The Skatepark of Tampa is a

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, stairse ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, United States. It is considered one of the top skateboarding venues on the East Coast of the United States. The name is often abbreviated as ''SPoT'', and it is well known for its annual ''Tampa Am'' and '' Tampa Pro'' competitions.

History

On December 28, 1992, SPoT was opened only to employees, and on January 2, 1993 the park officially opened to the public. The first pro contest was held April 1 & 2, 1995 and won by Mike Vallely. On April 1, 2012, SPoT announced on its website that the park had been purchased (for 9.3 million) by rapper

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

. It was revealed shortly afterwards that the fake press release was an

April Fool's April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...

joke.

Obstacles

The skatepark includes a

terrain park A terrain park or snow park is an outdoor recreation area containing terrain that allows skiers, snowboarders and snowbikers to perform tricks. Terrain parks have their roots in skateparks and many of the features are common to both. From thei ...

-style "pro course", offering a

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

, rails and transitions. Outside, there is a concrete transition course with a pizza oven. The "beginner's course" features many smaller rails and ramps to expand skateboarding skills and also includes the famous bowl. The

street skateboarding Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas refer ...

course is redesigned every year for the Tampa Pro and Tampa Am contest.

Team

Skateboarding

Pro: *Gavin Overstreet *

Elissa Steamer Elissa Steamer (born July 31, 1975) is an American professional skateboarder. Early life Steamer was born in Fort Myers, Florida, United States, and began skateboarding in 1989. Steamer frequented a small city owned skate park on Grand Avenue. ...

*Jeff Lenoce *Matt Milligan *Mike Frazier *Clive Dixon *Jimmy Marcus aka "The Greek" *Mike Frazier *Brian Schaefer(owner) *Paul Zitzer *Tyson Peterson *Zion Wright Am: *Abdias Rivera *Sam Bellipanni *Eric McKenney *Markus Jalaber *James Cobb *Wes Box *Cash Gaddes *Robby Kirkland *Treshan O'Shaugnessy *Alejandro Burnell *Alex Johnson *Allen Russell *Pat Stiener *Marse Farmer

Party

*Adam Dyet *Allen Russell *Braydon Szafranski *Brian Schaefer *Chris Peck *David Gravette *Don Brown *DJ Wade *Bart Simpson *Marty McFly *Joey Brezinski *Justin Strubing *Lizard King *Matt Milligan *Oliver Flores *Omar Hassan *Pat Duffy *P-Stone *Cory Kennedy *Keenan Milton *Ali Boulala *Shane Cross

Family

*Brian Howard *Brian Sloane *Corey Hainline *Dorian Tucker *Jay Giroux *Josh Stewart *Kyle Berard *Mike Peterson *Paul Zitzer *Ryan Dodge *Scotty Conley *Steve Brandi

BMX

*Spencer Foresman *Mark Mulville *Matt Coplon *Luis (aka Project Pap) Pinzon *Jeff Harrington *Sean Albright

Business

*Chris Kneer *George Lackey *Henry Alva *Jimmy Hurn *Michael J. Buscemi *Wesley Cowan

Pro Contest Results

Tampa Pro 1995 April 1 & 2 Vert: # Danny Way # Tap Pappas # Tony Hawk # Colin Mckay # Mike Crum # Neal Hendrix # Tom Boyle # Omar Hassan # Andy Macdonald # Remy Stratton Street: # Mike Vallely # Danny Way # Steve Berra # Wade Speyer # Chet Thomas # Caine Gayle # Moses Itkonen # Chris Senn # Dave Duren # John Montessi

Music venue

The skatepark also doubles as a popular music venue. In 2012, SPoT hosted its 20-year anniversary event with performances from

Souls of Mischief Souls of Mischief is a hip hop group from Oakland, California, that is also part of the hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. The Souls of Mischief formed in 1991 and is composed of rappers A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai. History East Oakland ...

and

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, actor, and activist. Mike made his debut on Outkast's 2000 LP '' Stankonia'', and later appeared on their Grammy-winning single "T ...

. The venue also hosts the ''Transitions Art Gallery'' music venue on its premises. TAG has served as a springboard for acoustic artists and other musicians. In December 2012, the owner of the Gallery announced he was stepping down and that the venue would be under new management from January 2013. The venue's new owners subsequently announced that the name of the venue would change to ''Epic Problem''. ''Epic Problem'' hosts many shows from many post-hardcore bands and one annual show from the nonprofit high school (mainly from Hillsborough High School) sketch comedy troupe On The Brink. In July 2016, Epic Problem held its last show and passed the torch to King State coffee, owned by Tim McTague, of

Underoath Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional memb ...

and Nate Young, of

Anberlin Anberlin is an American alternative rock band formed in Winter Haven, Florida in 2002. Since the beginning of 2007, the band consists of lead vocalist Stephen Christian, guitarists Joseph Milligan and Christian McAlhaney, bassist Deon Rexroat, a ...

, who use the space for brewing. In March 2017, the SPoT Snack Bar was expanded and reconstructed into a full-fledged music venue and renamed "Transitions". It is complete with stage, lighting, sound system and newly rebuilt bar. Transitions held its first show during the 23rd Annual Tampa Pro contest that featured the music of Ray Barbee, Drowning Clowns, Arctic, and Tampa's own Samurai Shotgun.

Popular culture

The skatepark is a major feature in the ''

Tony Hawk's Underground ''Tony Hawk's Underground'' is a skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series after '' Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4''. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, ...

'' video game, and SPoT employees appear as competitors in the street and vertical contests. The skatepark also served as an exclusive competition level in '' Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x''. SPoT appeared on the MTV series ''

Rob & Big ''Rob & Big'' is an American reality television series following the lives of professional skateboarder, actor, and producer Rob Dyrdek and his best friend and bodyguard Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. It premiered on November 4, 2006, and co ...

'' that featured professional skateboarder and entrepreneur

Rob Dyrdek Robert Stanley Dyrdek (born June 28, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, actor, producer, reality TV personality, and former professional skateboarder. He is best known for his roles in the MTV reality and variety shows ''Rob & Big'', ''Rob Dyrd ...

. In August 2011,

stopped by SPoT for a private after hours session. He has attended every Tampa Pro contest since, often spectating from the judges' booth. In May 2004, comedian Dave Chappelle set up an after hours session with some of his friends while on tour in Tampa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skatepark Of Tampa Buildings and structures in Tampa, Florida Sports venues in Tampa, Florida Tourist attractions in Tampa, Florida Tampa 1992 establishments in Florida Sports venues completed in 1992