Tribute to Lakewood Center Skateboard World

Lakewood, CA 1978 to late 1981 / early 1982.

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History

Lakewood Center Skateboard World existed from 1978 through early 1982 and was located at 5210 Faculty Avenue, on the grounds of the Lakewood Center Shopping mall.

The park terrain consisted of a snake run, banked slalom run, banked freestyle area, half-pipe, twin keyhole pools with tile and coping, and a banked (non-vertical) three leaf clover. Originally there was a giant 17 foot deep "monster bowl" pool with tile & coping. The entrance to the monster bowl consisted of a very rideable/fun "mini-bowl" that could be ridden independently of the monster bowl. The monster bowl was eventually destroyed to make way for a roller hockey rink.

Just before the park closed in late 1981 a new clam shell shaped pool and new mini-bowl were built. In the very early days of the park, there was a plexiglass half-pipe Rad Ramp onsite, made by the Firestone Welding company.

Lakewood skatepark was owned by Joel Vest and Glenn Smith. The park was originally designed by Joel Vest. Joel was not a skateboarder so he brought Wally Hollyday onboard as a design consultant. The park was built in 1977 by Superior Gunite, a swimming pool contracting company owned by Ed Olson.

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ASPO / CASL

In 1980 Lakewood put together a skatepark team to compete in the Association of Skatepark Owners (ASPO) contest series. The 1980-1981 ASPO season Lakewood skatepark team consisted of: The 1981-1982 ASPO season Lakewood skatepark team consisted of: The following link shows the ASPO standings as of 8/8/81. In 1982, ASPO was superceded by the California Amateur Skateboard League (CASL), which continues to operate to this day.

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lakewood overview