Bowes Lyon Skatepark - Stevenage: VIDEOS

HELP SAVE BOWES LYON 1970s SKATEPARK, STEVENAGE, UK Mar 26, 2024 HELP SAVE BOWES LYON 1970s SKATEPARK, STEVENAGE, UK https://www.change.org/p/save-bowes-lyon-1970s-skatepark-stevenage Started by Tom McDougall "Historic ‘Bowes Lyon Skatepark’ in Stevenage is under threat of demolition (again). Plans for the new Sports and Leisure Centre and car park currently include potentially using the site of the 1970s skatepark to build on. Bowes Lyon was one of the first outdoor concrete skateparks built in Europe and is one of a handful of skateparks from this era still in existence worldwide. It has many significant stylistic and architectural period features including; a half pipe with no flat-bottom, a large, banked reservoir area, a (currently buried) bowl inspired by 1950s North American/Finnish swimming pools, and a ‘clover’ bowl with a large wall extension which, to my knowledge is unique internationally. The park has played an important role in UK counterculture over more than four decades hosting visits from U.S skate and BMX pros and holding demo events including from the legendary Bones Brigade. Aside from all of the above, “Bowes” is still used and loved by a huge number of visitors of all ages and demographics and provides as much as ever, a haven for skateboarders, BMX, Scooter, inline and roller skaters. I first visited this wonderful place aged 10 - to this day my friends and I still skate it regularly during summer months (now in our 40s). The aim of this petition is to call for Stevenage Borough Council to preserve Bowes Lyon Skatepark in its entirety and to ask that they ensure that plans for the new Sports and Leisure Centre are adapted so they do not encroach on the site of this historic skatepark in any way, allowing it to continue to be used and enjoyed by future generations. Please sign and share." https://www.change.org/p/save-bowes-lyon-1970s-skatepark-stevenage Video clip: Richard Brown, Stevenage Skatepark, 1993. Filmed by Lincoln Blacksley