Ken-Kel Park Speed World - Coos Bay OR

Skatepark added to Race-themed attraction park

Throughout the 70's, there were numerous outdoor recreation parks that experimented with skateboarding, but  the first half of Summer 1977 saw a huge surge in them.  Canyon Country in California, Big Bear in Massachusettes, Park Ro-She in Utah, and Speed World in Oregon all opened within two weeks of one another between June and July of 1977.

Speed World was a part of Ken-Kel Park, a dirt track speedway constructed in 1972.  The park featured Sand Drag racing, Motocross, and demolition derby, as well as stock car racing on its paved quarter-mile track.  On the first of July 1977, the family entertainment side of the park opened, adding an arcade, bumper cars, go-karts, dining, children's play area, and a skatepark.

The Speedworld skatepark was a simple horseshoe-shaped bowl that averaged six feet in depth, but which included vert extensions. It had inner and outer sections for flow.  The skatepark remained out in the open until the 1990's, even after the park shifted back to being purely a raceway.