Cabra skatepark plans

shagman

The contract for Cabra skatepark was awarded to GBH skateparks and I must admit they look preety good for modular. A bit more imagination was used then the standard "W" layout park. Cost a lot though.

shagman

Heres the park design....

moonboy

haha.thats very "xgames"...
the ramp section at the back looks interesting.

f

thats pretty good, looks a lot better, wheres cabra, whens it due to open, etc etc

Skatedude

as far as modular parks go, that looks preety good?
In cabra, are the ramps fire proof?
nice though, only 5 mins away from me

Ps cabra is near phibsboro, about 15 mins on bus from city center

Mr Wilson

Hasn't changed my mind on modular, but it sure beats the **** out of the Rhino muck that's getting thrown up (as in vomited) around the country. Reminds me of some of the (concrete) modular parks you see around Europe. If they can put the coping and rails in without having to weld lots of bits together, and solve the perennial modular problem of stuff separating at the joins, then it mightn't be half bad.

Ever notice how all modular parks look like fingerboard ramps?

fisheye

Am I right in saying that the next phase of the Luas will be going nearby this park? If so, that would make it far easier to get to than any of the other proposed or current parks in the city at the moment.

No 2 ways about it, that park is W.A.N.K. It's indefensible rubbish and you'll all realise that when you skate it once or twice and neglect it in favour of Bushy Park or Lucan. Simple as - metal ramps are not worth the time, money and hassle and never, ever as good as a concrete park.

For that money, they could have easily put in a couple of concrete blocks on a concrete floor like Milton Keynes and keep everybody happy with some cash left over for extending the place in the coming months.

f

build a plaza, only way around it, and ye with a roof, cos u kno, ireland

Malteaser!

where abouts it going in cabra??

neilk32

when is the skatepark in cobra due to be built

rebelbmx

does anyone know how much that park is costing to build

shagman

It's gonna be in john paul II park (skate for the baby jesus!!).
It cost €200,000 just a little less than Lucan.
Worth???... what €10,000 maybe.

Patricide

pope john paul the second memorial park, ive heard absolutly everything now, break your leg on a ramp and you can mirracle it back together.

UbuntuniX

* It opens Monday. *

JahEerie

Patricide wrote:

pope john paul the second memorial park, ive heard absolutly everything now, break your leg on a ramp and you can mirracle it back together.

Yeah, but have ya noticed that this only happened when Pope JP popped his clogs?
- he never would've let 'em lash up more modular muck in HIS park
Heard he was an old-school pool kinda fella

The only people who'll end up happy bout all this modular muck are da builders takin the money BACK TO GERMANY!!!! (Where da NEW pope comes from.....hmmmm......)

Let us pray.....

JohnBoy

mr-aido

can some one tell me if its open lol me and my mates wana head up to skate it

pete4130

The park is open and despite what slating it has received from people who have never used the park, its not as bad as people would let you think it is (for riding BMX at least). The ramps are made of steel but they are surprisingly grippy, more so than bushy park, swords, blanchardstown and lucan. I know this as I've ridden the mentioned parks. It also has consistantly shaped transitions unlike some at Bushy Park.
During the summer it was open until 10pm at night weekdays and was supervised (supervised in the respect that you have to go through the sports centre entrance to use the park which cuts down on the amount of a$$holes in the park....in saying that you do still get your fair share of d1cks in the park like anywhere). Weekenda during the summer it was open until 5pm with last entry at 4pm. It's not floodlit so it is open as long as it is bright out. The people that work there are generally cool with you once you aren't a scally or give them any hassle.

I actually work for the Council (nothing to do with the Parks dept.) and carried out the initial survey of the skatepark site (I also did the initial survey for Bushy Park too) and had was able to talk to the guys in Parks about the proposed plans. I asked the Parks Superintendant for the Cabra area why he chose steel ramps instead of concrete and his reply basically for these reasons:

1) Skateparks are a new concept here, and with Cabra being in an area earmarked for urban rejuvenation they didn't know if a skatepark would even work, so they went with a modular steel ramp set up on a concrete base.

2) The steel ramps meant lower maintenance, room to add/improve/redesign/make at a lower cost than concrete and have more durability than wood (steel doesnt burn).

3) If the park wasn't a success it could be dismantled easily and cost effectively where a concrete park wouldn't.

So for people dismissing the park and complaining about it before they have even been there doesn't make sense. At the end of the day it is another reasonably good skatepark that is skateable/rideable that offers obstacles/lines that none of the other parks do.

I have also heard that the open space at inside the skatepark perimeter might be used to put in some more ramps as the park has been seen as a success by the council, which in turn will mean they will be more willing to listen to skaters/bikers in the future and be more likely to build more skateparks.

Pete.

wreckless

The steel ramps meant lower maintenance :eek: more like ongoing all year round maintenance, which means ongoing costs too

If the park wasn't a success it could be dismantled easily :mad: shame we cant think the same way about some of our elected ministers!!!:rolleyes:

pete4130

The only maintenance required is for them to be painted 2-3 times a year, which I thought wouldn't have been often enough, but since it opened in the summer the paint hasn't come away badly at all, only at the tops of flatbanks where trucks/wheels etc... would eat into the surface a little.
I'm afraid we can't do much about the ministers except hope that people have the sense not to vote them in....AGAIN!

JahEerie

Cabra is probably not the worst (compared to some of the modular muck out there) but some of that logic is just a the cop-out by the council.

Concrete is THE ONLY longterm sustainable material for park construction in this country. OK, steel is a step-up from wood, but it can very easily be dismantled & removed.
When a council commits to concete you know that they're in it for the long haul. There are dozens of examples of this (from the '80s til now): Livingstone/Marseilles/Meanwhile/etc, etc.
When was the last time ya ever heard of a 'world class' modular park?
Never.

Anyway, some people will probably be happy with Cabra & similar parks - fine.
It's already easy to see the rapid improvement of the young rippers - thanks mainly to the provision of skateparks.

All I'm trying to say is that the preference should always be for concrete
- simple as that.

Cheers,

JohnBoy

pete4130

Johnboy,

I totally agree with concrete being the only long term solution. In places like Cabra it wasn't workable at the time (antisocial reasons), but the park has proved to be a success and will probably lead to more parks in the area in the future, whether they are modular or concrete is yet to be seen. I'm not defending modular ramps at all, I was just trying to explain why the council went with the modular option in these particular circumstances, which isn't a cop-out. From working with the people involved with the parks, it's understandable that the idea of planning, implimenting and building a park is something they've never had to deal with before so there will be a learning curve.
Look at the earliest parks down the country, fibre glass ramps that are totally unuseable, thankfully none of those have cropped up in Dublin.

Pete.