The year was the summer of 2008, if I remember corectly. The skate scene in Riga was pretty much skatepark oriented. Instead of developing plazas, squares and public parks,The generous European union investment in the country cursed us with bunch of those plywood zoos, trying to feed us the absurd mentality that skateboarding, bmx and rollerblading are the the same thing, and it’s just natural for us to be locked in a controlled environment and have fun all together.
The idea of building something in the town started in 2018 when Jon Aguirregomezcorta was skating alone in Eibar, Basque Country a similar situation as the skaters from the surrounding towns; he thought in his mind: “If graffiti writers can go painting in those abandoned factories to produce their pieces, why am I not going to build some ramps?!”
I’ve been involved in DIY projects in Estonia, but the fact that these guys can organise skaters (!!!) to be on the spot before 7:30 AM and ready to shovel on a weekend, is something else. The DIY spirit is strong with this bunch, hats off to you guys.