This is the famous Burnside, OR skatepark! Many legendary
sessions went down in this place. Before construction was started in 1990,
the park location (under the East side of the Burnside Bridge) was a proverbial
"hobo camp" With the construction of the park, the area was cleaned
up of hobos, junkies, etc. While the "park" is on city property,
it is under close scrutiny and can be closed down at any time by the local
government. As long as everyone behaves and no problems are reported, Burnside
should live a long life.
Built with a estimated cost of around $10k (plus plenty of blood, sweat and
tears), the 9000 sq ft facility would bring a $300K price tag today if built
by a professional company. It took about 4 years to complete buy using hand
tools, donated concrete and supplies.
When compared to a park of "today's standards", the finish is rather
lumpy, but that is ok, knowing what it took to construct the park.
Moms and Dads, do not bring little junior to Burnside, unless he can rip!
This is not the place for amateurs to learn! They will get tossed! There is
some serious attitude from the locals. Fruitbooter and paperboys need not
apply either!
Located under the East side of the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon. Open
dawn to dusk, free and unsupervised.
