Wheeling and dealing
Let’s start with the following proposition: Skateboarding is not a crime. Can’t say that I actually have studied local ordinances or pretend know what’s in Alabama’s Constitution (does anyone?), but it doesn’t seem like it should be.
Then why is it that skate boarders are treated so badly – shunned by polite society and banned from locations that welcome bicyclists, joggers and street skaters? It’s ironic that the only difference between the street-skate and the skate-board is lace-on vs. stand-on. But it’s really people’s perception of the guy riding the wheels that sets the two sports apart. The in-line street skater reminds people of the grace and elegance of beautifully turned-out ice skaters. No such up-scale image is evoked when a skate-boarder blithely coasts by in baggies and a grungy tee shirt.
So the ‘boarders got an image problem and it’s one that goes back to the roots of this land-based sport: Surfing. Loners out on the water, working body and board to capture the elemental power of nature. A high that no non-surfer can begin to appreciate. Hunting the perfect wave from Hawaii to Mexico to Australia. A life with no fixed address, few close friends and fewer possessions.
This is hardly the heritage that breeds the popular and well-supported Little League players and high school team athletes. While their team-playing peers are cheered on from the bleachers and recognized with letter jackets, the lone-wolf skateboarders are roaming the streets, empty parking lots and abandoned buildings looking for a smooth surface where they can hone their skills.
When discovered, they are chased off or even rounded up by the police. Their sport takes on the aura of an illicit activity where getting hang time is less important than being exceptional at escape and evasion. In response, the skateboarder turns to using any available steps, railings, curbs and even empty swimming pools to give him (or less commonly, her) the excitement, the exhilaration the sport offers skilled participants. This appropriation of public space further contributes to the negative attitudes toward skateboarding.
As the sport has gained popularity, some communities built specially designed parks for skateboarding. More common is a less formal arrangement where small groups of skateboarders build portable ramps and railings and other easily assembled structures to work out on. These can be set up quickly in a vacant parking lot or made permanent in an unused warehouse.
This is what happened in Fairhope. About eight years ago a group of Eastern Shore skateboarders found an abandoned building in a rundown section of the city (yes, even Fairhope has such places), a trash-strewn hangout for vagrants. After getting permission to use the building from its owner, they cleaned up the site, bought or scrounged building materials (lots of junk pallets and construction site trash plywood) and built an unofficial skateboard park. No government money or sponsorship – a great example of ingenuity and self-reliance.
Sam Hopton, a serious and long-time Fairhope skateboarder, whom I know from Coffee Loft, invited me to see it. With a roof and open sides, it’s more a skateboard pavilion than park. While the site is neat and well maintained, the neighborhood isn’t and it’s not, as Sam noted, a place for children. So the younger kids went looking for smooth streets to learn on – finding them in downtown Fairhope. For years the downtown area was full of the kids wandering around just before the 5 p.m. closing, carrying their boards, waiting for a semi-clear sidewalk or street before hopping on for a brief trip on wheels. A situation both bothersome and dangerous.
City Council Member Debbie Quinn responded to this problem with a quick fix: Closing DeLaMare Avenue in central Fairhope to traffic on occasional evenings – reserving it for the exclusive use of skateboarders. This brought out portable ramps and rails and lots of participants too. It also brought the sport out of the shadows and literally into the mainstream. But it was a poor substitute for a permanent municipal facility on equal footing with ball fields and tennis courts.
Debbie then took on the task of creating this kind of facility. Under her sponsorship a group of skateboarders helped the city design a skateboard park using land near the sports fields on Volanta Avenue. Although delayed because of higher priority projects, she kept the project moving forward and the skateboard park opened recently. Although some of the more skilled skateboarders have expressed disappointment in its lack of challenge, virtually everyone is pleased to the city’s commitment to what for so long was a consciously overlooked sport.
South of town the old pavilion is still in use. Last weekend there were far more skateboarders there than at the city park. Sam glided over to where I was standing, taking a break from his routine of leaps and twists to talk about the new park. The reason it was empty, while this place was busy was obvious: Here they got a roof and protection from the sun – people will go to the new park later in the day.
He mused over what his group of volunteers could have done with the money the city spent, but was clear in his appreciation for had been done for local skateboarders. As he returned to his board, he smiled slightly, adding: “You know, if we got them to dig out the center of the new park and pour a concrete bowl, it’d be awesome for skateboarding.”
Maybe Sam can charm Debbie Quinn into pushing for a Phase II.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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