Skaters Organize to Help Expand Kingshighway Skatepark
Categories: Community
Not-for-profit organizations normally choose vanilla-sounding names in order to attract (or at least not scare off) potential donors. As the name indicates, Kingshighway Vigilante Tranny (KHVT for short) is not a normal not-for-profit organization.
The group -- whose name references a type of skate ramp -- was founded earlier this summer by a group of St. Louis skaters hoping to improve and expand the relatively new skatepark located under the Kingshighway bridge, near Manchester Avenue in south city.
The park was named the "Best Place to Skate" in the RFT's 2010 Best of St. Louis issue but Tim Jamison, a member of the organization's board of directors, says there's still room for improvement. Tonight the group is hosting a project fundraiser at the St. Louis Skatium.
"The place was started by some eighteen-year-old kid who threw some QuickCrete against some jersey bariers and it's since evolved into a full-blown real skate park," Jamison says. "The upper end of the skatepark is close to being a complete bowl, there's actually three corners and another vert wall is going to be added very soon. It's going to be an enclosed bowl. That's the next step right now."
Before the group achieved 501(c)(3) status, they hosted events at the Skatium and the Gramophone where supporters of the local skate scene could offer financial contributions. Now, Jamison says, "people can actually donate and get the real write-off."
"Our first goal was to raise enough to pay to IRS," Jamison adds. "We've acheived that but now the coffers are pretty low. We're trying to raise enough cash to do a [concrete] pour in the third week of October down at the bridge."
While expanding the Kingshighway park is the current focus their eventual goal is to build new skate parks across the city.
Here's the flyer for tonight's event. Additional info on their website: kingshighwayskateboarding.blogspot.com
The group -- whose name references a type of skate ramp -- was founded earlier this summer by a group of St. Louis skaters hoping to improve and expand the relatively new skatepark located under the Kingshighway bridge, near Manchester Avenue in south city.
The park was named the "Best Place to Skate" in the RFT's 2010 Best of St. Louis issue but Tim Jamison, a member of the organization's board of directors, says there's still room for improvement. Tonight the group is hosting a project fundraiser at the St. Louis Skatium.
"The place was started by some eighteen-year-old kid who threw some QuickCrete against some jersey bariers and it's since evolved into a full-blown real skate park," Jamison says. "The upper end of the skatepark is close to being a complete bowl, there's actually three corners and another vert wall is going to be added very soon. It's going to be an enclosed bowl. That's the next step right now."
Before the group achieved 501(c)(3) status, they hosted events at the Skatium and the Gramophone where supporters of the local skate scene could offer financial contributions. Now, Jamison says, "people can actually donate and get the real write-off."
"Our first goal was to raise enough to pay to IRS," Jamison adds. "We've acheived that but now the coffers are pretty low. We're trying to raise enough cash to do a [concrete] pour in the third week of October down at the bridge."
While expanding the Kingshighway park is the current focus their eventual goal is to build new skate parks across the city.
Here's the flyer for tonight's event. Additional info on their website: kingshighwayskateboarding.blogspot.com
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