There are millions of skateboarders who feel just like pro Rob Dyrdek *.

"I'm getting tired of getting tickets and running from the cops,' Dyrdek says, only half joking.

For all of the skate parks built in Southern California *, none is like the one that will be dedicated next week in Kettering, Ohio *. The 29- year-old San Diego * resident conceived, designed and raised nearly all of the funds to build a 39,000- square-foot skate plaza *. The Rob Dyrdek-DC Shoes * Skate Plaza will open next week in Dyrdek's hometown, near Cincinnati.

"For the most part, it was pretty simple,' Dyrdek says of the plaza, which has none of the bowls and boxes found at a typical skate park. "It was a question of finding a place for street skaters. There is none.'

The problem, Dyrdek says, is that for all of the bowls, hips, quarterpipes and halfpipes * found in a city's skate park, a lot more skateboarders can be found riding benches, rails, steps and picnic benches at schools, businesses, parks or on the streets.

A survey conducted by Board- Trac says 78 percent of all skateboarders 10 million riders prefer riding on the street; nearly all skateboard videos originate from street scenes.

"There's no place to go, no doubt about it,' Dyrdek says.

Dyrdek has been characterized as the personification of urban skateboarding by Playboy magazine. He turned pro when he was 16, only four years after receiving his first board. He has skated off and on again in competitions, and has concentrated solely on the street scene.

Yet, he says he cannot figure out why it took a city in Ohio even if it is his hometown to come up with the ideal skate plaza; he says he and his foundation donated more than $250,000 to create the plaza.

"God forbid, I'm just a pro skateboarder,' he says. "I'm not supposed to know anything about skate parks or designs?'

The Kettering park includes rails, stairs, ledges, boxes and a lot of grass.

Dyrdek's foundation has been in very preliminary negotiations with the cities of San Diego and Long Beach to build a park; many within Long Beach's Parks and Recreation department said they had not talked to anyone at the foundation. Dyrdek says that he would be willing to lend his time and skills for the creation of a plaza anywhere in Southern California, and could help find the finances for one, too.

"All the good places to skate are long gone,' Dyrdek says of Southern California. "The skate plaza is very personal to me because I know all skateboarders suffer the same pain that I suffer each day trying to street skate. There is not one place in the entire United States * where I could go legally skate real street, and there are fewer and fewer places, period.

"Skateboarding is getting choked by people that simply don't understand it. Skateboarders are sick of getting tickets and watching every good skate spot get skate-proofed or destroyed. The future of skateboarding relies on having places to do it.'

Dyrdek took his favorite spots and incorporated them into his Kettering design. There are wide concrete slabs like at Pier 7 in San Francisco *, L.A. Department of Water and Power-like benches, a gap similar to one on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile area and a ledge grass spot similar to one in Barcelona *.

But at first, it was not quite what he expected. He knew nothing about architecture and design. He underestimated his original design by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

He started by photographing and measuring his favorite spots.

"I have a 100-page reference book,' he says. "I have details down to the last minute. Designing something like this is like creating your skateboarding dreams one hit at a time. It was a long and sometimes grueling process, but the ultimate fantasy is finally becoming the ultimate reality.'

He says he was frustrated, at times, but the dream made him an eager architect.

"I had to do it,' he says of learning about concept drawing.

One of the foundation's goals is to build skate spots instead of skate parks, a move it says is less expensive. It hopes to create partnerships between potential donors and cities.

The foundation also thinks that the plaza concept will be ideal for cities because it will attract skaters who can legally use the park, and will be available for video and manufacturer shoots, creating a tourism industry. Because of its design, it would also be ideal for picnics, concerts and plays.

This article was originally entitled "Creating an oasis of street action for real skaters" and was found at http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/ 0,1413,207~29581~2658827,00.html

Search this site for more about Rob Dyrdek DC Shoes Skate Plaza... *