By BEN BLOCH for the Missoulian
Anyone who has been following developing plans for the soon-to-be-built Missoula skate park is likely to be impressed. Not only do the newly released three-dimensional plans present an imaginative outdoor facility, but the obvious dedication on the part of those who have brought the project so far is inspiring.
Most of us have heard the old run-of-the-mill disputes over whether skateboarding is a public nuisance and whether skaters are "destructive thugs." We are all pretty much getting bored by these arguments. It's long since become clear that skateboarding, like snowboarding and Griz football, is here to stay.
But something that is perhaps thought of the least (especially by those who don't skate) is the fact that the strong skateboarding contingent here brings valuable artistic energy to the city of Missoula. Because, for lack of any better way to put it, skateboarding is art.
Just as painters and sculptors deal constantly with a perception and construction of physical and illusionary space, a skater, it would seem, moves through the world with a nose for the possibilities of form and movement. Good skateboarders are master navigators.
Like walkers, drivers or bikers, skateboarders pay their own specific kind of attention to the architecture of urban infrastructure. They reveal new uses for curbs, benches, banks, and handrails, transforming these common utility-oriented structures into objects of artistic use. In the end, skateboarding - unlike, say, snowboarding or tennis - involves so much interaction with structures that weren't necessarily intended for skateboarders' use, that it automatically lends itself to some kind of artful transgression.
Just as a piece of wet candy won't fail to get the attention of ants, certain structures won't fail to get the attention of skateboarders. And this attention grabbing is a kind of testament to a form's inherent energy and potential. Indeed, it would probably be a more architecturally inspired world if skateboarders had more say in these large-scale matters.
This is just one reason why constructing this skate park in Missoula should provide a lot of solutions and benefits for the entire community, not the least of which will be a gorgeous piece of architecture.
One look at the plans reminds one of the curves of a Gaudi building, set into the ground as concave pools. The structure's deep, rounded curves will be flanked by rhythmic stacks of concrete benches. There will be various ramps and rails, as well as a particularly striking half dome that sticks up from the structure like a giant concrete hood.
Also, plans include the specific recreation of a selection of the most popular skating landmarks around the city, including replicas of structures from outside the county courthouse, the Caras Park amphitheater and from the First Interstate Bank terrace.
Even if the planned structure is solely designed for its interactive human use, it will be nonetheless beautiful. For concrete by itself, when it defies its normally square-edged implementation in favor of curvature, has a certain unexpected appeal.
Add to that a certain magnificent scale (14,000 square feet is the estimate) and some attractive brick walls as accents, and you have what could become a famous landmark; one that could potentially draw numbers of well-known skaters from around the country. Plus, its location at the southwest corner of McCormick Park, adjacent to the Clark Fork River, could in some ways evoke a kind of heavenly refuge where fish and skateboarders, side by side, leap - respectively - out of the water and off the lips of nearby bowls. In a way, the skate park really is a new type of recreational facility that in 50 years could perhaps be as common (worldwide) as a swing set.
If there is anything to lose here, it may just be some of the urban romance that belongs to the act of skateboarding outside of the skate park. It's kind of funny to think of it as being a little like building a zoo in order to begin gathering wild animals from the jungle and domesticating them. There will always be some renegade attraction to incorporating (and converting) picnic tables and public sculpture into a skateboarding move.
Incidentally, a friend reminds me of how frequently he sees photos of skaters doing just that: skating on public artworks, which are in many cases - in their curvature and materials - very conducive to performing skate tricks. So while the skate park will certainly cut back big time on the kind of damage that helps create any anti-skater sentiment, it likely won't keep skaters entirely off the street. After all, they will still have to get to the park.
Ben Bloch writes a weekly art column for the Entertainer. Reach him at Bbloch4775@aol.com.
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