Skateboarders and cops don’t always have the best relationships, even when there aren’t explicit rules against skateboarding on the books. But what if it didn’t have to be that way?
A new fellowship of skaters in Covington is trying to carve out designated spaces for skaters around the city, ease the local DIY skater community’s interactions with the police and maybe bring about some overall neighborhood improvements.
“All of my life up until now, here [in Covington] especially, it’s always felt like a criminalized thing,” said Sam Phillips, a Covington skater who first began developing the idea of the fellowship.
Phillips has dubbed the idea the S.P.O.T.S. Fellowship. The word is an acronym for Safe Places Offering Transitions for Skaters (although, as we’ll see, other people are welcome, too) and a reference to skaters’ habits of finding, well, spots around town with features ideal for skating.
Phillips has traveled widely and said he first developed the idea after observing how other cities had created spaces for skaters that were organically integrated into the cities’ geography. Seattle and Vancouver were a couple of his go-to examples.
“I started really seeing how cities were just incorporating a lot of places to skate within the city,” Phillips said, “not necessarily like a park but creating spaces that were friendly to skaters, something that anybody could be in.”
Phillips is also civically active – he’s a frequent sight at Covington city meetings – and has already been making inroads with local elected leadership and the police. One Covington Commissioner, Tim Acri, is even a skater himself.
“When Sam presented the S.P.O.T.S. idea to me, I thought it was amazing,” Acri said. “I mean, I grew up skateboarding, as well. I still skateboard. I have a skateboard in the back of my truck right now, actually.”
Covington doesn’t have a lot of unoccupied space, plus, the city’s budgetary stresses, Acri said, would likely prevent the building of a city-sponsored skate park. Still, by designating off dedicated spaces in the city, police and skaters could avoid unnecessary conflict.
Phillips presented his idea to some of the city commissioners, the mayor, police and other city departmental leadership late last year. The city didn’t seem opposed to the idea. What’s more, DIY projects like the S.P.O.T.S. have a precursor in the region in the form the Newport DIY, located under the I-471 overpass near Newport High School. Skaters often simply refer to it as “the bridge.”
“As opposed to the city trying to find funds for a multi-million dollar skate park, this could be a project where it’s more grassroots,” said Derek Toebbe, artist and skater who was heavily involved in the Newport DIY and who is now helping Phillips get the S.P.O.T.S. up and running.
The DIY ethos is a big part of skating culture—the Newport DIY was built by skaters themselves. The key difference between the S.P.O.T.S. and the Newport DIY, Toebbe said, was that the Covington project would be more open and more seamlessly integrated into the community. Models already exist abroad, most notably in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“You could use reclaimed materials,” Toebbe said. “You could make it half garden, half skate spot, but sort of open use for the public.”
Overall, the point is to make safe community gathering spaces, where even people who aren’t skating can gather, interact, make art or just sit and talk.
“I want these spaces to be a place where people can sit and take a breath and even meditate, or even be inspired,” Phillips said. Skaters tend to keep the areas they frequent clean, he added, because it makes it safer to skate. As a result, the spots would not only “beautify” the surrounding area, he said, but also improve pedestrian safety.
“We should be able to trust our law enforcement,” Phillips said. “And one of the things that I want to do is … reimagine and rewrite what this relationship is between cops and skaters and in general people who are just trying to get around town.”
Phillips and the rest of the fellowship have identified some spots around town that could serve ideal sites; some are already well-known among skaters. You can get more details at samueltphillips.com/s-p-o-t-s-project.
Want to join the Fellowship of the S.P.O.T.S.? Send an email to covingtonkyspots@gmail.com