Great Falls hopes to mimic Idaho town's skating magnetism

Kim Skornogoski, Tribune Staff Writer (Great Falls Tribune, Great Falls, MT) -- 3/21/2004

Hailey, Idaho, is a small working-class town 75 miles north of Twin Falls known for being the birthplace of poet Ezra Pound and for having one of the top five skate parks in the nation.

The 12,500-square-foot concrete park has a 14-foot-deep bowl and a full pipe that's roughly 15 feet in diameter. It draws pros and rabid skaters from across the country.

Folks in Great Falls hope that if it can happen to Hailey, perhaps it can happen here, too.

In Hailey, Dreamland skate park builders were given $300,000 and free reign to design the park.

A committee headed by business owner Andy Andrews scrounged for grants and private donations to build the ultimate park as a tribute to Andrews' 17-year-old son, who had died.

"We were really focused on doing a world-class park," he said. "The better the skaters, the more they want to come here. We saw a really high level of skaters."

As it has here, buzz built for the Hailey park before its in fall 2002. Thrasher Magazine, the skater publication based in San Francisco, flew a crew to skate the park before it was done.

Idaho skaters enjoyed the park for a month, before snow made it too slick to use. And over the winter, hype grew to a fever pitch so that hundreds showed up for the grand opening in June.

Soon after, Tony Hawk -- the skateboard king famous enough to star in multiple video games -- and pro Shawn White drove up to try the park.

Hawk banged his shin doing a trick, then wrapped a T-shirt around it to stop the blood while he continued to skate. Eventually he went to the local hospital to get it cleaned up.

Having Tony Hawk in the park "was the realization of the dream," Andrews said.

The park was turned over to the city, which now markets it heavily, planning numerous skateboarding events.

Ron Theobald, who co-owns Obstacle Boards in Hailey, said the park has been a boon to stores that sell skateboard-related clothing or gear. He and his wife opened their skateboard and snowboard shop the day before the park's grand opening.

"It's just a matter of reputation," he said. "Hailey didn't have any huge tourist attractions. But with the park, we just got a good thing going and they picked a good design."

Skateboarders buy new equipment and frequent the shop to watch videos. And even kids who aren't skaters buy clothes at his store because they like the look.

"The park is definitely a huge part of making the business happen," Theobald said. "We have people regularly coming from Boise and Salt Lake -- and they have their own skate parks."