Speculation is that on the occasion of the annual ‘Go Skateboarding Day’, Dogtown (Venice), the legendary birthplace to the sport (as we know it), will receive a new skatepark. The boardwalk in Venice has always been a place for freestylers to congregate, and old schoolers to longboard, but saw the demolishment of the Pavilion in 2000. However, the new park is the real deal, and probably home to the first official bowl in Dogtown. Skaters like Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, whose snaps were the first I saw of this ‘new’ sport, those bowls they often leapt from were probably miles away in the backyards of Palisades homes.

The 16,000 square foot park, designed by the legendary Wormhoudts from Santa Cruz, will soon open to the public. While ‘Go Skateboarding Day’ is pretty much a construct of the major skateboard brands, it would nicely coincide. Its would even be more of a wonder to see a big company not get the naming rights to this new park. Still, it seems that the occasion will not be marred by corporatism, and that skating will win out regardless.

Venice Skatepark has been meticulously overseen by Jesse Martinez, who for 20 years has spearheaded this project. He apparently, with the Venice Surf & Skate Association, got the input of folks like Christian Hosoi and Paul Ngoho on the bow(!) and took painstaking action to make the park for skaters by skaters. Regardless, of the new park’s status, the scheduled celebration will feature Appleyard, Duncombe, Decenzo, Terell Robinson, Louie Lopez and Dyet.