The History of the Skate Park

The first skate park emerged in the mid 1970s and did not initially catch on as a major fad. Several other parks were erected in the late 1970s. All of these initial ventures were private; and since the concept of a skate park was still in its infancy, many of them were poorly designed—and often done so from the perspective of someone who had never skated themselves.

Most of these original parks did not last long. Some went out of business within five years. The few that did last made major structural changes to better accommodate the boarders using the facility. This often included adding multiple “trick-oriented objects,” such as half-pipes and handrails.

One major problem with the original skate park prototype is that it did not provide a continuous flow of objects for boarders, but instead had a very fractured setup, preventing boarders from moving from one trick to the next.

Not long after the inception of the private park, city officials throughout the United States began to take note of the benefits of the skate park. City officials had always struggled with skate boarders, as they often used public infrastructure to perform tricks, which would often wear down or damage the infrastructure used. This middle-way compromise not only gave boarders a better and safer place to skate, but also cut back on the level of property damage to public structures.

As the public skate park become more popular, private park owners were pressured to come up with a better model to induce more sales. Owners would often collaborate with boarders and conduct surveys to determine the best setup for a given park.

Today, the vast majority of parks are now indoors and are owned privately. Many still use the public parks erected by local governments, but are usually willing to pay the extra few dollars to use a private facility.