The Ann Arbor Skatepark Action Committee has secured a pledge from Washtenaw County for matching funds for a skatepark it is working to build at Veteran's Memorial Park in Ann Arbor.

I thought I'd give some some background to this effort by finding contemporary accounts of skateboarding in the area, including some of the struggles to make it safe and legal. This is a tremendously incomplete account, missing all of the self-published local skate literature, yet it still illustrates several important phases of Ann Arbor skateboard culture.

Sally Banes' "Terpsichore in sneakers: post-modern dance" gives an account of a 1966 dance performance by Tricia Brown. "In 1966, Brown performed A String. The piece was exactly that, a string of three dances, Motor (1965), Homemade (1965), and Inside (1966). Motor, originally done in a parking lot in Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Once Again Festival, was a duet for Brown on a skateboard (which provided the time structure) and an unrehearsed driver in a Volkswagen (whose headlights provided the lighting)."

Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 6, No. 4, 252-254 (1967) (DOI: 10.1177/00099228670060042) publishes Stanley Schuman's "Skateboard injuries in a campus community". Schuman traces an outbreak of adolescent injuries in the spring of 1965 to "the profiteering dealer who sold the first 500 skateboards to sororities as party favors".

Claire V. Korn's "Alternative American schools: ideals in action" describes the scene in front of Community High School in 1984. "The 293 students won't be found together at any one time, however. Outside the front door a longhaired boy swoops back and forth on a skateboard while two friends examine a parked motorcycle. A girl with pink and blue punk rock hair laughs at a friend adorned with a black-lapelled white tuxedo jacket, faded blue jeans, and a khaki hat."

The April 7, 1988 Toledo Blade reports that Toledo is looking into building a municipal skate park; it notes that Ann Arbor built a skateboarding ramp at a cost of $18,000, but the city does not carry insurance against lawsuits from injuries from skateboarders. The page 12 photo shows Brian Logan of Toledo catching some air.

On July 5, 1988, Ann Arbor enacted City Ordinance 20-88 prohibiting skateboarding.

The Southeast Missourian of Sept. 21, 1988, also makes note of the Ann Arbor facility, in the context of a story in which a Missouri insurance carrier advises Cape Girardeau, Mo., not to build a skatepark because of liability concerns.

Ann Arbor City Council minutes of April 26, 1995 show that parks superintendent Ron Olson announced that the skate park at Veterans Park would be closed due to low usage.

Ann Arbor City Council minutes, June 16, 1997, show the city amending skateboard regulations. Ordinance 30-97 clarifies the procedures for the release of an impounded skateboard and removes the designation of a maximum fine for skateboard violations.

10:149. Skateboards. The City Council may by resolution designate locations and times in which skateboards may not be operated on sidewalks or other public property. (See Resolution R-412-7-88). The restrictions contained in any such resolution shall be posted in signs within the area designated by the resolution. No person shall operate a skateboard contrary to the terms of the resolution. A police officer apprehending a person for violating this section may impound the skateboard. The skateboard shall be released by the Police Department only after payment of the fine and costs and upon proper identification. Persons 18 years of age or older must produce proof of payment of the fine and costs and proof of proper identification. Persons under the age of 18 must produce proof of payment of the fine and costs and must appear at the police department with a parent or guardian; however, if no such parent or guardian resides in the city, the owner of the skateboard must provide a letter from a parent or guardian requesting that it be released. (Ord. No. 20-88, § 1, 7-5-88; Ord. No. 30-97, § 12, 6-16-97)

A Sept. 23, 1997 Michigan Daily story, "A2 skaters launch political campaign," foreshadows the current organizing efforts.

After racking up a mountain of fines and confiscated skateboards in recent years, local skaters are getting political. Local skaters have banded together to try to change city and University policies that they say make Ann Arbor an inhospitable place for skateboarders. The skaters plan on organizing a petition, lobbying the Ann Arbor City Council and conducting a public relations campaign to loosen the policies. "We're going to try to get organized, but it's going to take a lot of work," said Aaron Blumhardt, a skater who works at Amer's Deli on S. State Street. "Part of our lifestyle is a lack of organization."

2000-2004 University of Michigan Skateboard, Roller Blade Citations compiled by Dug Song shows 970 calls for violations of Article VIII ("Skateboards, Roller Blades, Roller Skates") of the University Regents Ordinance. A typical entry: "Verbal warning given to subject skating down the steps of Crisler arena."

Edward Vielmetti would do wicked ollies for AnnArbor.com if he only knew how.