RIP Derby Park?

[bandini]

There's a lot of manly talk here, but I have big respect for people who can really skate derby well - it's definitely not a spot for everyone. Back in the day if you could do a semi-long boardslide followed by a boneless in the shallow area, you were considered a ripper. The bar's a little higher these days...

[Brandon]

love derby as it is/was, but i can totally understand why a pave-over is in the works.  the best part of derby is learning its weird nooks: which lips grind or don't depending on your wheel size, the relation of paint slickness to recent weather trends or someone's fresh tag.  if the full repave does go down, hopefully there will be enough of that derby essence leftover--new nooks and weird shit to learn.  someone should keep this updated with photos of the project.

and a question for santa cruz locals/east bay heads who skate derby regularly: how did everyone feel when the bank/new concrete at the end of the bowl was added?  never got to skate it with the dirt gap at the end, but i feel like the bank was a pretty solid improvement.  just curious.

[bandini]

Totally off topic: Brandon, am I high or is your profile pic from Sleepaway Camp?

[Brandon]

Totally off topic: Brandon, am I high or is your profile pic from Sleepaway Camp?

you're right.  one of the best!

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

manning up? get the fuck out of here. Its 3 feet tall and mellow for most of it. If you aren't having fun you aren't dorking out enough is probably the reality of it.

[Schismatic]

VICTORY!!!!
The city is reassessing the changes and is now only going to repair cracks and do basic changes instead of the 4 inch concrete addition thing.

I love the Illusion, I gotta say though, there have been several alterations to that park. The sidewalk was added in the 90's and the little down bank was put in in the 2000's.

Derby has to be the oldest park still standing in CA. What else has survived that long? The dish? That's still their right? I love old skateparks. Would be cool to see a list of the oldest skateparks in the world.

The dish is still around. I skated it a couple of years ago. Derby is way more fun. Petaluma and Santa rosa are newer but still have that awesome old school feel to them.

The whole 4 inch idea is confusing, the place is already super tight, filling in would be a bad idea, and the kinks and imperfections make that place so great. Unknown tranny tippers can't just show up and rip the place before getting to know the surfaces pretty intimately. Sounds like they just wanted to pussy the place out.

I was initially bummed when they put the sidewalk an down bank at the end, destroying a gnarly gap, but I grew to really like the little bank to bank at the end. True to Derby though, it has a tiny sweet spot to hit it right.

Whoever said they were there 6 years ago and the surface was fucked- I was there 2 years ago and it was perfect aside from a couple easy to dodge cracks. Then again, I skate 56mm wheels, maybe if you try to hit up Derby with 51's it would be a problem but seems like user error.

Changing Derby any more would ruin it. It's perfect how it is. If it was just another easy to skate little spot then it would never have reached such legendary status.

[McBrandt]

VICTORY!!!!
The city is reassessing the changes and is now only going to repair cracks and do basic changes instead of the 4 inch concrete addition thing.

I love the Illusion, I gotta say though, there have been several alterations to that park. The sidewalk was added in the 90's and the little down bank was put in in the 2000's.

Derby has to be the oldest park still standing in CA. What else has survived that long? The dish? That's still their right? I love old skateparks. Would be cool to see a list of the oldest skateparks in the world.

The dish is still around. I skated it a couple of years ago. Derby is way more fun. Petaluma and Santa rosa are newer but still have that awesome old school feel to them.

The whole 4 inch idea is confusing, the place is already super tight, filling in would be a bad idea, and the kinks and imperfections make that place so great. Unknown tranny tippers can't just show up and rip the place before getting to know the surfaces pretty intimately. Sounds like they just wanted to pussy the place out.

I was initially bummed when they put the sidewalk an down bank at the end, destroying a gnarly gap, but I grew to really like the little bank to bank at the end. True to Derby though, it has a tiny sweet spot to hit it right.

Whoever said they were there 6 years ago and the surface was fucked- I was there 2 years ago and it was perfect aside from a couple easy to dodge cracks. Then again, I skate 56mm wheels, maybe if you try to hit up Derby with 51's it would be a problem but seems like user error.

Changing Derby any more would ruin it. It's perfect how it is. If it was just another easy to skate little spot then it would never have reached such legendary status.

I skated it on my old frankie hill set up, with old stock 56mm 93a Mini-Rats. If something feels rough on those things, then there's definitely some rough ground going on to some extent. Or, maybe I just expected it to be smoother than it actually was, like concrete at a new skatepark or something. I don't know. I just remember feeling like I was going pretty fuckin' slow. But, I only skated it for maybe an hour and left, so I never figured out the lines.

[Fenzadill]

Maybe I'm being retarded on this, but if you raise the entire park by four inches, including an area of deck (or maybe create a lip) and the flat bottom, won't it be exactly the same angles and everything, just a replica four more inches above sea level?

[Trickskatin]

Have seen a few photos of the remodel from Facebook friends...


Looks pretty sick if you ask me.

[Nosferatu]

extension! yeah that looks weird and fun. can't really pass judgement til you roll on it though.

[pinche gringo]

I was bummed when I heard about this. Like others who have posted in the thread, my wife and I had a picnic at Derby on our honeymoon. It's a  place I have always loved and stopped to skate when I was in the area. With that said and my nostalgia firmly planted, the updated photos look rad and I will be stopping there this summer when I am in California.

[sluggers]

Looks pretty sick if you ask me.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

It does look really sick, I think the issue people have with it is its not really og derby anymore, its a new park where derby used to be. Certain character to it will be lost. Maybe this metaphor will be lost, but it would be like in baseball ripping down Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, the new one might be way nicer and have certain traits remain, but it won't be the same classic place. Its sick they are bringing back the lip around the whole thing though. I'm definitely going to hit it up.

Is that first photo of the top? Are they adding more above the beginning of it? It looks like in the bottom photo the bowl is going to have an interesting bump hip type thing too.

[sweets]

It does look really sick, I think the issue people have with it is its not really og derby anymore, its a new park where derby used to be. Certain character to it will be lost. Maybe this metaphor will be lost, but it would be like in baseball ripping down Wrigley Field or Fenway Park, the new one might be way nicer and have certain traits remain, but it won't be the same classic place. Its sick they are bringing back the lip around the whole thing though. I'm definitely going to hit it up.

Is that first photo of the top? Are they adding more above the beginning of it? It looks like in the bottom photo the bowl is going to have an interesting bump hip type thing too.

I'm sure that's the issue. I feel for the locals in the loss of the original aspect. However, as a non-local, that place looks super fun. It was fun pre-facelift and I'm sure it will be just as much fun after.

[Trickskatin]

Here's one more where you can see the new bump/hip/boob/roller thing...

[Beeda Weeda]

it looks really good, im sure people are upset for nostalgic reasons, but times change.

[Trickskatin]

[pinche gringo]

it looks really good, im sure people are upset for nostalgic reasons, but times change.

Yep.

[marshalbanana]

That new Mob grip internet clip with Raven in it has him shredding Derby. Is that the new renovated park?

[pinche gringo]

^ Judging from the pictures, in this thread, of the renovation it looks like OG Derby. Good clip though.

[DJ]

I was bummed when I heard about this. Like others who have posted in the thread, my wife and I had a picnic at Derby on our honeymoon. It's a  place I have always loved and stopped to skate when I was in the area. With that said and my nostalgia firmly planted, the updated photos look rad and I will be stopping there this summer when I am in California.

Agreed. 

It was the first park I ever skated at visiting my cousins who lived in SC.  I remember being 9, undoubtedly in the way of others, and with a nash board.  Justin Strubing gave me a skateworks sticker even though I kept asking him about skating the cannery, much to his probable chagrin.  It was an incredibly memorable day, and I have considerable nostalgia for the place as well. 

Was really bummed when I heard the news, but the new pics look awesome. 

Is there still the gap at the end though? 

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

are you talking about that indoor spot? Wasn't it the tannery?

[pinche gringo]

are you talking about that indoor spot? Wasn't it the tannery?

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the old NHS warehouse, which, if memory serves, was called the cannery.

[JabbaTheHut2000]

are you talking about that indoor spot? Wasn't it the tannery?

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the old NHS warehouse, which, if memory serves, was called the cannery.

there was the old tannery spot. shit was fun but kind of sketchy. they build some new apartments out there. but i think you have to be in the arts to live there whatever that means

[Owel]

I'm stoked to see dudes like Zarosh out there working on it, while it might not stay the same old derby, I feel more confident about the renovations with guys who know what they're doing helping out.

[foureyedjim]

I've yet to skate derby...even though my parents' house is like 40 minutes away haha

What time is good for nubs like me to test the waters at derby?  Summer is coming so I'm definitely gonna try to skate that thing finally.
I'm honestly terrified by it.  I grew up skating ledges and whatnot going semi slow so I'll most likely eat shit haha

[G.Lewis]

That new Mob grip internet clip with Raven in it has him shredding Derby. Is that the new renovated park?

No, that's the OG park.

[DJ]

are you talking about that indoor spot? Wasn't it the tannery?

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the old NHS warehouse, which, if memory serves, was called the cannery.

That is correct.  It was a private indoor park (edit: NHS warehouse) that Crazy Eddie, Tim Brauch, and Strubing (obviously many others, but those are the ones I remember) having occasional coverage in.  I'm pretty sure I learned of it through a Thrasher caption or something similar.

[Ronald Wilson Reagan]

I've yet to skate derby...even though my parents' house is like 40 minutes away haha

What time is good for nubs like me to test the waters at derby?  Summer is coming so I'm definitely gonna try to skate that thing finally.
I'm honestly terrified by it.  I grew up skating ledges and whatnot going semi slow so I'll most likely eat shit haha

Whenever. The idiots acting like its some serious gnarly shit are fucking idiots. That park was built just around the same time urethane was invented. Its mellow as fuck, slow, and small. Overall a pretty chill park to figure out tranny in. Its seldomly very crowded and the crowd seems chill. The flow of the park is really obvious too, you start at the top, and end up at the bottom.

the worst thing that will happen is somebody might, but likely won't, make fun of you if you kickturn down the snake instead of carving.

[DJ]

If you skate it like, say, Eman, then it's gnarly as fuck bc the dude shreds so hard, but otherwise, no, it'd be like the smallest possible obstacle if compared to tranny at Washington St.