Andy MeloncholliesI had been hearing whispers that there was a new slab people were skating. No one I talked to knew where it was, but it was rumored to be very central. Finally, I was out at the Banana Farm Ramp Saturday enjoying a barbecue and fire with friends and I start hearing directions. "Is this to the new slab spot?" I asked. The guy describing the place, it turns out, had a hand in some of the construction of the structures at the spot. Intending to go check it out the following morning, I checked to see if he was cool with me bringing a few guys in from Philly who were stopping by on a road trip. Turns out the guy wants to open the spot wide. He even told me to put directions on the site. Here’s a map, instead.

Fltcher feebles or smiths.. I forgotIt’s a cool spot. More concrete than the original slab on Burnett, but without the elevation drops (i.e. it’s all flat). The concrete is smooth and wide open. There’s a big fence that seperates it from River Street, but if you park in the Town Lake hike-and-bike trail parking lot across the street, you can just walk into the hike-and-bike trail area and follow the fence to where there’s a formal entrance. My guess is the city put the fence up to keep people from dumping trash on the property because it certainly isn’t fenced off from the hike-and-bike. One of the nice amenities is the public restroom right next to it.

The skate structures are pretty decent. No transition, but there are several flat rails, a box made out of a steel door, and another steel door set at an angle. One of the flat rails does a zig-zag, which I wanted desperately to try to boardslide through the whole thing, but my street deck wasn’t put together and I was too busy shooting photos to finish assembling it.

Hopefully people will build some more stuff there. Seems like a cool spot that could really become something.

Speaking of people coming across cool spots, some folks from the skatepark of Tampa stopped in at the Grinder Ledge pool and shot some photos. There’s a little write-up (scroll down a ways) on the pool where this skate journalist refers to it as "The Most Unique Pool I’ve Ever Skated." Tru-dat! Check out this impressive photo he shot there.

Here are my photos from our session at the Town Lake Slab.