To promote the development and stewardship of safe, freely accessible public skateparks
EPSA HISTORY
In 2007, several El Paso skaters realized that more skater input was needed with our city’s public skatepark system. We had 9 public skateparks, but only one “high quality” concrete facility. We also noticed repair issues popping up that needed to be addressed and monitored. Who better to assist than the skaters who knew every inch of the place?
Paul Zimmerman, Gabe Lawler and Bill Robertson banded together to form a board of directors for the El Paso Skatepark Association. The goal was to connect the folks at City Hall with the folks actually riding public skateparks and the experts who design and build them. Demand for these facilities was growing and the need to spend taxpayer money properly on public skateparks was critical.
In February 2008, EPSA was granted 501c3 non-profit status by the Internal Revenue Service – the importance was the ability to solicit donations to help our city build new public skateparks and maintain what we already had. We have helped the city request warranty service on modular ramp equipment and have recommended best practice repairs for concrete. A formal Park Partner Agreement was signed with the City of El Paso in Summer 2008.
Community outreach and partnerships have become vital to our mission’s success. EPSA has brought the art and skateboard communities together for Deck Art Show fundraisers and facilitated a 3,000 square foot bowl mural project at Carolina Skatepark to deter offensive graffiti and tagging.
In 2009, we consulted with El Paso city leaders on the design/build of our community’s second concrete facility at Westside Community Park – originally bid as another prefab park – and have influenced the vision of future skateparks away from ramps and toward custom concrete with construction of Mountain View in 2012 by Grindline and Northeast Regional in 2014 by California Skateparks.
Starting in 2019, we helped the El Paso County Parks Department raise more than $500k in grant money to improve 3 dilapidated Rhino Ramp parks into modern, above-ground concrete layouts designed by Kanten Russell of Newline and built by Hardcore Skateparks.
EPSA worked with Dona Ana County on the design/build of a cost effective $120k concrete addition (bowl-ended mini ramp with hips, pump bump and catch-corner bowl) to their ramp park in Mesquite, New Mexico completed in 2023, and we’ve continued to advocate for the best possible public skateparks and skate spots in the El Paso area ever since.
Paul Zimmerman began skateboarding in 1975, inspired by the fluid moves of neighbor Ricky Baca first seen carving up the banked driveways and sidewalks of Wedgewood Drive in east El Paso…
Bill Robertson aka Dr. Skateboard is currently an Associate Dean and Assistant Professor in the College of Education in the Teacher’s Education Department at the University of Texas at El Paso…
Cutting his teeth on the gritty streets of South El Paso in the 1970’s and rolling nonstop ever since, Jaime Favela is the soul of El Paso skateboarding…
Owner of Skate Lab Board Shop, Mike B is a doer! Always putting down the positive vibes, he’s never shy to do the work part of making good things happen in the El Paso skate scene…
By day, he deals insurance for a living. But under that necktie and long sleeve shirt, George Saenz sports plenty of phat tats and a passion for extreme sports…
Over the years, our efforts have been recognized in the local news media, featured in publications like Concrete Wave Magazine and caught the lenses of touring pro skate teams.
Here’s a cool collection of articles and other media links. Big thanks to everyone for helping spread the good word about public skateparks and made-to-skate ditches – grind on!
The “public” skatepark movement emerged in the late 1990’s and truly exploded in the early 2000’s after many states passed “hazardous recreational activity” laws allowing municipalities to own and operate skatepark facilities without fear of getting sued for injuries.
The first wave saw a handful good skateparks built, and sadly, plenty of awful ones too.
Skaters for Public Skateparks (SPS) and other grassroots advocacy groups helped turn the tide – design/construction has been dialed in and the majority of public skateparks built today are pretty good. SPS brought skatepark experts together and worked to educate public officials on what a good skatepark was and how to spend taxpayer money wisely – details matter.
The Tony Hawk Foundation (THF) was created in 2002 and combined forces with key players from SPS. In 2022, THF was renamed to the The Skatepark Project to better reflect the mission. Globally recognized, it is the GO TO resource for how to make great skateparks happen!
