It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years today since the ribbon cutting took place at the Hastings Skatepark on May 25th, 2001. Were you there? You can see in this photo that I shot of Sluggo on that opening day, there was barely any graffiti on the walls at all, she was still a new born babe. And, she’s standing the test of time, looking better than ever and that’s mainly because of that guy up there, Sluggo. He took it upon himself to paint the whole bowl a few weeks ago to make it killer smooth. Thanks a million for that Sluggo. There’s a very long list of others that need to be thanked for making Hastings a reality all those years ago, but you know who you are.

Every time I think of Hastings, I think of Josh Evin, just one of the many, many rippers that have unlocked Hastings’ potential – just look at that air – RIP Josh. Photo taken from Louis Feller’s Flickr page.

Do you have any pictures or videos from the Hastings Park? Put them up in our Facebook group gallery (or post the videos to our wall). I have a bunch of photos from the opening day on a disc somewhere… I’ll try to dig them out and put them up in the gallery sometime soon.

Now get out there and carve a few lines in the bowl, and show it the respect it deserves.

We’ve received word from the City of Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board that the downtown Vancouver Skate Plaza will be temporarily shutting down for some much needed repairs. We don’t have the official closure dates yet, and aren’t totally sure how long it’s going to be closed for, but we’ll let you know as soon as we get that info in. What we do know is that they’re waiting until after our BC Youth Week event, which is happening Sunday, May 8th (Mother’s Day – so save the date if you have/know younger skaters) which is a relief to us so we don’t have to move the event to another park. We’ve been holding the Youth Week event at the Plaza for years, so we’d like to keep it there.

The Park Board started engaging the skaters a few months ago to gather input on what we’d like to see fixed, and made a list of priorities that came out of the online surveys and meetings. First up is that the ground needs resurfacing in the prime landing areas, as the surface there has been deteriorating more over the last couple of years. The second thing up was that the granite ledges are to be swapped out/flipped over/replaced as needed. That’s a pretty good start to the repairs that are needed.

Newline Skateparks, who originally designed and built the park has been awarded the contract for the repairs, so we know it’s in good hands. Sweet.

We’ve been really busy lately and haven’t had much of a chance to update the website lately… We came across this awesome video of PD and a couple of the Barrier Kult members from Skull Skates on the local Vancouver show Urban Rush and just had to share it. Well worth the full 7 minute watch.

Kyle and his crew at Newline Skateparks really have the pedal to the metal at the new skatepark/pool going into the ground at Kensington Park at Knight Street & 37th. Check out these pics of the progress as of early June. Rumours are this is all going to be finished, and the grand opening celebration going down in the first few days of July. We all can’t wait for this one to finish.

We’ll keep you updated with the grand opening dates and info – but until then, enjoy and share the pics around.

As part of BC Youth Week, May 1-7, 2010 – the Vancouver Skateboard Coalition, in conjunction with the City of Vancouver and Douglas Park, Riley Park, and the Roundhouse Community Centres is putting on a youth-focused, family-friendly skateboard event Saturday, May 1st at the downtown Skate Plaza. Come down and enjoy a pressure-free day of fun down at the plaza – just remember to grab your pads, and especially your helmet.

There’s going to be a demo by the Kitsch Skateboards and Monke teams as well as music and booths. As this event gets larger every year, so has the list of sponsors – and that means more prizes for everybody!

Tons of prizes from Kitsch, Monke, Color Magazine, Real skateboards, Skull Skates, Antisocial, Vans, Boulevard skate shop, Toy Machine, Fallen Footwear, HUF, Zero Skateboards, Circa, Momentum Wheel Co., the Dry Spot indoor skatepark, Analog, Quicksilver and Native shoes. Wow! Thanks a ton to all of our sponsors supporting this youth event – nobody will walk away empty-handed that day.

The event is Saturday, May 1st from 1pm-4pm at the Downtown Skateboard Plaza (at Union and Quebec Streets), and is on RAIN OR SHINE.

This is a youth-focused event, so all are invited to this non-competitive, family friendly skateboard event. We’ll probably have some Vancouver Park Board Commissioners and maybe a City Councillor or two come by to show their support for the youth of Vancouver at the plaza – and we hope to see you there too.

For more info about youth week, check out there site at bcyouthweek.com.

Kensington Park Skatepark Open House

A skateboarding facility, similar to the ones in place in Strathcona and Quilchena Parks, is planned for Kensington Park, at Knight & 37th Ave. The public is invited to an open house to view preliminary design ideas and to make comments. Please join us.

This new skatepark has been proposed to be for more of a ‘bowl’ style park since the last couple of parks we’ve built (Quilchena and The Plaza) have been more street style. As mentioned above, this park is more of a ‘community’ skatepark, not a ‘destination park’ like Hastings. This park won’t be huge, so we should be realistic in our expectations for the design of this park. That’s not to say it can’t be amazing – so hopefully we’ll see you out at the meeting.

Kensington Community Centre
5175 Dumfries Street
Tuesday, February 2, 2010 – 5:30pm to 7:30pm
In the Seniors’ Lounge

For further information contact:
Curtis Link, Project Manager
604-257-8476  or email curtis.link [at] vancouver.ca

The VSBC is happy to report that a brand new indoor skatepark, The Dry Spot is opening it’s doors November 7th at 12pm thanks to Ben Chibber and the Monke crew. Congrats!

UPDATE: The Dry Spot’s website is now up at www.skatethedryspot.com – there’s a few more pics on the site too. Age break-downs/hours can also be found on their site.

SKATEPARK FEATURES:

1,375 square ft
3 ft high x 12 ft mini ramp
2 ft platform with a 5 set, interchangeable hubba and step up gap
8 ft granite ledge
Mannie pad
Flat bar
MJ Ledge
5 ft Quarter pipe
5 ft flat bank

For more info please contact Ben Chibber bchibber@shaw.ca
or call 604 324 4962.
Located at 312-8494 Ontario St., Vancouver

www.twitter.com/VSBC_VanSkate/

It’s a good weekend for video premieres… This Sunday, Sept 20th at the HR MacMillan Space Centre the long anticipated Extremely Sorry video premiere is going down. 2 show times, 7pm and 9pm. $2 entry fee.

Presented by Ultimate Distribution.

Whatcha’ doing this Friday night? Nothing? Really? Again? How ’bout you come down to Leeside and check out this new Thrasher video? Cool thing about this video is, it shows you what you can do when you get off your ass and make your own park. Just like Leeside. So, quit bitching, start building. Under the Bridge, a DIY Skateboard video just might be the inspiration you’re looking for to get us through the upcoming wet season.

Video features skating from some of the best known DIY projects like Burnside, Washington Street, Bordertown, Channel Street and FDR. Maybe the next video will have Leeside added to the list?

Presented by Antisocial. Video on at 8:30, so add this to your Friday night list of things to do!

If you need directions…  But you all should know by now – under Hwy 1 @ Hastings in Vancouver.