North Shore Heritage is excited to publish an article by our guest writer, Bruce Emmett, who is an artist, educator, & skateboarder who has an important connection to a fascinating piece of cultural heritage on the North Shore, namely the Inglewood Skatepark. Here is his story!
The site of the buried skatepark, located at 17th and Inglewood, West Vancouver. Photo courtesy of Bruce Emmett.
A SKATEBOARDING EXPLOSION – West Van at the forefront of a (sub)cultural revolution.
There is a rather innocuous patch of lawn located on the property of West Vancouver Secondary School on the southwest corner at Inglewood Avenue and 17th Street in West Vancouver. Beneath that lawn lies a fantastic object that is simultaneously sculptural and architectural as well as a significant historical and archaeological artefact.
The object is Canada’s first skateboard park, built in 1977, and subsequently buried in 1984. West Vancouver’s Inglewood “Mill” Skateboard Park is a (sub)cultural landmark: the first skateboard park in Canada and one of the oldest extant skateboard parks in the world.
Opening Day of the West Vancouver Inglewood skatepark. North Shore News, August 27, 1977. Photo courtesy of John Kamitakahara.
The popularity of skateboarding exploded in the 1970s. Erupting first in California, then spreading worldwide, it led to the construction of hundreds of skateparks around the world. West Van became ground zero for Canadian skateboarding on the west coast and was at the forefront of a subcultural revolution.
It was the tireless work of Utah native Monty Little – the YMCA’s Canadian skateboard safety clinic leader – along with Heinz Berger and Ann Arnott of the West Vancouver Parks and Recreation Commission that led to this first-of-its-kind project. The grandfather of Canadian skateboarding, Little travelled to California in the mid-70s and brought back a vision of California’s concrete waves. The skatepark was federally funded, the land donated by the West Vancouver School Board, and the Inglewood skatepark the result.
Inglewood “Mill” Skatepark, opening day, 1977. Film still from Skateboard Sculpture. Courtesy of West Vancouver Archives. Used by permission.
When it opened in August of 1977, the skateboard park was met with great anticipation. In an interview published in the October 1977 issue of the BC Recreation Association’s Recreation Reporter, West Vancouver’s Recreation Manager, Frank Kurucz, stated, “I have never seen another recreation facility that is utilized to the extent of this facility.” Canada’s first skateboard park was hailed as a triumph.
The end of an era: Bowl gone. Feb 26, 1984. Sunday News. West Van Public Library Archives.
RISE & FALL
As it happens with hot trends, they eventually cool, and the thrill was short-lived. By the early 1980s, the popularity of skateboarding waned to the point that the skateboard park was rarely used. Instead, it became a site for parties, the bowl covered in graffiti which spread onto other local buildings. There were also safety and liability issues, as the park required regular maintenance and repair. Due to a lack of interest in skateboarding, the decision was made to bury the park in February, 1984.
There are varying accounts of the state of the park at the time of its burial, and varying accounts of the nature of the burial itself. An eye-witness description of the burial is recorded in a letter from Heinz Berger, held in the collection of the West Vancouver Art Museum archives:
But unfortunately, the hidden location developed into a late in the evening hangout for older noisy children often drinking beer. Some people, especially neighbours were very upset. Finally, we got orders from council to destroy the skateboard facility. Very reluctantly we used jack hammers to break up the upper rim and throw the broken concrete to the bottom of the bowls, to make certain the drainage would still work. After that we filled up the bowls with soil and seeded them with grass. This was just the wrong location.
West Vancouver’s Inglewood Skatepark, c.1977. From the archives of Monty Little.
GOODBYE PUNKS – HELLO NEW WAVE
Ironically, another wave of skateboard popularity would rise the following year in 1985 – one that would grow steadily over the next 40 years, leading to this moment, where skateboarding has become a multimillion-dollar global industry and an activity practiced by people of all ages around the world.
The decision to bury the park was accompanied by a proviso in the form of a statement found in the West Vancouver Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting minutes: “In the event that interest in skateboarding is revived at some time in the future it would be relatively simple to remove the fill.” This statement has fueled a hope for many that the park will one day be skated again.
The Inglewood Skateboard Park helped to shape skateboard culture in Canada. The District of West Vancouver adapted public space to respond to popular community activity, and subsequently buried the park prematurely on the cusp of what was to become a massive new wave of skateboarding.
Sinclaire’s skateable ferro-cement sculpture, West Vancouver, c.1978. Images courtesy of Patrik Andersson.
SKATEBOARD SCULPTURE
Calen Sinclaire (formerly Nelson Holland) studied sculpture at the Vancouver School of Art. Although not a skateboarder himself, Vancouver-raised Sinclaire did happen to know a thing or two about ski hills and ocean waves. As a designer of trimaran boat hulls and sculptural playground structures, Sinclaire’s work existed at the intersection of architecture, industrial design, and art. This made him the ideal candidate to reveal to Canadians a new design typology: the skatepark.
The Inglewood skatepark is constructed using ferro-cement, an incredibly light and strong material developed in the mid-20th century by the Italian architect, Pier Luigi Nervi, a key architectural influence for Sinclaire. Ferro-cement is ideal for constructing skateboard parks, owing to its capacity to be manipulated into smooth curvilinear shapes. Sinclaire used this material to essentially “pour” the skatepark as a single unit, with no construction joints, creating the smoothest, strongest surface possible. The result is an organic, rolling form designed with parabolic curves inspired by natural wave formations, built for turning and surf-style “carving”.
The Inglewood “Mill” Skateboard Park is part of a larger continuum, being the first in a line of skateboard parks designed by Sinclaire. The revolutionary design and choice of materials meant the Inglewood skateboard park was built to last, as can be seen by the fact that its two successors, Seylynn Skatepark in North Vancouver (1978), and East Vancouver’s China Creek (1979) continue to be skated today.
Bruce Emmett. Conveyor (from the series Millers), 2011-2012. Digital photomontage. Used by permission of the artist.
AR(t)CHAEOLOGY
This is an art project. Or at least that’s where it began back in 2010 while I was working on a graduate degree in Visual Arts at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. The primary focus was the history (and mystery) of the buried skatepark – hardly more than an urban legend even among skateboarders, and almost entirely unknown to the general public. But the site also contains two more histories: the Shields Shingle Mill (1916-1926), and West Vancouver Secondary School (1927-present). I produced art about the skatepark and its layered contexts and histories. I reinterpreted, recomposed, repurposed, reclaimed, restructured and reimagined the site. The resulting body of work – a mixed media bricolage of constructions, collage, and painting filled the West Vancouver Museum in a solo exhibit in 2012.
GPR in action: Filmmakers Ethan Miller and George Faulkner with Inglewood “Mill” Skatepark designer Monty Little. Photo: Bruce Emmett. Used by permission of the artist.
I approached this interpretive, artistic investigation with an archaeological spirit. As part of my research, I arranged for a ground penetrating radar scan to be completed by the Burnaby-based geophysics company, Terraprobe. Present at the scan were the company’s owner, a pair of geophysics engineers, a pair of documentary filmmakers, as well as Monty Little – the person responsible for the park’s construction back in 1977.
Due to the limitations of Terraprobe’s scanning equipment when scanning damp, clay-based soil, the data was inconclusive, the resulting image a rather nondescript phallic shape. From an archaeology perspective, the result of the scan itself was a letdown. But from a contemporary art perspective, this was a creative confluence of disciplines and practices. As I would later discover, this was a first: archaeological survey strategies applied to a skateboard park. Although the scan was arguably a failure, the archaeology of the project was hard to deny.
Bob Muckle and Bruce Emmett exploring the intersection of art & archaeology at the West Vancouver Art Museum. 2018. Photo Courtesy Isaac Vanderhorst.
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CHOICE: BOB MUCKLE
A year later, I was listening to CBC radio and the guest was local archaeologist, Bob Muckle, who was expressing his interest in 20th century archaeology. So, I sent him an email in the middle of the night to invite him into my project and he responded immediately. He was immediately drawn in by the prospect of collaborating with skateboarders and artists. He recognized the site contained an engaging and significant 20th century artefact.
Since 2013, Bob Muckle and I have been exploring the intersection between art and archaeology. Where Bob sees an archaeological artefact, I see readymade sculpture. Our work together has changed both of us and the way we think about art, archaeology, and collaboration. We have co-written papers that have been presented at anthropology and archaeology conferences in the UK and US. The paper presented at the Theoretical Archaeology Group’s annual conference at Southampton in 2016 is believed to be another first: the first archaeology paper on the topic of a buried skatepark.
SKATEPARK HERITAGE & ARCHAEOLOGY (Across the pond & beyond)
Only a handful of these early skateparks remain, and there is a worldwide movement to protect and recognize them. Archaeologists and historians are taking note of these spaces – they represent a unique moment in architecture & design, as well as a shift in popular and youth culture and the way people engage with sport and social spaces.
When skateboarding died in the early 80s, most of the parks were bulldozed and destroyed. All that remains of what is likely the oldest skatepark, California’s Carlsbad (1976), is a chunk of concrete held in the collection of the Smithsonian.
Some that managed to weather the storm are currently being listed and protected as heritage sites, such as the Bro Bowl in Florida, the ROM in London, UK, and The Snake Run in Australia. Click here to learn more.
In Canada, Calen Sinclaire’s two other parks have received some measure of protection and recognition. North Vancouver’s Seylynn Skatepark (1978) avoided becoming the foundation for a condo or the fill for a parking lot following active petitioning by interested parties. Vancouver’s China Creek (1979) was recognized as one of the city’s “Places that matter” in 2022 and received a plaque.
Others were buried and have since been excavated, like the Arenys skatepark in Spain and the TURF skatepark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where there is currently underway a full archaeological excavation and restoration of the original 1979 park.
Research in action: Bruce Emmett (left), Iain Borden (right) and Patrick Quinn (bottom) skating historical concrete in London, UK, 2023. Photos courtesy Quinn, Emmett, Borden.
LONDON CALLING
There is international interest in the Inglewood skatepark. I was contacted by archaeologist, Dr. Patrick Quinn, of University College London who was seeking permission to use an image from the 2012 ground radar for a paper he was writing with his colleague and architectural historian, Dr. Iain Borden. I was familiar with Borden as I had cited his seminal text, Skateboarding, Space, and the City, multiple times in my graduate thesis. I would get to know the two of them when I travelled to London in 2023 for a skate-cultural exchange and some action research in the form of a skate tour of three of London’s oldest concrete skateparks.
I found myself returning to Vancouver with a renewed excitement for our own skateboarding heritage and hopes for similar archaeological and heritage action.
UNDERGROUND PEEKING AND HERITAGE SEEKING
We are curious about the state of the skatepark. Contradictory reports indicate it was in disrepair, possibly from frost lift. There is a storm drain protruding up through the ground that may or may not have any effect on the integrity of the concrete snake run. There are also stories of neo-Nazi graffiti in the bowl and on the nearby building. Research has revealed little – further investigation is needed.
In some early exchanges beginning over a decade ago, the landowner – the West Vancouver School District – was clear in their position that they had no appetite for bringing the park back and expressed concerns that some of the reasons for its burial (e.g., location, noise) persist. We hope to reopen dialogue with the landowner about the historical, cultural and educational value of this unique artefact. There is an opportunity here to engage the public with local history, non-traditional heritage sites, and contemporary archaeology.
The skatepark is currently protected by six feet of soil. It is preserved and safe from the elements and people. One may argue this is an ideal place for a precious artefact. However, it would be interesting to dig up a piece of the park, take a sample, check its condition after all these years. And if the condition of the park is as Heinz Berger claims, then there will be pieces of the bowl already broken up. In a Smithsonian gesture, a piece of “found sculpture” of the first skateboard park in Canada might make an interesting addition to a museum collection.
Like China Creek and the parks in the U.S. and overseas, at the very least we would like to seek heritage recognition, possibly in the form of a plaque, or even a public artwork onsite. The park deserves the attention of the broader public.
West Vancouver’s Inglewood Skatepark, c.1977. From the archives of Monty Little.
A QUICK LAST RUN
One should not be too critical of the decision made at that fateful Parks and Recreation meeting in 1984. It would have been nearly impossible to foresee that this ostensible “passing fad” would grow into the massive cultural and economic contributor that it is today. And who could have guessed the number of skateboard parks and the significance they play in our communities. Canadian skateboarding now has a valued history and heritage that in large part began in West Vancouver.
West Vancouver’s Inglewood skatepark is a unique sculptural object, the first of its kind in Canada, and it would be wonderful to see it skated again. However, an archaeological excavation of the park is not the only approach to engaging with the skatepark. The site is a space of intellectual engagement, dialogue, and contemplation and continues to be an exciting creative endeavor. Whether the skatepark exists above or below ground, we will continue to investigate its nature as both art object and historical artefact.
Site overlay of the original plans for West Vancouver’s Inglewood skatepark, built in 1977, buried in 1984. Image courtesy of Bruce Emmett.
SOURCES
BC Recreation Association. "Recreation Reporter." October 1977. West Vancouver Museum Archives, Accessed 2011.
Berger, Frank. "The first skateboard park in Canada was in West Vancouver thanks to Mrs. Ann Arnott" By Heinz H.G. Berger, L.M.B.C.S.L.A., F.C.S.L.A., former West Vancouver Parks Manager. Courtesty of the WVan Museum and Archives, August 31, 2013.
Borden, Iain. Skateboarding, space and the city: architecture and the body. Berg Publishers, 2001. Print.
Emmett, Bruce. “The Mill Project.” Emily Carr University of Art + Design, 2012.
Emmett, Bruce, and Bob Muckle. "Never say last run: Skateboarders Challenging the Terrain & Becoming Involved in Archaeology." Paper presented at the Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Southampton UK, December 2016.
Emmett, Bruce, and Bob Muckle. "Found Sculpture: Negotiating the Art & Archaeology of a Buried Skateboard Park." Paper presented at the Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Chester UK, December 2018.
Quinn, Patrick, and Iain Borden. “Seven Original 1970s Skateparks That Show Why These Urban Treasures Should Be Protected.” The Conversation, 21 Mar. 2024, theconversation.com/seven-original-1970s-skateparks-that-show-why-these-urban-treasures-should-be-protected-218402.
West Vancouver Archives. Council minutes: District of West Vancouver Parks and Recreation. 7 Feb. 1984. Print.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The Mill Project Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheMillProject (Inglewood skatepark + moments of skateparkaeology)
Instagram: @bemmettarts