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Email me your comments and I'll put them in the Guestbook.
Apple Skatepark, no way! This is Mark Peters. I used to skate with Brett Martin back in the day. Some of the pictures that say Brett Martin unknown are the pics that I took! Anyway, I live in Florida and still skate. I could not believe it when I saw pics of myself in the Egg Pool and the Two Thirds Pipe, and the pics of all the guys and my bud Brett. Unreal! Well, anyway, it is a cool site, and Apple was the best, no question about it. Hope to see updates soon. Later.—Mark Peters, 10-31-07
Awesome site! It brought back so many memories. I actually went to school with Gene Golberg’s son. They lived a couple of blocks from my house. Gene made his money from his old company, Charlie’s Chips. It was a pretty big potato chip company back in the day. His son convinced him Columbus needed a skateboard park, and voila! My favorite part of Apple was getting up a bunch of speed and launching out of the L. Thanks for all the pix and keeping Apple alive.—Brian Farst, Hollywood, California, 7-19-07
Are you still looking for Apple photos? If so, I cant wait to dig them up and send them to you. Apple Skatepark opens, Apple Skatepark closes. That was the best day and the worst day of my life! Keep the dream alive and, as always, keep skating!—Michael P. Joos, 7-7-07
My enthusiasm is starting to dwindle. The owner left me standing on the sidewalk waiting for an hour only to not show or phone. I have been unable to reach him to see why he was unable to meet me. While I was waiting, I started to snoop around. It appears the clothing company utilizes the park area as a storage area. I am not totally sure how much of the building the park occupied while it was in business. A closer look at the brochure reveals it appeared to be 250 feet from the North side toward the South. The city tax on the building is currently approx $75,000 per year, from what I was told. I still intend to walk the interior and photograph it, if possible.
As you may know, skateboarding and BMX is a tough sell to property owners and managers. My discouragement is not from the amount of work that would be necessary to reveal the park, or the money, although I admit both should be plenty enough to make me run in the opposite direction. Simply not knowing what the bowls were filled in with is concerning. Secondly, the weight of the new floor pressing on the bowls has become most concerning, added in with possible lime damage.
Over the weekend, I saw an article in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper talking about local area skateparks. I wish I could get the city of Columbus onboard with the concept of a revival. The city of Columbus will not allow BMX bikes to ride these parks. I am finding this subject difficult, but far from dead. (It is a Monday.) I want to continue to obtain information, such as the material used to fill in the bowls, blueprints and whatever else I can find. We will be trying through the local library and city records. My thought is that this information may be useful a few years down the road.
Thank you so much for replying to all of my letters. You are truly a gentleman as well as an icon in so many areas of your sport, as well as outside of this circle. If you have any suggestions, comments or an extra $250,000 to place toward the cause, please let me know (LOL). In conclusion, I unfortunately don’t see how one could obtain the property and unveil Apple Skatepark all for little to no return on the investment. (I will be sending pictures soon.)—Mark J Sisk, 6-4-07
Today, I spoke with the building owner. I will be meeting with him on Thursday, May 31 to walk through the building. He thought that the pools were jackhammered out. The information I have read does not indicate that at all. Garry, please accept my apologies if I am bothering you with this information. I am just super psyched at the possibility of being a part of bringing the big Apple back to life.—Mark J Sisk, 5-29-07
First, let me start by saying how shocked and pleased that you have taken the time to make all of this information available. I started racing BMX bikes in about 1982. I concluded my racing career in 1985 due to an injury. During that time, I met a guy named Gregg Billingsly, who now is a part-owner in a skate / bike facility on Groves Road in Columbus. We both ride concrete skate facilities when we’re not being forced to leave by local police departments who do not understand bikes do not destroy concrete.
I mentioned Apple Skatepark to him. He also never visited, but he had also heard lots of information regarding the park. We were wondering what happened to the park? (Why did it close? Is it still there? What was the location? And so on.) Some of this information is covered and some not. At this time, I am wondering who designed it and who built it? Also, how was it funded? If you have time, I would certainly appreciate a response. I can easily be reached via cell phone to discuss the above information. Thank you for any help you may provide.—Mark J Sisk, 5-26-07
Hey GSD—Mike Earley here. It’s been a long time. Hope life is good. Mine is great. I’m old and fat, but I still go to the D.O. banks on occasion. It’s good that Apple lives on, if only in memory. Gotta go now. Later.—Mike Earley, 5-8-07
I skated with Mark “Chin” Noland this past Sunday. That dude is still ripping. You can find current pics of Mark on his friend Ron’s MySpace page. Mark is in his top friends if you want to contact him.—Chad Hart, 4-23-07
I loved discovering this web site. Apple Skatepark was just a dream from my childhood. I went there while tagging along with older kids in the neighborhood and loved it, and it’s great to see photos. It left a lasting impression on me, and I still skate. In fact, I just bought a longboard that I cruise around suburbia on, care of Old Skool skate shop in Westerville. Thanks to Rich for giving me his old Alva deck back in the ‘70s and letting me tag along with him and his crew!—Brian Boyles, 3-6-07
Hey GSD—You probably don't remember me, but I remember meeting you in California back in the day at Todd Swank’s house, where you were staying at the time. I also had a chance to skate at Apple Skatepark for one afternoon, on my very first trip to the U.S. as an exchange student. (I'm originally from Brazil / Europe.) It was indeed a great park, and I remember its surface being unlike anything I'd ever seen. Besides being ultra smooth, it seemed to have a somewhat brushed finish, with some sort of varnish layer on top.
The day I was there, it felt perfect--grippy enough for the wheels but slippery on the pads. I may be wrong, but I haven't seen anything built like that since, and a lot of today's parks would certainly benefit from having it. (If you know what it was, let me know.) Also, I read somewhere that the kidney bowl was 12 feet deep. Is that true? In my memory, the bowls were not that deep, even though they had fast tranny and a lot of vert.
Someone also told me back then that there was a waterpipe system underneath the bowls and that they couldn't build them deeper because of it. Must have been a lot of fun growing up riding Apple Skatepark. I remember seeing a local kid riding a Duane Peters board--I think his name was Chris Phillips--doing rock fakies and fakie ollies in the keyhole, on what seemed to be three feet of vert. It was the sickest thing I'd ever seen then.—Dan Bourqui, 3-1-07
My name is Geron. I found Tim finally. I have not seen him in, like, 27 years. Tim, Bill and myself used to terrorize Huntington, West Virginia in the ‘70s. Can you tell me how I can get a hold of him? Thanks.—Geron Walters, 1-29-07