On Tuesday the movement continued in Los Angeles as Skate Plaza visionary Rob Dyrdek opened the world's first Safe Spot, Skate Spot at Lafayette Recreational Park. A thousand kids were joined by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, camera news crews and reporters, a Fuel TV crew, and magazine reps. The locals, their families, the DC team and the industry were all on hand for the opening of skateboarding's newest landmark, and the start of the era of the Safe Spot Skate Spot.
The opening ceremonies began around three o'clock as Dyrdek got L.A. city council members up on his giant skateboard (the largest one ever made) for a little ride across the spot. It was pretty crazy to see Dyrdek, simplya great skateboarder and business owner to most of us, riding a skateboard and rubbing elbows with the mayor of one of the biggest cities in the world. Dyrdek has reached a new level for real.
Then came the welcoming speeches. In his, Dyrdek reinforced his long-term goal of making many more spots just like Lafayette all over the city of Los Angeles. Thanks to the cooperation of the city, this is the first legal street skateboarding spot of many. He said, "This is the future of the sport. We are not trying to over build and force features into a space, but creating a handful of obstacles in a place we call a spot."
Ribbon cutting was next, and Dyrdek joined LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to slice the red ribbon. The spot was officially open to the public with the sun shining but quickly setting. The kids rushed in to be among the first to session the spot, hitting the benches, stairs, handrails, and even a skateable star bank -- it's 9000 square feet of street skating in all. They'd seen it being built over the last 3 weeks from outside the fence, but Tuesday was their first real chance to skate its pristine terrain smack dab in the middle of downtown L.A.
It was a good scene to start Laffayette off right: the team, local government officials, kids and families all packing the spot to celebrate its birth. Spotted in the crowd were DC riders Rob Dyrdek, Josh Kalis, PJ Ladd, Ryan Smith, Lindsey Robertson, Greg Myers, Wes Kremer, and Marquise Henry. Also in attendance were Steve Berra, Braydon Szafranski, Giovanni Reda, and Anthony Van Engelen.
As dark fell the crowds began to disperse, with the spot open from today on as a new hub for legal street skateboarding -- no pads or tickets at this free spot. Skate it at 625 South Lafayette Park Place, Los Angeles, CA 90057 (near the intersection of Commonwealth and Wilshire).
The Rob Dyrdek/DC Shoes Skate Plaza Foundation site has got a few photos... Click here.
Our friends at skateboarding.com posted a bunch of photos from the opening, plus a little video interview -- Click here. Fuel TV also posted photos from the event within about 20 minutes of the ribbon cutting -- see those by clicking here.
Check out the Newsclip and dcskateboarding.tv next week for a video from the opening.
