They
spread like a virus, a precious plague you hope infects your
town. They are the largest in the world, with rabid obstacles
you drool over. They are backed by a multi-million dollar enterprise
and each one is strategically placed in the modern suburban
churches -- the malls of America. Now you know, like their dinosaur
predecessors, these are not going to close down leaving Skateboarders
with no central square. Welcome to the future of skateparks,
welcome to the ultra-extreme reality, welcome to where heroes
will be born and trained, welcome to the Vans Skatepark.
Most recently, a new VANS PARK opened in Woodbridge, Virginia,
a suburb of our nation’s capital. They’ve got a small
bowl, big bowl, mini ramp, indoor cement street course and a
regular street course, a 40’ wide vert ramp and a stunt
jump area complete with a gap. At over 61,000 square feet, it
is monstrous. At the opening event, Cynthia Connolly was there
to document the blissful insanity of the inaugural session,
and another coming together of skateboarding’s family.
They
spread like a virus, a precious plague you hope infects your
town. They are the largest in the world, with rabid obstacles
you drool over. They are backed by a multi-million dollar enterprise
and each one is strategically placed in the modern suburban
churches -- the malls of America. Now you know, like their dinosaur
predecessors, these are not going to close down leaving Skateboarders
with no central square. Welcome to the future of skateparks,
welcome to the ultra-extreme reality, welcome to where heroes
will be born and trained, welcome to the Vans Skatepark.