What's New?

Sunland Park Skate Plaza: Under Construction

DNB Contractors Inc. is busy building what promises to be a street skaters paradise.

"We hope to be all finished by November," says DNB Job Site Superintendent Nacho Alferez. DNB earth movers have been grading the site since May 2010 and expect concrete work
to begin in July.

Shaped like the Zia on the New Mexico flag, the 36,000 square foot, Rob Drydek DC skate plaza will be the centerpiece of a 35-acre, $4 million sports complex located at 4800
McNutt adjacent to Santa Teresa Middle School.

"The skate plaza is unique because it will mimic actual landmark street skating spots," according to EPSA's Gabe Lawler who helped refined the plaza blueprints with architects
from Carson & Franco.

"We took inspiration from a famous bank spot in Barcelona, Spain that has benches at the top and some of the rails mock those at the Los Angeles County Courthouse."

To dial in the heights of rails and ledges, Lawler met with local Sunland Park skaters. "We used a measuring tape and asked if it was too tall or short for them to ollie up
to."

Professional skateboarder/MTV personality Rob Drydek added his 2 cents and then some! The initial design concept was submitted to the Rob Drydek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza
Foundation. They kept the Zia layout, but wanted to re-arrange the obstacles. Most importantly, the Foundation paid for Newline Skateparks to craft the final design, making
it a state of the art facility.

"The standards for modern day skateboarding have been developed in urban architecture," says Drydek on www.skateplaza.com.

Carter Dennis of Skaters for Public Skateparks indicates "this will definitely put Sunland Park on the map." It will be the only Drydek-designed plaza in the Southwestern
United States - the only one between Shreveport, Louisiana and Los Angeles.

Check out new photos from the jobsite!

The project, funded by grant money from the State of New Mexico, has overcome numerous obstacles and delays since it's humble inception almost 9 years ago.

Youth advocate Aggie Montoya first started working on a skatepark in Sunland Park back in 2002 when her skateboarding son was only 6 years old. Their grassroots efforts secured a modest Tony Hawk grant for $10,000 for "seed money" back in 2004.

After finalizing the design and location, surveyors discovered mortar and pestle-type objects on the southeastern corner of the 35 acre site. Due to state funding involved, these "archeological ruins" would force the project into delay mode for nearly 2 years.. Read More

A new 15,000 square foot concrete skatepark funded by a $1 millon Community Development Block Grant is in the works for Mountain View Park, 8400 Diana, in Northeast El Paso (next door to Magoffin Middle School!) The proposal calls for an 8-foot deep bowl, pyramid, stairs, rails and lights. More than $104k is alloted for design and is expected to be available in September 2010. Construction funds of more than $915k should be ready to spend in September 2012. See proposal.

__________

In our most successful fundraiser to date, more than $3,400 was raised to support public skateparks at our 2010 Deck Art Show Fundraiser on May 12, 2010. The silent auction featured a total of 74 pieces of deck art from a wide range of artists including tattoo gurus, motorcycle builders, school teachers and elementary school students. Read more...

Couldn't make the event?

We have about a half dozen deck art pieces still available for purchase at $20 each. Check out a photo gallery of what we've got left on our page.

__________

EPSA's role in creating the Edgemont skateable drainage project in Santa Teresa, NM is featured in the Spring 2010 issue of Concrete Wave magazine. The one page article written by the Z-man and Dr. Skateboard breaks down the build of this unique project and the possibility of using it as a model for future dual-purpose infrastructure.

_____________

The 17-page "Spring 2010 El Paso Public Skateparks: Safety and Maintenance Inspection" report has been submitted to the City of El Paso Parks and Recreation Department. The comprehensive photo inspection clearly illustrates the major issues at all 10 city skateparks and gives recommendations on best fixes (from the skater's perspective!) Fixing concrete cracks at Carolina and Westside are top priorities. Missing ramps at Veteran's and Pera Luna are also addressed. Joel McNight from Parks says the report is being reviewed by staff.

Who Are We?

We are a group of serious skateboarders who are dedicated to the development and stewardship of safe, freely accessible public skateparks in the El Paso, Texas area. We welcome all collaborations from skateboarders and look forward to establishing partnerships throughout the city, county and state.

Sign our support petition and join the EPSA!

BOOK 'EM DANO!

Mutt meat is truly underrated. Just ask author/ex-El Paso skateshop owner Terry McChesney who penned a heroic, action-packed skateboard novel based in El Paso/Juarez. With endorsements from Brian Brannon of JFA and Thrasher Mag and Cedric Bixler Zavala of the Mars Volta, why not expand your taco tastes? Check it out at www.dogtacos.com.

.