Sk8 Hut - Olneyville, Providence, RI - Early 90s ramp - How long was it around?

[wil540]

I'm looking for more information on Sk8 Hut, the Olneyville, PVD, RI based ramp located at 7 Dike Street. Here is some media from there:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/xBrz3ABDVR8

[wil540]

Anyone?

[GumOnMyGrip]

Get in touch with Fred Smith or some of the Team Steam guys. They will know exactly. I think Fred owned it-I’ve think at least 90-92.

[HugeBodBoyle]

My local shop back in the late 80's was called Sk8 Hut and they had to change their name because the distro they used kept getting shit confused between them and the Providence location.

Also, I had a Jobless Anti-Work Wear hoodie in high school and this goth girl borrowed it and gave it back to me two weeks later with the drawstring pulled out of it. Hannah, I know what you did. 

[Crismas]

It might've made it through to 1993. The first time I went was in June of 1990 and they had already ripped out the original mid-sized ramp and were building the big spine. I remember the vert ramp looking like it had been there a while...meaning possibly earlier than 1989. Sometime in maybe 1991 (late '91?) they took the spine out—which was a real shame because that was one of the best ramps ever. They replaced that with a five-sided bowl that was maybe 7' deep. That gave way in (1992?) to this REALLY shitty street course (I think in an attempt to keep the park relevant to paying customers).

A year or two later I was driving through Providence and we cruised by to see if anything was there. The vert ramp was gone, doors were unlocked, and the corners from the bowl were outside. It was such a rad place—with the exception of how cold it got in the winter, and how often cars would get broken in to.

(Sorry, this is my first post even though I've lurked here for years...)

[IpathCats]

I don't know shit about this, but it's cool to see these old pics and hear stories. Rad.

[GumOnMyGrip]

It might've made it through to 1993. The first time I went was in June of 1990 and they had already ripped out the original mid-sized ramp and were building the big spine. I remember the vert ramp looking like it had been there a while...meaning possibly earlier than 1989. Sometime in maybe 1991 (late '91?) they took the spine out—which was a real shame because that was one of the best ramps ever. They replaced that with a five-sided bowl that was maybe 7' deep. That gave way in (1992?) to this REALLY shitty street course (I think in an attempt to keep the park relevant to paying customers).

A year or two later I was driving through Providence and we cruised by to see if anything was there. The vert ramp was gone, doors were unlocked, and the corners from the bowl were outside. It was such a rad place—with the exception of how cold it got in the winter, and how often cars would get broken in to.

(Sorry, this is my first post even though I've lurked here for years...)

Good first post. Deep history.


Edit - love old East Coast/ Southern stories. It was a world apart.

[Crismas]

For how short it was around, there's probably an outsized amount of stories about the Hut that can be told. There are people that to this day would swear the vert ramp was 14' high (I think it was only 12' yet it seemed massive.) It was in one of the worst neighborhoods in Providence...a lawless area that was basically perfect for a park like this.

This was an interesting era for northeast parks. Off the top of my head, there was the one in Newburgh, (that everyone knows from the Cardiel 540,) CT Bike Exchange in Bristol, CT, The Playground, ZT Maximus in Cambridge, MA, Ratz up in Maine, Zero Gravity in Nashua, NH, and I think Cutting Edge in Bennington, VT and 8 Ball in Bellingham, MA as well. Oh, and New Wave in Laconia, NH (I think that started in 1992?)

Providence was really coming into its own around 1990. A handful of great places to see bands, the Thayer Street scene (which was up near the Brown/RISD campuses) had good record stores and a skate shop, and decent street skating.

The Hut was localized by some of the area's heaviest guys...the Flite guys (Metal Man, Jeff Thompson, and all the guys from the Newport-ish area,) this dude Bruce "Juice" who was great (reminded me of Gonz at times,) John "Carwash" Kardash, the kids that Sid from Water Brothers would bring up there on Friday nights, this guy Chicken Hawk who was seriously one of the biggest "might've beens" in skating, and then all these other people who would roll through every so often. Probably the best guy was Andy Macdonald, pre yellow helmet. They called him "wonder boy" or some variation on that. He would come in in street clothes, like jeans for khaki pants, LL Bean anorak, no pads, no helmet, take a few runs and destroy the place...and then just dip, leaving everyone speechless, shaking their heads.

One of my best memories (and I don't think I'm alone in this,) is of the Planet Earth demo in 1991. This was probably the moment everything really changed for a lot of skaters in the area...it was the dividing line between what vert had been and where it was going. Miller was on fire until he sprained his hand. Ken Park (at least I think it was Ken Park,) was doing all kinds of bizzare nollie/Chinese ollie tricks, and Buster Halterman just laid waste to the place. He was absolutely unreal...face high backside airs to hangup, tech stuff, power stuff, he did it all and looked soooooo good doing it. I have a few photos from that night (my friend and I did zines back then and we interviewed Chris and Buster.) It was really interesting to watch guys you used to think were "the best" after that point.

The guy to track down for trustworthy dates/details would be Jim "Murph" Murphy (oddly, not the "Alva Jim Murphy".) Murph was Fred's business partner in the park and I think had something to do (owned? ran?) with the shop up on Thayer called "Peck's Bad Boy." Gunars Elmuts (maybe that's the pic from Insta you posted? I can't see it,) has amazing photos from the place—and is probably a very trustworthy source for dates as well.

[wil540]

For how short it was around, there's probably an outsized amount of stories about the Hut that can be told. There are people that to this day would swear the vert ramp was 14' high (I think it was only 12' yet it seemed massive.) It was in one of the worst neighborhoods in Providence...a lawless area that was basically perfect for a park like this.

This was an interesting era for northeast parks. Off the top of my head, there was the one in Newburgh, (that everyone knows from the Cardiel 540,) CT Bike Exchange in Bristol, CT, The Playground, ZT Maximus in Cambridge, MA, Ratz up in Maine, Zero Gravity in Nashua, NH, and I think Cutting Edge in Bennington, VT and 8 Ball in Bellingham, MA as well. Oh, and New Wave in Laconia, NH (I think that started in 1992?)

Providence was really coming into its own around 1990. A handful of great places to see bands, the Thayer Street scene (which was up near the Brown/RISD campuses) had good record stores and a skate shop, and decent street skating.

The Hut was localized by some of the area's heaviest guys...the Flite guys (Metal Man, Jeff Thompson, and all the guys from the Newport-ish area,) this dude Bruce "Juice" who was great (reminded me of Gonz at times,) John "Carwash" Kardash, the kids that Sid from Water Brothers would bring up there on Friday nights, this guy Chicken Hawk who was seriously one of the biggest "might've beens" in skating, and then all these other people who would roll through every so often. Probably the best guy was Andy Macdonald, pre yellow helmet. They called him "wonder boy" or some variation on that. He would come in in street clothes, like jeans for khaki pants, LL Bean anorak, no pads, no helmet, take a few runs and destroy the place...and then just dip, leaving everyone speechless, shaking their heads.

One of my best memories (and I don't think I'm alone in this,) is of the Planet Earth demo in 1991. This was probably the moment everything really changed for a lot of skaters in the area...it was the dividing line between what vert had been and where it was going. Miller was on fire until he sprained his hand. Ken Park (at least I think it was Ken Park,) was doing all kinds of bizzare nollie/Chinese ollie tricks, and Buster Halterman just laid waste to the place. He was absolutely unreal...face high backside airs to hangup, tech stuff, power stuff, he did it all and looked soooooo good doing it. I have a few photos from that night (my friend and I did zines back then and we interviewed Chris and Buster.) It was really interesting to watch guys you used to think were "the best" after that point.

The guy to track down for trustworthy dates/details would be Jim "Murph" Murphy (oddly, not the "Alva Jim Murphy".) Murph was Fred's business partner in the park and I think had something to do (owned? ran?) with the shop up on Thayer called "Peck's Bad Boy." Gunars Elmuts (maybe that's the pic from Insta you posted? I can't see it,) has amazing photos from the place—and is probably a very trustworthy source for dates as well.

Thank you for sharing this fascinating history. I would like to know more about your zines. I can only imagine what it was like rolling around Olneyville at that time. Yes, I did get the photo from Gunars' instagram. I'm interested to track down this Jim "Murph" Murphy. I'm very familiar and with the other Murph, big fan. Where could I find Murph?