July/August/September..The Park is Officially Open...click below for a real big look...

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At last the long suffering street skaters of Glasgow..and the many who for years have come from all over to skate in Kelvingrove Park have been rewarded with a place of their own...and best of all..a place where street skating is not just an after thought...the odd rail and some shit "fun box"...no this place has street skating at the very heart of the design...reflecting it's true position as the driving force in skateboarding.....

Daily updates for April..

Daily updates for May..

Daily updates for June..

Design and more views..

Thurs 1st July..More mesh..and more steps..

Fri 2nd July..Curved timber..driveway mesh..twin banks..another step..and the adjusted bowl base..

Sat 3rd July..More panels ready for pouring..and marking for blocks..so many sections completed this week..fantastic..

Mon 5th July..More timber work..the driveway..and the wall awaits it's bank.. and a wee film...

Tues 6th July..Looking back down the driveway side..the twin side ledges..bottom curved ledge shuttering..the curved corner is revealed..one step at a time..and an overview..

Wed 7th July..The bowl mesh..the curved wall exposed..and working the paddle on another section..

Thurs 8th July..Shuttering and leveling the last side..more timber for curved ledge..the finished driveway.. the twin ledges..bank to wall..overview..

Sat 17th July..The finished step up..and the wee hip gets its first panel..not much else will happen today..rain...

Fri 16th July..Shuttering and steel for the curved ledge..wee hip..the completed wee set..the bowl is looking great..the curved bank..and a wide view..

Thurs15th July..The last slab brings the park full circle..the wee sets top step..the step up..the ledges look amazing..the curved bank coping..and the foundation for the fan sets outer ledge..

Wed 14th July..The wee stair set..the second ledge..bank to transition..and the spine gets it's first side..

Tues 13th July..The sides are coming together..the curved ledge..the first transitions..and an overview..

Mon 12th July..The hip side banks..and the steel for the curved ledge in place..

Sat 10th July..Expansion joints in place on the last side..cutting steel for the curved ledge..and the curved corner gets a top up..

Fri 9th July..Capping the curved bank..pouring the hip side banks..the finished ledges and stair set..the drain covers.and I don't know what's going on here..

Mon 19th July..Steel for curved ledge..driveway side top ledge..and another overview..

Tues 20th July..Can you believe its the 20th of July already...this month has flown by..but despite the recent weather the park will be completed on time..fingers crossed..for now some of the last timber work on the small sets..and for overseas visitors to the site a typical summer sky in the West of Scotland...

Wed 21st July..Steel for the small set. the upper platforms wall..working the wee bowl..the curved block..hip..and the finished spine..

As we are nearing the end of the project I feel it’s time to comment on a few things and thank a few people…

Thanks to Glasgow City Councils Land Services who funded the entire project..

Thanks to Ian and the crew from Clachan Construction who afforded me as much freedom as possible to capture the process.. Giving information and insight to the various stages throughout the build…the web site is the result of their hospitality.

Thanks to Duracrete for their work on the transitions..

Thanks to Wayne Travis from Glasgow City Councils Land Services who found himself landed with the project..His first skatepark..And was brave enough to try something different, Wayne is a Landscape Architect and is responsible for translating the design from freehand plans to technical drawings and contributed to the overall content of the finished article.

Thanks to Calum Black, Bert DeJong and anyone else who pushed from within…

To all who signed petitions wrote or spoke to their Councillor, complained to Anyone who would listen or supported the Idea in any way over these many years…Only you know who you are.. So Pat Yourself on the Back...Well done..

The Project has produced a long list of names who can be credited in some way but an even longer list of names who claim to be responsible…such is the way with things of this nature...but credit has to be given to Pete Kelly who despite being overlooked by many of his contemporaries was by far the main contributor in the parks design…My part in the Parks Story is for others to ponder…

Lastly no park is perfect…not everyone will like it…some aspects of size and scale are not quite as we would have them…but if you came upon any single element from the park in any other place…you would find a way to skate it….big or small...steep or mellow…as you’ve always done….

Mick.

Thurs 22nd July..The first of the small inset steps..the bowl comes together..the platform wall..and spraying the curved bank....

Fri 23rd July..A late update today..I feel like Shit...still on we go..The finished curved bank..more inset steps..the roll in bank from the top platform...the first fan step..the finished bowl.."it looks much bigger in this photo"..and you know the end really is in sight when the tarmac is laid...

Sat 24th July..Another wet day..the top inset step..the top ledge..and a big oveview...

Mon 26th July..I am running out of things to photograph...great.!!..The finished top ledge..the second fan stair..and the final set..

Tues 27th July..Finishing the inset..steel for the top fan..and the last wall..this retaining wall is there to accomodate the ground level difference outside at this corner..

Thurs 29th July..As you can see from this overview there are only two areas with shuttering still in place..the top step on the upper level..and the fan set..this leaves only the platform edge around the spine and bowl..a small 6 inch strip behind the coping..as the last concrete to be layed..this should leave next week to install the rails and complete the final finishing touches..the rest as they say is up to you...

Sat 31st July..Months gone..days to go...Grinding high spots..and finishing the outside faces..

Yes I know...the temptation is to great...and it really was expected.. but the park is still not quite finished..its still a building site..with unfinished steel edges..protruding nails..heavy machinery..concrete dust...we don't need something to go wrong this close to the finish...

Wed 28th July..The retaining wall..the last step..and the fan-tastic set...this week will see the last concrete..next week the rails and finishing off edges etc...

A slideshow..

Fri 30th July..The last concrete..only it isn't concrete..this last edge is actually granite..much harder..longer lasting...

Mon 2nd August..The surface area is Complete...expand the overview for an even bigger look..this week should see the finish of the skate area.. though the site will still have to be cleaned up...

Tues 3rd August..Hand finishing the steel...and the clean up is under way...Looks Good For Saturday...

Thurs 5th August..No update yesterday..which saw more finishing work..Today installing the rails..

Friday 6th August..The Park Is Complete..The pic shows the start David Knox's work to mark the end of the project..The Fence Will Come Down Later Today.....Saturday...Fill Your Boots....

Saturday 7th August..The Park Is Open..Fantastic...the Official opening date is Sat 18th Sept.. see you there...

Monday 9th August..Give this guy a medal or an umbrella...we will keep the site update going at least until the opening...then..who knows..!!

Sunday 8th August..Five Thirty AM..My first chance to roll about.. three skaters and two bikers already here..dropping in is scary after such a long time.. PM....A Fantastic Weekend..So Many People....

Tuesday 10th August..The weather has dampened everything but the excitement..the landscaping has bogged down...

Wed 12th August..Rain..waiting for a break in the weather..

Sat 14th August..Laying the path..this work when finished will help keep the park clean...

Tues 17th August..Obviously the update has just about outlived it's usefulness..but remember..the Park is not quite finished..the safety rails have to be installed..the grind rails have to be replaced..and the Open Day info has to be posted...also..this will all take longer if mindless twats vandalize the machinery on site as was the case last night..Hopefully the cctv will nail him..

Wed 18th August..If you must paint something..at least put some effort in...!!

Thurs 19th August..Rain..and yet more Rain..for now zoom in on the enlargement and dream of lines to come...

Mon 23rd August..The clearing up continues..safety rails..

Thurs 2nd Sept..The clearing up is all but done..the second safety rail and all the replacement grind rails are being fabricated as you read this and should be installed for the opening day..which is as you know..the 18th of September..The response to the Park has been fantastic..even with the dodgy rails..But..yes there's always a But..Please..Until The New Bins Are Installed..Take Your Rubbish When You Leave...!!

Did you notice the 5 day weather forecast on the intro page..it might help in planning your visits to the Park..

Tuesday 7th Sept..The first replacement rail..much better....

Wednesday 8th Sept..The second safety rail...and the other replacement rails...

Friday 17th Sept..The driveway replacement rail is in place..better height..better angle..this brings the park to completion..ready for tomorrow..The Official Opening...enjoy....

Sat 18th Sept..Well there you have it...your very own skatepark..it's clearly one of the best in the country..it's all yours...use it safely..use it often..and when the time comes add your voice in support of the next one...