On a sunny day in Dundee, the city has an unmistakable soundtrack.
Wheels.
Whether it’s the rattle of skateboards scraping along the benches outside the Overgate, the rumble of rollerskates round Janetta’s at Slessor Gardens, whooshing BMXs by the McManus or scooters skidding along past Baxter Park pavilion, Dundonians love a wheel.
It’s something that first attracted me to the city almost ten years ago now. The huddles of whooping skaters gave the place a vibrancy that I thought was lost to 90s music videos.
And when I moved here, I found a lot of entertainment in watching the beanie-clad crews trying out their tricks while the rest of the city centre went about its business.
Back when The Factory, Dundee’s last indoor skating facility, closed in 2019, it was a blow to a huge number of people.
They lost a big part of their lives which helped them learn a skill, improve their fitness and – most importantly – find a community.
Yet amazingly, the community has only grown in the meantime, partly thanks to lockdown.
During the summers of 2020 and 2021, skating took hold of the city centre again in a big way.
When socialising was confined to outdoors only and beer gardens had become boring, my friends and I were among many of the skating novices that were warmly welcomed into the fold by Factory legacies.
I whiled away many a happy pandemic afternoon in a pair of old skates I’d had since I was 13, wobbling all over the place and watching the roller disco dancers down at Slessor Gardens with a mix of awe and envy.
It was great fun, but come the winter weather, it withered away. Cold is one thing, but wheels on wetness is a recipe for disaster.
Plus it’s no fun playing outside in the rain.
So it’s amazing to see that after months and months of murmurings, dedicated skaters Lewis Allan and Scott Young have finally got their long-awaited indoor Passion Park plans off the ground.
The Courier’s first look at the Gellatly Street skate park shows a simple but sensational use of the old NG Valet Auto unit.
And it’s clear to see just how much buzz and excitement this is causing within Dundee’s skating community.
Already, hundreds of people have shown their support for the project on Instagram, and dozens are demanding to know an opening date so they can use the facility.
It feels like one of the rare occasions where news has been welcomed as purely positive. Passion Park isn’t just welcome – it’s been actively wanted.
And yet instead of making an effort to find a new home for this city’s joyful, energetic scene, the powers that be have left Dundee’s skaters literally out in the cold for years.
Lewis and Scott have faced “relentless delays” in their dealing with Dundee City Council, which the determined duo claim has cost them around £150K.
You would be forgiven for thinking that the council didn’t want this particular community to flourish.
And it’s not the first time that the authority has overlooked the communities already here, in favour of setting its sights on loftier claims to ‘culture’,
Over the last few years, Dundee has made its way on to a lot of swanky lists where people wax lyrical about the city’s many ‘cultural offerings’. Which is cool.
But I know that for many residents, the city’s most heavily marketed ‘cultural offerings’ don’t necessarily line up with what they’d consider real Dundonian culture.
There’s a thin but tangible divide between the ‘culture’ that is here organically, and the ‘culture’ that is superimposed on to the city’s identity by the funnelling of money into stuff that looks good from the outside.
If Passion Park proves to be as successful as the hype suggests, perhaps the powers that be will finally learn to prioritise the culture that comes from their city’s people and their passions – not propaganda.
And maybe instead of trying to create an new cultural identity for the city, they might invest in the lively, vibrant subcultures and communities that are already here.
Or maybe not.
Either way, I can’t wait to get my skates on.
REBECCA BAIRD: Excitement over Dundee skate park proves ‘culture’ is people power – not a council buzzword
6
0
23.03.2024
On a sunny day in Dundee, the city has an unmistakable soundtrack.
Wheels.
Whether it’s the rattle of skateboards scraping along the benches outside the Overgate, the rumble of rollerskates round Janetta’s at Slessor Gardens, whooshing BMXs by the McManus or scooters skidding along past Baxter Park pavilion, Dundonians love a wheel.
It’s something that first attracted me to the city almost ten years ago now. The huddles of whooping skaters gave the place a vibrancy that I thought was lost to 90s music videos.
And when I moved here, I found a lot of entertainment in watching the beanie-clad crews trying out their tricks while the rest of the city centre went about its business.
Back when The Factory, Dundee’s last indoor skating facility, closed in 2019, it was a blow to a huge number of people.
They lost a big part of their lives which helped them learn a skill, improve their fitness and – most importantly – find a community.
Yet amazingly, the community has only grown in the meantime, partly thanks to........
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