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I grew up riding BMX in southeastern Massachusetts, where the options for skateparks were essentially, Impact Skatepark (Big RIP to Kevin Robinson) in East Providence, RI, or pre-fabricated concrete parks. The options were big or small, and good or bad, with Impact (and eventually Skaters’ Island in Newport, RI) being big, good, and in turn scary for a beginner to the ramp scene. My friends and I rode Impact quite a bit, but all of the other pre-fabricated skateparks that dotted southeastern MA were much more accessible, for our (my) abilities, and for our parents to give us rides. It felt like we opted for the small and bad options more often than not. Trips to sleepy South Shore towns like Bridgewater, Middleboro, Plymouth, and Westport and postindustrial cities like New Bedford and Fall River, where these skateparks existed, filled our weekends.




Between these parks, we got to ride all of the different ramps and obstacles that Scituate Concrete, the contractor that somehow got the bids for these parks, offered. To be sure, the ramps were god-awful, but I met a lot of people because of this concentrated network of god-awful parks. And as you do, we made the parks work for us. But I would be lying if I said I wasn’t still a little bummed that my formative years weren’t spent on better ramps.



It’s my hunch that Scituate Concrete leveraged their URL, www.skateparksinc.com, complete with astronauts upside-down with skateboards attached to their feet, as proof of their competency in the skatepark game. Combine that with a small market for skatepark builders and you’ve got yourself a Lyle Lanley in the form of a skatepark company.

A lot of these parks are still kicking around, but many have seen upgrades. The one pictured above might have featured the most useful ramps of them all, a six-foot-tall mini-ramp which, no matter how bad you mess up the transitions, you can still have some fun on. ︎