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Construction is underway! Some photos of the work site are located here: http://www.hpbinc.org/downtown_skatepark.htm

Bid process is ongoing. August time for initial construction. Good times ahead!

The Downtown Skatepark Project is still alive and is in the detailed design phase (construction drawings, permits, etc.). The bidding process will begin this Summer. Slower than earlier schedules but still progressing ok. As far as completed skatepark projects in the Houston Area, The Woodlands opened the first phase of their Bear Branch in-ground public skatepark in February. Very fun indeed. This community has really been progressive with regards to public skateparks (and their whole parks system for that matter - amazing amenities!). The BB skatepark is small ~5000sqft but it's great start. The quality of this park is superb (concrete, landscaping, etc). Here's a story link and pic of the Woodlands new public in-ground skatepark - http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?new...32533&rfi=6

Friday night @ Commerce St. Warehouse 2315 Commerce Street 7PM - 12AM

A lot compared to what? The $2 million basketball courts near Toyota Center? The $12 million aquatic center slated for Bellaire? You'll have to give more reasons why you think it costs a lot in order to get a better explanation other than the $2 million includes all materials, construction, and continued maintenance costs. The best estimate for completion of the new park is '07. The park itself takes about 6-8 months to construct. The more support we have for this project the sooner it will get built.

HP, NSM, & MOT are all excellent attractions in Houston but they are definitely flagships for the city. Just like the sports stadiums and convention arenas, these facilities are at an expense level that eclipses some of the minor Houston tourist attractions. The volume of visitors to just one of these places probably equates to the same volume as ten niche attractions. Whenever I travel to places like San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, etc. I do visit one or two of the flagship attractions for that city. Additionally, there are several more low key places that I have heard of from friends/family/associates that get visited. I spend money at these places and getting to/from these places (sometimes more or less than at the museums or stadiums). Sometimes, these places are more memorable than a Giants game or Navy Pier. Point being is that both major and minor attractions in Houston should be attended to equally. Of course, the major attractions are a more significant investment with larger amounts of commerce, but business given to minor attractions adds up. Even if only 2-5% of all of the conventioneers coming to Houston bring their families, that's still additional tourism money coming into the city; which IMO, could be increased if Houston had more destinations that cater to some of the smaller markets. The Downtown Skatepark Project is alive and well. We've still got a ways to go ($1.5/2.0 million), but we at PUSH are steadfastly pursuing new resources for funding and are going to have a good time doing it: 1. Look for the PUSH booth and auxiliary activities at the Houston Dynamo vs. DC United game on Sept. 30th (Special thanks to Oliver Luck who has been a great supporter of the skatepark project.) 2. Ride in the Heights Skate & Bike Rally on Oct. 15th and show your support for the skatepark project by picking up a PUSH sticker for your bike at the PUSH booth. 3. Check out the art fundraiser at Commerce Street Warehouse on Nov. 3rd where local and national artists will showcase their works using skateboard decks as a medium. More info about all of these events can be found on http://www.pushhouston.com . The skatepark conceptual design can also be found on the PUSH website - http://www.pushhouston.com/P_Design/P_Design.htm . This shows the terrain layout sans auxiliaries such as landscaping, artist enhancements, and lighting. More detailed designs are forthcoming as we get closer to construction.

Yep, the every so fine line between being successful and being the "yes" man As clients of the public systems in Houston (especially those involved with outdoor activities), we should all be receiving better service. I wouldn't necessarily call that "picky" but maybe "conscientious"?

Chicago winters are definitely not amicable to casual outdoor activities, and neither are Portland winters (too much rain). I'd almost go as far as to say same goes for Houston summers if it weren't for outdoor lighting and a moderate gulf breeze. Houston's fall/spring/winter on the other hand... Houston offers many outdoor activities but it does require more effort than most cities to consistently enjoy them. Just look at Houston's bike riders and how hard it is for them to tour the city. In 2006, Houston is finally showing some signs of building an adequate bike trail infrastructure that actually links different communities together. It is however, hardly at the level yet were people staying in Houston for the weekend could easily rent a bike (from a downtown or uptown location - preferably close to their lodging) and see a significant amount of the city. In many other major metropolitan areas, trails like these are the norm; As are skateparks. A good rule of thumb concerning tourists and clients - They have the right to be picky of you want them to give you more business.

Good point about the lack of tourist activities in Houston Howard. Although there are many outdoor activities around the Houston Area, many are approx. 60 miles from where Downtown / Uptown visitors stay. Cities like Chicago and Portland have really done a good job at making sure tourists can walk out of the hotel lobby and within minutes, have a great experience at centrally located parks. Even though many people visiting these towns don't skateboard, it's highly possible that their kids do or that they would find the dynamics of a skatepark entertaining. Vacations or job trips are usually limited on time (and expenses - for the family vacation), so having a quick and inexpensive activity available such as a skatepark will be an excellent option for our guests. After my visit to Portland last week, I now realize how much that city's public skatepark system has impacted their economy. Tour guides frequently show directions to skateparks, video promos advertise Portland as an action sports destination, and annual action sport competions are consistently filling up hotel rooms. All of this positive change simply due to a few progressive actions.

Speaking of the Woodlands, three years after a public design meeting for the Bear Branch facility, the first true concrete public skatepark for the Houston Area is in the construction phase. Nothing close to the size of the Downtown Skatepark but definitely a step in the right direction. 1 year or 100 years, if you're helping out the cause you're doing a good thing for current and future generations of Houstonians. It's kinda hard to look scores of years ahead and realize that the public skateparks built today will host thousands of skaters not even born yet but that's the best way to plan these parks. The Downtown Skatepark Project would have never made it this far without past efforts and shared knowledge from skaters of earlier generations (50s,60s,70s, & 80s). This project is not just about getting a major public skatepark in Houston, it's also about communicating the need to improve quality of life in Houston and focusing on effective ways to keep this city's youth active. As you may have noticed, even though the majority population of Houston is under twenty, there is a minimal amount of infrastructure for this demographic.

Building new skateparks under some of Houston's freeways is currently not on any official City of Houston plans. If there were a "master plan" for a Houston skatepark system, locating future public skateparks under freeways would be a good way to complement the Downtown Skatepark. One issue however, that would inevitably come up is what would happen to a skatepark built under a freeway when the freeway gets rebuilt. Building a skatepark under inner-loop I-45 would be nice but there are a lot of unknowns about that freeway's future. It would be very disapointing, after five to ten years, to have to tear down a place that provides improved quality of life for Houston's youth. Until the ambivalent plans are sorted out for I-45, maybe under I-10 east of Studewood TXDOT stores construction equipment? If TXDOT ever moves out of that location, it will just be another post-freeway-construction wasteland. There are already mounds of dirt favoring skatepark terrain. Why not replace this freeway construction mess with a new skatepark?

The timeline for this project is centered around fundraising. The land is secured (~2-3 million $) and one quarter of construction costs are accounted for (500K/2 million). The sooner ground is broke the better. It would be excellent to give Houston's youth better quality of life by Summer '07. Let's not repeat another static and boring summer like this one.... it just makes everyone bicker about future light rail too much .

There are several public skateparks which reside under freeways. One of the first public skateparks was Burnside in Portland, Oregon. The area was infested with junkies and prostitutes before a group of skaters came in and started building concrete skate structures. Now Burnside is one of the most highly regarded skateparks out there. Here's a little documentary put together about Burnside (scroll down the About page on the PUSH site to the Quicktime video) - http://www.pushhouston.com/P_About/P_About.htm One of the reasons Houston doesn't have plans for building public skateparks like these is that there is an issue with using TXDOT property instead of city owned property. Working with TXDOT to build a public skatepark means more delays and added approval tasks for the project. Most of the the skateparks that have been built under freeways have been DIY and somewhat renegade endeavors (its usually a neglicted area not monitored very often and skate terrain is quietly built - by the time city officials catch wind of the project they see the benefits of the skatepark and decide to keep it instead of demolish it). This isn't to say that all these types of projects are successful. There have been a couple of projects where much effort is put into building a place to skate and city officials decided they did not want to have a skatepark located there. A well planned, TXDOT approved, skatepark project for under a freeway would be great. Boston is in the process of doing this same type of project right now. Here are a photo of the location and a rendering of the planned skatepark from http://www.charlesriverconservancy.org/projects/Skatepark/ : Canada has embraced the idea of building public skateparks under freeways. Here's one of their ventures in Vancouver (for more info, visit http://www.newlineskateparks.com/home.php : The Downtown Skatepark Project is moving full steam ahead. Although this skatepark may not utilize voided space such as that under freeways, it will be ever bit as good as those that do. Maybe the next public skatepark project in Houston (there will be more....soon) will incorporate the areas under freeways that no one seems to know what to use for. That's one of the benefits of skateparks; add quality of life and maintain low overhead expenditures. Here's some more photos of "freeway" skateparks: Burnside - Portland, Oregon Channel Street - San Pedro, California Washington Shreet - San Diego, California

The Downtown Skatepark Project is moving forward (slowly but surely) thanks to groups such as the Huffington Foundation, El Paso Energy, and Soundwaves. Keep spreading the word and check out one of the PUSH meetings and/or events if you have a chance - www.pushhouston.com for more info. FYI - Austin just completed their second public skatepark (Lakeway). Here's some pictures of Mabel Davis and Lakeway. Both were built by Grindline. This is the same company we are working with for the downtown park. If your community is looking to build a public skatepark, Grindline is a good choice to start with - www.grindline.com. Additionally, PUSH will be premiering GUSTO (film by some of the guys at Grindline) at Deans this Monday (June 12th) at 8PM. The event is open to anyone interesting in cool AC and movies about skateboarding and surfing. Lakeway, TX: Construction Overview Mable Davis:

The skatepark will serve as a retention basin during high waters on Buffalo Bayou. It only alleviates about a million gallons during overflow conditions; Harris County Flood Control can