This is local-oriented shit.

But hopefully worth a read anyways. I haven't been updating much at all, due to full time work and part-time skateboarding. But, the park featured in alot of the montages in here, Anti-Gravity in Newport News, Virginia, has been bought out/sold out behind the backs of the business owners due to the landlord offering their building to a rival skatepark in neighboring Hampton. The winning park is Meko's surf skate and more, a religious organization obsessed with Team Pain ramp construction and vigilant about helmets for everyone, probably because they depend on mommies to pay their bills and mommies dont like when little jimmy scrapes his elbow, much less knocks his head once in his life on a go-to trick.

So anyways. Anti was informed last wednesday that Meko's would assume ownership of the building as of September 1st, meaning strict session times, higher prices for some of us, no relaxation, no cursing, no doing as you please, wearing helmets regardless of the fact that youve been skating for 11 years and know that injuries will come despite protective equipment and helmets are the least commonly useful types of said equipment...... basically you will not be allowed to be a skateboarder there. you will be a customer, a bill-payer, someone who comes in at the designated session start time and gets kicked out by a fucking faggot on a loudspeaker when your time is up. End of story.

So. The crowd at anti, a decidedly older crowd than that drawn by mekos, is out of a home. prospects from an out of towner, living here for only 4 months and known for marketing promises that cant be delivered upon, include a private, monthly fee membership-based park at a privately rented location. As anyone with a head on their shoulders knows, unless youre the berrics or owned by a very rich individual, indoor places are subject to lease agreements and therefore fallible as fuck. The time has come for the peninsula half of the Hampton Roads area have a permanent skatepark, free for public use, designed by skaters, and helmet free based on age waivers. Essentially, we need what Norfolk now has: a park essentially built, temporarily staffed then left to the skaters intentions by the city. Because of recent limelight grabbed by Kevin Love and Trevor Colden and the planned new concrete park in Virginia Beach (the city's fourth currently open skatepark), the timing is essentially perfect.

Yet I get a facebook message not to talk negatively about a private space modeled after the berrics, driven by ad revenue, kept open by high monthly fees to a select number of people, and based on film content.

What the fuck is going on. The readers here know I'm a purist, and core values have taken over my life especially in the past year. Gone are the hate-rants on various productions, although since this site was initially based on industry banter that was in one form or another common currency. Now, my friends need jobs. my friends need a skatepark. the scene needs a skatepark. Every grindable spot minus the two skateable handrails needs angle iron repair due to years of use. is it so wrong to be against an indoor venture, doomed to fail, driven by a marketing 'expert'? when did petitioning the city for a public place become a last resort, especially when it has worked before, although not quite as planned?

The state of skateboarding, I have realized, is based on locality strengths. places with strong scenes either have a notable skatepark, or a plethora of spots. Newport news now has neither, and in fact, the neighboring areas (yorktown, hampton, gloucester, isle of wight, williamsburg) have nothing of the sort either. The scene here morphs on something like a four year cycle: a key park goes under, a key spot gets destroyed, a key filmer leaves or quits, and only a handful of the former scene members remain in the long run. its bullshit that this place goes through that; the talent abounding here is truly incredible to witness, along with the attitudes of those possessing that talent. Never have I been in a place where so many awesome people are subject to such shitty surrounding conditions. Culpeper came close, but thats a small town, and this is an entire half of an area code in a densely populated coastal region vital to American defense. Crazy how the world turns. Im not here to bitch, I'm simply here to relay my thoughts and observations on this area. This place needs a permanent park. Anti-Gravity had the best vibe of any park I've ever been to, and it will stay in my heart along with the people from that park for the rest of my life. Please support Newport News skateboarding. Visit this link and join the group, spread the word to other skaters. Separation of church and skate means get the 'state' involved and fuckin make a place where everyone is welcome to shred.

Build a Newport News Public Skatepark