 square feet and has been open since 2002. This Skateboard Park gained national recognition after the Tony Hawk's Secret Skatepark Tour was made public. This Skateboard Park is open 24 hours a day and does not include any supervision.