Exclusive Interview – Skatepark Marinha Grande

Exclusive of Site Nacional de Skate

INTRODUCTION

The Marinha Grande Skater community conveyed to us their great concern about the state of the local skatepark.

We collected statements from the local Skater community, as well as trying to contact the Marinha Grande City Council, but there was no/they refused to give any type of statement.

THANKS:

• To all the skaters who alerted us to the urgency of the situation, and who collaborated with us.

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Testimony from Rafael Machado

Site Nacional de Skate: What is your name, and what do your friends call you?
Rafael Machado: Hello, my name is Rafael Machado and most of my friends call me Machado.

Site Nacional de Skate: How long have you been skateboarding?
Rafael Machado: I’ve been skateboarding for about 3 years, I always wanted to try it, but it wasn’t until I was almost 20 that I really started skateboarding, because a friend of my brother got me a board (thanks Paulino!).

Site Nacional de Skate: What area in portugal are you from?
Rafael Machado: I’m from Marinha Grande, so the Parque da Cerca skatepark (where the Marinha park is) is my local skatepark.

Site Nacional de Skate: How is the panorama of the Marinha Grande Skater Community?
Rafael Machado: I think the Marinha skateboarding community is quite active, but it doesn’t show much at the Marinha skatepark. A lot of people from Marinha Grande go to other better skateparks, in the surrounding area: Pataias, Parque do Avião in Leiria and we end up not even knowing that they are from Marinha, because they no longer go to the skatepark there. This means that the Marinha skatepark is empty and little used for skateboarding. I and a few other friends (João Paulino, Fábio Sampaio, Miguel Alexandre) still use the park the most, because it’s closer than going to Leiria or Pataias, but the conditions are getting worse and the desire to walk in the park is getting less and less.

Site Nacional de Skate: Tell us a little about the History of Marinha Grande Skatepark.
Rafael Machado: The skatepark is over 15 years old and was built as part of Parque da Cerca (where it is located) in 2005. Before this park, after speaking with Francisco Ferreira (owner of the skateshop in the area), I learned that there were some first ramps, built by contractors from the City Council, without any knowledge of the sport. They were so poorly made that they were immediately destroyed before the park opened and the current skatepark was then built in the same location, with prefabricated ramps.

Site Nacional de Skate: Who do you contact, and what type of response do you have when there are situations in your Skate Park that require intervention?
Rafael Machado: We have already contacted several people, from the Parish Council to the City Council, but so far there has been no action towards the requalification that the skatepark needs. Last year, we already had a meeting with the Head of the Division of Youth Sports and Associations, João Teixeira, together with Francisco Ferreira (owner of the skateshop in the area) and representatives of Wasteland Skateparks and FLG (SkateLopez), companies “skatepark builders”, as well as another meeting with João Brito, Councilor of the City Council. These meetings, as well as many others with previous City Council executives, have not led to any significant improvements or redevelopments since the skatepark was built.

Site Nacional de Skate: Are there currently any situations in your Skate Park that require attention?
Rafael Machado: Yes, several. The main problems are: holes in the ramps that exist both at the bank and in the funbox in the center of the park, where sometimes the wheels get stuck when we least expect it, especially because they are located right in the center of the ramps, making it difficult to avoid. Furthermore, the manual pad/curb has one of the support pieces broken and was actually taken away, with the weight the curb gives way and over time it will become increasingly dented.
We also have the problem of the cement floor, with holes and some gaps between the different sections, which are starting to become increasingly uneven over time. And there is also poor lighting in the space, it is too dim and there are few lamps to be able to use the park comfortably at night.
But beyond these problems, the main issue is that the skatepark has few obstacles, and those that do have are not at all high quality. Mainly the bank and funbox pyramid, which are too inclined to learn new tricks, in addition to the fact that the flat bar is directly connected to the curb/manual pad, instead of being separate, which makes it difficult to learn tricks in one direction. What is most annoying about this situation is looking at the municipality next door, Leiria, with a street skatepark in excellent condition, in Parque do Avião, and a second, transitional, older one that is now undergoing renovation work. And even Pataias, a town much smaller than Marinha Grande that manages to have a cement skatepark, with good obstacles, although simple, which really satisfies local skaters.

Site Nacional de Skate: The Site Nacional de Skate and/or other skater communities, etc., have they helped you in the past in any way in publicizing your problems? (If yes, which ones and how?)
Rafael Machado: We had some help from skateshops and skate pages last year to publicize our public petition for the requalification/construction of a new skatepark(Requalificação/construção de um novo skatepark na Marinha Grande : Petição Pública (peticaopublica.com)), which helped a lot to increase the number of signatures, but unfortunately did not make the Chamber act.

Site Nacional de Skate: Do you think Site Nacional de Skate be a reference site where all “anonymous” skaters can make their voices heard? Why?
Rafael Machado: I think it is very important to have this open platform, because it shows that the national community helps each other, and gives more voice to local problems than could be achieved without this type of platform. I think it also helps to prevent these types of situations of degradation of public space from remaining silent, and helps local entities to be more scrutinized.

Site Nacional de Skate: Do you want to leave us any suggestions or challenges?
Rafael Machado: I would like to leave it as a challenge to you, but also open to the entire skateboarding community, that if we don’t have a better solution for this skatepark, we should go for a DIY solution. There are spaces in the area where we can do something better than the current skatepark, but it involves a joint effort and possibly the help of people who already know how to build. Furthermore, it would unite the local skateboarding community more and bring more people from abroad to the Navy as well.

Site Nacional de Skate: Thank you very much for your time.
Rafael Machado: Thank you for your help in sharing this situation, let’s hope it can spark a change in the state of the park!