Skatepark Times by Spohn Ranch

Oskaloosa, Iowa Skatepark Construction Progress, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Construction is nearing the finish line on Oskaloosa, Iowa’s new concrete skatepark, designed and built by Spohn Ranch Skateparks. As the days get shorter and Iowa’s notoriously brutal winters loom ever closer, the race is on to complete construction before the snow falls. Last week it was all hands on deck as the Spohn Ranch crew wrapped up shotcrete placement for the park’s banks, hips, waterfall and 5′ deep horse-shoe bowl. In the coming days, the colored concrete flatwork will be poured around the elements, leaving landscaping, lighting and some final detail work.

Stay tuned for updates on the grand opening!

Dew Tour 2011 – Las Vegas, Nevada “Skate Street”, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Final design for the 2011 Dew Tour Skate Street Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. Located inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s “The Joint”, this unique venue will host the “best of the best” from this year’s professional skateboarders. The venue’s existing stage created our main elevation and will also showcase the talents of rap artist 50 Cent immediately following the finals.

Stay tuned for photos of the course build and updates from the qualifying rounds of action!

 

Red Bull Mississippi Grind Finals in New Orleans, Louisiana, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

The floating concrete skatepark we designed and built for Red Bull made its way down to New Orleans, Louisiana this past weekend for the final event of the Red Bull Mississippi Grind. Hosting contests at stops along the Mississippi River route, the NOLA event featured the top eight skaters from the previous stops in St. Paul, Minnesota, Davenport, Iowa and St. Louis, Missouri.

A beautiful City, a passionate crowd and some amazing skateboarding talent made this an incredible event. To make a great story even greater, the first Mississippi Grind event series is concluding with the donation of the concrete elements to the City of New Orleans for their first public skatepark. With corporate sponsors like Red Bull giving back like this, the future of skateboarding looks very bright!  Photos from the whole journey can be found here.

Credit: John Linn / Red Bull Media House

 

Hansen Dam Skate Plaza Construction – Los Angeles, California, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

The anticipation is palpable! Spohn Ranch’s latest skatepark/ skate plaza is nearing completion as the site is prepared for final landscaping and site amenities. Check the video below and take a quick tour of the park with Vincent Onel from Spohn Ranch’s skatepark design/development department.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Skatepark Construction Progress, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

The new concrete skatepark in Oskaloosa, Iowa is really shaping up as Spohn Ranch field crews are putting their head down and charging forward. With the notoriously brutal Midwest winter on the horizon, the race is on to complete the skatepark and celebrate its grand opening before the snow falls.

In the past few days, Spohn Ranch has placed all of the precision-cast sculptural features and stair sets, dramatically improving construction efficiency. In the coming days, our expert formers will head out the site and began framing up the bowl sections, hanging the steel coping and preparing the site for concrete and shotcrete placement.

Spohn Ranch field crews are making great progress on the construction of Long Beach, California’s new 10,000 square foot skatepark at McBride Park. It’s all hands on deck for Spohn Ranch’s latest LBC design/build project, with a grant deadline requring substantial completion by the end of the month.

Over the past month, our crew has completed grading, forming, rebar, steel fabrication and placement, drain line installation and installation of the precision-cast sculptural features. This past week we started placing and shooting concrete for the park’s banks, ledges and manual pads.

Another exciting update comes from the larger-than-life “LBC” letters which will be set into the bank wall at the West end of the park. They’ve been fabricated and powder coated, and are now set for installation. A great way to unify to a community!  Below Long Beach skateboarding advocates Daniel Tim Tim and Mike Donelon repping LBC!

Check the video here for some more highlights and insight from the Spohn Ranch crew.

 

Final Design for Holland, Michigan – Smallenburg Skatepark, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Our second skatepark for the City of Holland, Michigan is officially under construction as of this past Monday! Spohn Ranch’s latest design/build project is an 8,000 square foot neighborhood-style skate plaza artfully integrated into Smallenburg Park.

Our design process involved collaboration with a local landscape architect, as well as design workshops with the local skaters who we’ve come to know very well through our work on Holland’s David Dirkse Skatepark.

Stay tuned for construction updates!

Hansen Dam Skatepark Construction Progress – Los Angeles, California, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Spohn Ranch’s latest project for the City of Los Angeles’ Recreation and Parks is nearing substantial completion as construction wraps up in the next few weeks. Last week, our flatwork crew placed and finished the remaining concrete in the park, while this week’s focus has been on detail work and landscaping.

A highly-anticipated new skatepark, skaters are lining up outside the construction fence on a daily basis with questions galore! All that remains is completing the landscaping, capping a few of the ledges with polished granite and installing the park’s steel grind rail. Stay tuned for updates on the official grand opening!

 

City of Sylvania, Ohio – Final Skatepark Design, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Our project in Sylvania, Ohio is officially under construction in collaboration with A.A. Boos & Sons General Contractors.  Spohn Ranch’s 8,000 square foot space was heavily influenced by input from local skateboarders who drew inspiration from local skate spots and nearby public skateparks.   Spohn Ranch’s project scope includes conceptual design, public design workshops, construction drawings and construction management

While Spohn Ranch advocates for the efficiency and accountability of design/builds, local regulations prevented us from building the park that we had designed.  Thankfully, Spohn Ranch is handling construction management to ensure that no corners are cut and that Sylvania’s skatepark is built with the highest standards of safety, durability and skateability.  Stay tuned for updates on the fall grand opening!

Oregon, Illinois – Prairie Side Skate Plaza Now Open!, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Oregon, Illinois’ first public skate plaza held its official grand opening last week, with nearly a hundred local skateboarders, BMX bike riders and community members in attendance. During the opening ceremony, Jim Coutts, Oregon Park District Recreation Director, noted “From the park district’s point of view, whenever we have a project or open a venue, or do anything, the measure of success is whether it’s used or not. From the looks today and the weeks previous, I think we hit a home run!”

Spohn Ranch’s latest design/build skatepark project in Illinois is a 6,000 square foot architectural space invigorated with a vibrant colored concrete pattern, detailed interior/exterior landscaping and innovative flow patterns and sculptural features.

And as with all Spohn Ranch projects, it’s not just about pouring some concrete and walking away, it’s about the process – helping a project flow from the dream stages all the way through design workshops, grand openings and phase 2, 3,4 and beyond.

“The Oregon Park District would like to personally thank you for your assistance and expertise over the last 5 years with the design/build of Prairie Side Skate Plaza. Working together with Spohn Ranch helped us turn our vision into a reality!

I was very impressed with Spohn Ranch’s ability to guide the Oregon Park District through the beginning steps of gathering information all the way through the grand opening. The years of expertise from each of the Spohn Ranch staffers was evident in the professionalism and ease of the entire process.”

Erin Folk – Oregon Park District, Superintendent of Recreation

Red Bull Mississipp Grind – Barge Skatepark in Action!, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

The Red Bull Mississippi Grind is in full swing as the Spohn Ranch concrete skatepark makes it way down the Mississippi River over the next few weeks. The event kicked off in St. Paul, Minnesota as twenty of the state’s top skateboarders competed for the “Ticket to Ride” that would propel them to the final competition in New Orleans. A host of Red Bull and Converse-sponsored professional skateboarders, including Kenny Anderson, Joey Brezinski and Luis Tolentino, have also been enjoying life on the barge and performing demos at the different stops.

This past weekend was particularly exciting as the barge rolled into Davenport, Iowa for the second major stop of the tour. Davenport local and close friend of the Spohn Ranch family, Ben Otting, qualified first in the contest and is now packing his bags for New Orleans!

As this innovative Red Bull/Spohn Ranch collaboration continues to make its way down the Mississippi River, it will make a stop in St. Louis, Missouri for another big local event before heading to New Orleans for the grand finale. And to top off this amazing story, the concrete elements will be donated by Spohn Ranch to the City of New Orleans and incorporated into a new public skatepark. Stay tuned for more updates from the Mississippi!

For SLC, our 11,000 square foot concrete skatepark replicated an urban plaza environment with recreations of popular features today’s top street skaters are riding. With a huge overlap into our overall design process, having our skateparks and event courses scrutinized by the world’s top professional skaters on a daily basis, provides us with invaluable feedback that is incorporated into our municipal projects for an unmatched level of quality.  Finals highlights can be seen here!

Via Alli Sports:

“In what the riders were calling out as one of the best courses the Dew Tour has ever built, the guys were throwing trick after trick as proof. Once the final jam was underway, it was Decenzo who got his rhythm going with a nollie heel down the gap, and solid tech tricks while making full use of the course. His intro run, earlier jam and final jam score of 87.18 gave him the win and it also earned him the overall lead for the Dew Cup. When the competition ended, he credited the course with helping him take the win.

“The way they put the whole big section together was good, the hubbas were the right height and the rails were the right height, steepness and length,” Decenzo said. “It was great for progressing and landing tricks consistently.”

Stay tuned for the final design for the Dew Tour finals in Las Vegas!

Red Bull Mississippi Grind – Final Design Renderings, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Spohn Ranch is proud to finally announce that after six months of hard work, our floating skatepark is ready to launch down the Mississippi River, starting in St. Paul, Minnesota this weekend.  In collaboration with Red Bull and Murphy Productions, Spohn Ranch designed and built an innovative concrete skatepark on a 195-foot-long barge.

This weekend, five Minneapolis skateboarders are leaving their home port on the barge. With their sights set on New Orleans, Louisiana, the group will tear it up along the mighty Mississippi on an epic 1,705 mile, 28-day adventure known as Mississippi Grind. The barge will make port stops in Quad Cities, IA and St. Louis, MO before reaching its final stop in the Big Easy. Each stop will be action-packed with skate demos from world-class Red Bull athletes and local legends, as well as local “Ticket to Grind” qualifying competitions. Two top skaters from each port will win a ticket to vie for a $3,000 cash prize at the final “Ticket to Grind” competition in New Orleans.

Oh and the best part is…at the end of the last stop, the concrete elements are being donated to the City of New Orleans and transformed into a permanent public park!! Check back for the final design on NOLA’s park, as well as updates from the road.

Here’s the website for the event.

 

City of Oskaloosa, Iowa – Final Skatepark Design, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Spohn Ranch is proud to announce that construction is officially underway on the first public skatepark in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Selected as the skatepark design/build contractor in the winter of 2010, Spohn Ranch joined an integrated team of engineers and landscape architects who were drafting a unique vision for a redevelopment project in the heart of Oskaloosa’s downtown district.

As the centerpiece of Oskaloosa’s new Urban Park, Spohn Ranch’s designers envisioned the skatepark as a vibrant and colorful space that could be proudly displayed as a community showpiece. Working through the Mahaska Community Recreation Foundation, Spohn Ranch also facilitated thoughtful community involvement by engaging with local skateboarders and BMX bike riders on the park’s design.

While the majority of Iowa’s skateparks feature metal ramps on old tennis courts or large expanses of dull concrete, Oskaloosa’s new action sports space stands alone. With an innovative sculptural quality and a diversity of aesthetic enhancements, the resulting design is arguably the most progressive skatepark in the State of Iowa. Often resembling more of an urban plaza than a traditional skatepark, the park features a dynamic colored concrete pattern, integrated granite collages and a host of cantilevered obstacles that double as architectural focal points.

Brought to fruition with donations from local businesses, youth fundraising and a grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, this contemporary park also boasts a state-of-the-art lighting system, spectator seating and an aesthetically-inviting landscape design.

Oregon, Illinois – Park West Skate Plaza Construction Progress, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Almost finished! The 6,000 square foot skate plaza at Park West in Oregon, Illinois is nearing completion as the Spohn Ranch crew poured the final bank ramps yesterday. As anticipation from the local skateboarding community mounts, all that remains is anchoring the steel grind rails and landscaping the park. Stay tuned for grand opening information!

Red Mountain Adventure Park – Woodland Park, Colorado, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

The highly anticipated Red Mountain Adventure Park officially opened last week, as hundreds of Colorado skateboarders and BMX riders enjoyed their first runs on the fresh concrete and shaped earth. In the works since 2008, the park features a 16,000 square foot freestyle BMX track and 8,000 square foot state-of-the-art concrete skatepark.

Spohn Ranch’s Jason Baldessari, who was instrumental in helping the City of Woodland Park obtain a grant for the project, was on hand to celebrate the park’s opening – testing out the skatepark for himself and getting great feedback from the local riders. Our next Colorado skatepark project comes to Alamosa, Colorado and is currently in the design phase, with construction slated for early October.

Los Angeles, California – Hansen Dam Skatepark Construction Progress, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Construction progress at Los Angeles’ newest skatepark is coming along great, as the last yards of shotcrete were placed today. A few of the features lining the park’s pathway section were also detailed with a brick-stamp yesterday, giving the park a legit street feeling rarely found in skateparks. More updates to come as the Spohn Ranch flatwork crew rolls in to finish things up!

 

Dew Tour 2011 – Portland, Oregon Street Skate, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

As the Dew Tour rolled into Portland, Oregon with the first “Skate Street” event of the season, our goal was to create a modern, street-inspired course that would continue to complement the Dew Tour’s unique contest format – a combination of a timed run and an organized jam session.

In line with the street plaza movement, concrete is an integral part of this course and allowed the design to transform into a work of urban architecture. The course features the defining elements of a downtown plaza, while maintaining the perfect kind of flow that makes the Dew Tour events so fun to watch. With an innovative circular flow, free from any dead ends, riders are able to easily cruise up and down through the course and really let their style shine as they go from one feature to the next.

Anchoring the center of the course is an extra-wide staircase supported by concrete hubba ledges and a handrail, both inspired by real-world scale found in the streets. Landscaped planters and grass gaps add to the architectural aesthetic of the course, while providing exciting opportunities for big, crowd-pleasing tricks. An array of hips, ledges, manual pads and smaller hubbas and handrails round out the course, creating a near infinite number of lines and combinations.

Spohn Ranch crews arrived in Portland yesterday and are currently working hard on the construction of both the street course and concrete bowl.  Follow us on twitter for the most up-to-date news!

 

Final Design for McBride Skate Plaza – Long Beach, California, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

Construction of Spohn Ranch’s Fifth Skatepark for the City of Long Beach is Underway at McBride Park

Since skateboarding first made its way to Long Beach in the 1970s, local youth have consistently earned a reputation for approaching skateboarding with an unmistakable level of passion and commitment.  Taking a stand against the social and economic issues that challenged their daily lives, the skaters of Long Beach have wholeheartedly embraced skateboarding – both as a vehicle for bringing people together and as a way to maintain a positive, healthy lifestyle.

With a background story this inspiring, Spohn Ranch is proud to honor the spirit of Long Beach skateboarding with the design and construction of the City’s most vibrant and well-rounded facility to date.  The project was also chosen as the Tony Hawk Foundation’s spotlight project of the year, with a “Stand Up For Skateparks” event held in October to raise additional funds for the park.

As we approached the design phase of the project, our goal was to create Long Beach’s first true skate plaza.  More than just another place to ride, we wanted to create an engaging public space that would resemble an urban streetscape and give local skaters a sense of place and community.  Putting ourselves in the mind of an average Long Beach skater, we asked ourselves, “What would it take to create a park that would keep me excited to come back here every single day?”.

A close up view of the park’s entrance

Reflecting today’s modern style of skateboarding, this 9,000 square foot design focuses less on traditional ramps, bowls and half-pipes and allocates more space towards features one would find in a common urban setting – benches, stairs, handrails, etc.  A few of the main attributes of this design include:

• ADA accessible entrance
• Re-creations of the iconic Belmont Plaza planters, which were demolished a few years prior
• Strong balance between feature density and open space, giving skaters plenty of options without negatively impacting traffic flow patterns
• Landscaped area in the center of the park which breaks up the monotony of a single expanse of concrete and allows us to occupy the entire site without going beyond the budget

The famed Belmont Planters during their last days

By far the most compelling and significant aspect of this design is the inclusion of the letters “LBC” in the banked wall.  By increasing the width of this feature, we were able to set these larger-than-life letters into the piece and allow them to rise up out of the park.  With a sculptural quality not found in any other skatepark, these letters singlehandedly elevate this skatepark to iconic proportions.

A close up view of the park’s “LBC” letters

When this skatepark appears in professional magazines, videos and local user YouTube videos, these letters will become an instantly recognizable symbol of Long Beach’s dedication to quality skateboarding facilities.  Empowering the local skaters with the knowledge and pride that their community is special, these letters will further unite Long Beach’s skaters and cement the City’s place in skateboarding history.

 

North Laurel, Maryland – North Laurel Community Skatepark Complete!, originally uploaded by spohnranchskateparks.

After a short trip up from the Dew Tour event in Ocean City, the Spohn Ranch crew has placed the remaining manual pads and anchored the last of the grind rails – wrapping up construction of Howard County’s newest skatepark.

A vibrant 12,000 square foot community gathering space, our latest design/build project is already receiving great praises from the passionate D.C. skateboarding scene. The park features native boulders integrated into the heart of the skateable terrain, modern plaza elements and an innovative multi-level bowl. Check some of the first footage here. Lines for days!!