austin skate notes

For a long time, it drew people from all across town to delight on its wooden contours. Its carefully crafted transitions generated the perfect amount of speed and scariness to make riding it fun for the experienced as well as the novice. Its design was less a product of sophisticated engineering but more a work of enlightened art.

Feature photos in magazines described it as one of the best of its kind. Hype and word-of-mouth brought even more visitors from around the US and even the world to ride the wooden behemoth. Yet, locals could be found daily stopping by on the way home from work to take just one ride. And maybe another. Oh hell. Another one can’t hurt. Eventually the riders would be sent home at closing time to explain their tardiness to loved ones as best they could.

Weather had been unkind to its wooden support structure and maintenance had become a colossal chore for its caretakers. Rot and mildew would have been a sad and lingering demise unworthy of this fine beast. Instead, men wielding hammers and saws are dismantling this engine of excitement probably as you’re reading this. The landlord says it has to go.
Greedy neighbors pressured the landlord as part of a larger campaign to increase property values in the area. With no other option, the landlord has forced the tenant to tear down my old friend. Because I’ve been away for so long, I didn’t even get a last ride to say goodbye.

Sure, there’s talk of rebuilding it elsewhere. But the logistics of such a feat would probably be a greater challenge than building a new one from scratch.

As I resign myself to the loss of the Banana Farm and Bells Amusement Park, I can’t muster any confidence that they’ll be replaced in their respective communities (Austin & Tulsa). Instead, I hope that in years to come, when somebody gets an ambitious idea about creating something really challenging and cool, they’ll be able to say to their friend, “Hey, let’s build this huge thing and it will be fun.” And then their friend will say, “Oh, like that thing those other people built? Let’s get to work.”

UPDATE: Yesterday the Tulsa World newspaper ran a story discussing the dismantling of Bells Amusement park. Interesting anecdote about Earth, Wind, & Fire (the band) visiting the park and offering the owner a grand to give them an after-hours ride on the Zingo.