Kingshighway Skatepark / Burnside Skatepark

There are people in my neighborhood doing something amazing under a decaying bridge.



They have built it entirely by themselves from donated materials.  Their project is very similar to an older skatepark in Portland.



Skate Oregon describes Burnside Skatepark as,

Built without permission, by skateboarders and later sanctioned by the city, Burnside is the preeminent example of action. Burnside's unique growth and evolution -through the sweat and blood of a handful of dedicated individuals- have matured into one of the best skateparks in the world. Burnside and its creators are true pioneers, setting the stage for community built skateparks across the country.
Burnside is public, free and has no pad requirements. It is also subject to periodic review by the city. Burnside is not permanent. The city can, at any time, with excuse of public nuisance, condemn and destroy it.  Park on the street only, not in adjacent private parking lots.  Please respect yourself and others.

This lack of permanency is a problem.  The Burnside Bridge in Portland is still strong.  The Kingshighway Bridge in St. Louis is falling apart and needs to be replaced.  The St. Louis Board of Aldermen just recently approved the reconstruction of the bridge.  No official mention was made related to the denizens of the bridge's underside, but a plea of help appeared on the King's Highway blog a few days later.

With the looming threats of our bridges demise, KHVT has been feverishly searching out new spots to develop. If anyone has ideas, spots or private property that you think would be a good place for a new park please email us at kings.highway@yahoo.com. Also we are in need of some more members to our team. We are currently looking for anyone with experience in grant writing, accounting, fundraising, sales/donation solicitation, skateboarding advocacy and non profit work to help take our organization to the next level! We are a 501c3 accredited non profit organization but at this time we are only excepting volunteers. If you are interested or know someone that might be, send a brief informal resume of experience that would apply to kings.highway@yahoo.com . Helping us out would be a great resume builder and will give you a chance to give back to our community! We will take all the help we can get! We have a massive site in the works for a new park but we are still in the early stages so i cannot give out any details just yet but know that St. Louis skateboardings future is looking very bright, or should i saw dark?!?!? hint hint.....   B.

There are many great places around St. Louis that could easily accomodate this group of DIY community maintainers.  It would be nice if the new bridge could be built with them in mind.  Otherwise, they could be added to the new Grand Viaduct, MVVA's Underpass Park, or maybe Cementland.  I hope they find a permanent home.