Author Topic: Park dug up after 30 years  (Read 3608 times)

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Seventyfrigginseven

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Park dug up after 30 years
« on: September 19, 2020, 08:34:46 AM »
I heard about a park from the 70's that was completely buried in 1991. When they told me it was recently unearthed by 2 guys, I had drive down to check it out.
 https://i.imgur.com/855sd0A.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ewhIIbM.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ggrdgOL.jpg
*edit: the information above is wrong, and I apologize for being stupid and dumb.
« Last Edit: September 19, 2020, 01:38:40 PM by Seventyfrigginseven »

C.J. Gap

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2020, 08:47:17 AM »
What even is archaeology these days?

j....soy.....

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2020, 08:48:46 AM »
Where is it?  What's it called?

Gritty

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2020, 08:49:14 AM »
If you dropped some quick crete up against that pole this would be a sick spot

jerrygurneyscream

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2020, 08:51:46 AM »
That place is like an hour from me, I know one of the kids that dug it up. Place looks so crazy, gonna drive up and check it out before winter

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2020, 09:24:15 AM »
Where is it?  What's it called?
Its in Farmington, Maine
Idk if it has a name

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2020, 09:25:42 AM »
That place is like an hour from me, I know one of the kids that dug it up. Place looks so crazy, gonna drive up and check it out before winter
Pm when you go if you want, I live an hour from there as well.

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2020, 09:27:11 AM »
What even is archaeology these days?
Idk but now  I wonder how much more shit like this is under out there.

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2020, 09:40:05 AM »
If you dropped some quick crete up against that pole this would be a sick spot
Such a good idea man

Hyliannightmare

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #9 on: September 19, 2020, 09:50:43 AM »
Amazing find

ndsr

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2020, 09:53:43 AM »
If you dropped some quick crete up against that pole this would be a sick spot
I agree, I was imagining like a volcano all around the pole

Lou Strux

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #11 on: September 19, 2020, 10:07:37 AM »
Might be mistaken, but wasn’t the OG Turf skatepark filled in, then excavated some many years later for a 2nd lease on life?
Maybe I’m tripping.

I wanna play you in a game of SKATE for the right to continue talking shit on me.  You think you got me?

OMSK

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #12 on: September 19, 2020, 10:25:50 AM »
Now this is the shit worthy of a Slap post.... I hope this sticks around, looks like a fun spot to warm up at.

fredgallSOTY

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #13 on: September 19, 2020, 11:02:01 AM »
Might be mistaken, but wasn’t the OG Turf skatepark filled in, then excavated some many years later for a 2nd lease on life?
Maybe I’m tripping.
they are currently working on the turf. gonna unearth the old bowls, repave em, and build a whole new indoor/outdoor skatepark around it.

Sick Duck

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #14 on: September 19, 2020, 11:43:13 AM »
Wtf? There was just a lil basketball hoop 10 feet away from a fence totally surrounded by dirt all this time? Where did they put all the dirt too? That’s pretty crazy, it’s in better shape than i would have guessed too

Sick Duck

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #15 on: September 19, 2020, 12:36:40 PM »
I looked into it a little, and the local Farmington media says that it was called Dragon's Nest (hell yeah) but they claim that it opened summer '91, and then closed a few years later. I'm really interested in figuring out if they've got bad info or if they're right; the design definitely looks like a mid-to-late '70s era concrete park.

If it really opened in '91, maybe they had been planning it back into the very late '80s, but even then it would have been a pretty antique design. Almost every '70s skatepark across the nation had at least had a reservoir section, and it was all basically based off of just two then-famous SD-area naturally-occuring spots, the Escondido Reservoir and the VC Reservoir. So, if true, you had a small town in Maine using its resources to build a public skatepark suited for Ty Page to carve in, at the dawn of the Big Pants Little Wheels era. Amazing, and a little sad too, as those Farmington articles mention that someone at the Parks Department at the time apparently really worked hard to put it together, while apparently being completely naive to the fact that at that time few would have wanted it.

All of that said, along with snake runs, reservoirs are truly timeless and fun, and unfortunately very rare today. It absolutely rules that those two dudes took this project to fruition, and that the city allowed and helped them to do so.
that is for sure a 70’s park

Hanna Schygulla

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #16 on: September 19, 2020, 12:37:20 PM »
I looked into it a little, and the local Farmington media says that it was called Dragon's Nest (hell yeah) but they claim that it opened summer '91, and then closed a few years later. I'm really interested in figuring out if they've got bad info or if they're right; the design definitely looks like a mid-to-late '70s era concrete park.

If it really opened in '91, maybe they had been planning it back into the very late '80s, but even then it would have been a pretty antique design. Almost every '70s skatepark across the nation had at least had a reservoir section, and it was all basically based off of just two then-famous SD area naturally-occuring spots, the Escondido Reservoir and the VC Reservoir. So, if true, you had a small town in Maine using its resources to build a public skatepark suited for Ty Page to carve in, at the dawn of the Big Pants Little Wheels era. Amazing, and a little sad too, as those Farmington articles mention that someone at the Parks Department at the time apparently really worked hard to put it together, while apparently being completely naive to the fact that at that time few would have wanted it.

All of that said, along with snake runs, reservoirs are truly timeless and fun, and unfortunately very rare today. It absolutely rules that those two dudes took this project to fruition, and that the city allowed and helped them to do so.

DirtyBurger

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #17 on: September 19, 2020, 12:41:37 PM »
What even is archaeology these days?

Ironically Indiana Jones strikes me as a Thunder guy

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #18 on: September 19, 2020, 12:52:47 PM »
I apologize for any misinformation fellas. A random guy (non-skater) from my town gave me the info. It doesn't appear to be anything that would of been built in 90's era, so I never would of questioned it. Now I will have to go find him and tell him he made me look like a fucking fool..  :-[

ndsr

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #19 on: September 19, 2020, 01:00:59 PM »
I looked into it a little, and the local Farmington media says that it was called Dragon's Nest (hell yeah) but they claim that it opened summer '91, and then closed a few years later. I'm really interested in figuring out if they've got bad info or if they're right; the design definitely looks like a mid-to-late '70s era concrete park.

If it really opened in '91, maybe they had been planning it back into the very late '80s, but even then it would have been a pretty antique design. Almost every '70s skatepark across the nation had at least had a reservoir section, and it was all basically based off of just two then-famous SD area naturally-occuring spots, the Escondido Reservoir and the VC Reservoir. So, if true, you had a small town in Maine using its resources to build a public skatepark suited for Ty Page to carve in, at the dawn of the Big Pants Little Wheels era. Amazing, and a little sad too, as those Farmington articles mention that someone at the Parks Department at the time apparently really worked hard to put it together, while apparently being completely naive to the fact that at that time few would have wanted it.

All of that said, along with snake runs, reservoirs are truly timeless and fun, and unfortunately very rare today. It absolutely rules that those two dudes took this project to fruition, and that the city allowed and helped them to do so.
If you ever make it to Redmond, or the snake run there is amazing.  It’s downhill and drains into a chill bowl at the bottom.  The carve at the end is so fun!  Amazing nature in the area as well with cool lakes, hikes/climbing, rivers to float/fish and the birthing place of Deschutes brewery!  It’s well worth a vacation and as much natural beauty as anywhere I’ve been.

LordManHammer

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ungzilla

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2020, 01:23:01 PM »
2021 shall be year of the paleospot

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #22 on: September 19, 2020, 01:32:52 PM »
https://www.sunjournal.com/2020/09/08/the-first-public-skateboard-park-in-maine-is-resurrected-in-farmington/
Wow I guess it was built in 91, that is very strange. I am not from this area originally so that makes me even more thankful for the spots I had in Mass in the 90s, when I was much younger. But realistically now that I am old, this shit is more my style. Anyhow, I am going to try to get involved with these guys to see if they are down for a few diy modifications.

Glurmpz

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #23 on: September 19, 2020, 01:34:33 PM »

If it really opened in '91, maybe they had been planning it back into the very late '80s, but even then it would have been a pretty antique design. those Farmington articles mention that someone at the Parks Department at the time apparently really worked hard to put it together, while apparently being completely naive to the fact that at that time few would have wanted it.

It was for sure a naive non-skater who somehow decided on the design - that happened a lot in the early days of concrete parks and sometimes still does. The news article makes it pretty clear it was built in 91'.

Not surprising it didn't get much use between the pad nannies and incredibly outdated design. Mellow basins get boring after one or two roll throughs - you could make so much more interesting and useful obstacles with less concrete.

Sick Duck

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #24 on: September 19, 2020, 01:36:47 PM »
Expand Quote

If it really opened in '91, maybe they had been planning it back into the very late '80s, but even then it would have been a pretty antique design. those Farmington articles mention that someone at the Parks Department at the time apparently really worked hard to put it together, while apparently being completely naive to the fact that at that time few would have wanted it.
[close]

It was for sure a naive non-skater who somehow decided on the design - that happened a lot in the early days of concrete parks and sometimes still does. The news article makes it pretty clear it was built in 91'.

Not surprising it didn't get much use between the pad nannies and incredibly outdated design. Mellow basins get boring after one or two roll throughs - you could make so much more interesting and useful obstacles with less concrete.
yeah honestly without the history of being an original skatepark this really isn’t even that cool

Tear Up a Trick

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #25 on: September 19, 2020, 01:38:26 PM »
2021 shall be year of the paleospot

Every spot is already a Puleo spot

Mongoloid

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #26 on: September 19, 2020, 01:51:51 PM »
Expand Quote
2021 shall be year of the paleospot
[close]

Every spot is already a Puleo spot

Only if no one else knows about it.

Hanna Schygulla

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #27 on: September 19, 2020, 01:53:25 PM »
More intel, via a link in a 14-year-old post on a BMX messageboard:

"The town of Farmington, Maine, took three years to build its park, valued at about $35,000. It was the pet project of Steve Shible the city's recreation director, who was so proud of the park that he printed up hats with its name, The Dragon's Nest. But vandalism and lack of use closed it within two years. Now it's a children's park, a slab for toddlers on tricycles.

'The kids that provided the original impetus, by the time this thing opened most of those kids had changed from skateboarding to cars and girls and everything else,' Shible said. 'It's pretty hard to make out on a skateboard.'"

Even as a street skater, I have to disagree with the recent posts claiming that it's a waste of space or concrete. There are more than enough tightly-designed parks stuffed with stock "street" obstacles and bowls, or even parks/"skate plazas"/DIY spots with more creative terrain. A wide open, chill "'90s does '70s" park with a bizarre provenance is genuinely really cool.

Sick Duck

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #28 on: September 19, 2020, 01:56:47 PM »
More intel, via a link in a 14-year-old post on a BMX messageboard:

"The town of Farmington, Maine, took three years to build its park, valued at about $35,000. It was the pet project of Steve Shible the city's recreation director, who was so proud of the park that he printed up hats with its name, The Dragon's Nest. But vandalism and lack of use closed it within two years. Now it's a children's park, a slab for toddlers on tricycles.

'The kids that provided the original impetus, by the time this thing opened most of those kids had changed from skateboarding to cars and girls and everything else,' Shible said. 'It's pretty hard to make out on a skateboard.'"

Even as a street skater, I have to disagree with the recent posts claiming that it's a waste of space or concrete. There are more than enough tightly-designed parks stuffed with stock "street" obstacles and bowls, or even parks/"skate plazas"/DIY spots with more creative terrain. A wide open, chill "'90s does '70s" park with a bizarre provenance is genuinely really cool.
cool idea i guess but dude that thing is barely skateable. It doesn’t even have a hip or anything and looks lumpy as hell

Seventyfrigginseven

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Re: Park dug up after 30 years
« Reply #29 on: September 19, 2020, 02:40:13 PM »
Expand Quote
More intel, via a link in a 14-year-old post on a BMX messageboard:

"The town of Farmington, Maine, took three years to build its park, valued at about $35,000. It was the pet project of Steve Shible the city's recreation director, who was so proud of the park that he printed up hats with its name, The Dragon's Nest. But vandalism and lack of use closed it within two years. Now it's a children's park, a slab for toddlers on tricycles.

'The kids that provided the original impetus, by the time this thing opened most of those kids had changed from skateboarding to cars and girls and everything else,' Shible said. 'It's pretty hard to make out on a skateboard.'"

Even as a street skater, I have to disagree with the recent posts claiming that it's a waste of space or concrete. There are more than enough tightly-designed parks stuffed with stock "street" obstacles and bowls, or even parks/"skate plazas"/DIY spots with more creative terrain. A wide open, chill "'90s does '70s" park with a bizarre provenance is genuinely really cool.
[close]
cool idea i guess but dude that thing is barely skateable. It doesn’t even have a hip or anything and looks lumpy as hell
Don't make me head back there right now with my trowels (that appear to be the first ones ever made), the few bags of mix i have left, and a 6 pack.. if I do you might be on the first flight to Maine to come skate this godforsaken thing with me. And we will have fucking fun...lumps and all.