The Burnside Skatepark is a

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

concrete skatepark located in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, United States. Burnside was the first DIY skatepark project. It is located under the east end of the

Burnside Bridge The Burnside Bridge is a 1926-built bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, carrying Burnside Street. It is the second bridge at the same site to carry that name. It was added to the National Register of ...

. The project was started without permission from the city of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

before being accepted as a public skatepark. Its features include many hips, pools, pyramids, and vertical sections. The

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...

receives no funding from the city of

. The park is regarded as an on-going project that is funded by donations.

History

Burnside Skatepark May 18, 2019 South Wall

The

project was begun by

skateboarders Skateboarding is an action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry job, and a method of transportation. ...

in the summer of 1990 by pouring concrete against Burnside's main wall, creating a vertical transition obstacle in the empty parking lot below the east-end of the Burnside bridge. The skateboarders — Mark "Red" Scott, Bret Taylor, Sage Bolyard, Osage Buffulo, Mark "Monk" Hubbard, Chris Bredesed and many more — found inspiration to do so because the area was covered and protected from Portland's rainy season, allowing the park's riders to skate all year long. With a spare couple of bags of cement, the project was begun. The founders created a bank obstacle three feet by three feet in dimensions. The second obstacle created was another bank against the same wall, this time with the dimensions of five by six feet. The banks were eventually merged into a single bank. The second major obstacle built was a mini bowl pocket along the north-end support beam of the bridge. Following these initial small obstacles, the founders of the DIY project struck a deal with nearby construction workers, employed by Ross Island Cement, building the

I-84 Interstate 84 may refer to: * Interstate 84 (Oregon–Utah), passing through Idaho, formerly known as Interstate 80N * Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts) Interstate 84 (I-84) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeaster ...

on-ramp. The skateboarders convinced the workers to give them leftover cement from the

on-ramp construction. From then on, the project's construction exploded, with the skaters re-paving the ground of the parking lot. Prior to the beginning of the

project, the spot was overrun with illegal activity. In 2016, an apartment complex known as

Yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

was constructed west of the Burnside skatepark. There was a lot of speculation on what would happen to the park, with supporters of the

creating petitions to preserve the skatepark. Ultimately, the skatepark did not experience any loss of territory, just a loss of sunlight from the building blockage. The construction of the apartment complex obstructed sunlight from the skatepark, causing Burnside to be much darker during the day. To compensate for this, Yard's chief developer agreed to install lights for the skatepark.

Influence

Burnside is credited with the start of the

movement in the skateboarding industry. Its foundation lead to two of the largest skatepark-construction companies,

Grindline Skateparks Grindline Skateparks is an American company that designs and builds skateboard parks. It has designed and built over 400 skateparks worldwide, including the largest skatepark in America, Spring Park Texas. History Mark Hubbard was working as a ...

and Dreamland Skateparks, both of which have gone to build hundreds of additional

skateparks A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, qua ...

across America. In an 2009 article the Wall Street Journal attributes Burnside as being instrumental in transforming Portland into "the skateboarding capital of the world" and the site serves as a memorable landmark on the "Portland Walking Tour."

References

{{Kerns, Portland, Oregon Kerns, Portland, Oregon Skateparks in the United States Sports venues in Portland, Oregon