RUTLAND, Ohio - A steel arch looms above the dirt-road entrance reading Skatopia - with anarchy symbols in place of the A's. It's impossible to mistake the former cattle farm for anything other than a skateboarder's paradise.
Skatopia, an 88-acre skateboarding park founded by Brewce Martin, sits 30 minutes south of Athens in rural Rutland, but its notoriety is spreading in spite of its isolated location.
The park has been featured on MTV's Viva La Bam, Rolling Stone magazine and in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2. This summer, 88 Acres of Anarchy, a feature-length documentary about Skatopia, premiered and for the first time, Skatopia merchandise is available from outside of the park.
But the increased visibility hasn't changed Skatopia's purpose, Martin said.
It's the constant evolution of the thought process of a child. It's all about living your dream
he said.
Martin, a professional skateboarder who also helped build the Athens Skate Park, bought the property for Skatopia in 1995 and has turned the former cattle farm into a landmark skate park, designing every aspect of the course from the bowls to the half-pipe.
Skaters from around the U.S. and more than 27 other countries flock to the park for annual Bowl Bashes or just to see Skatopia for themselves. When they arrive, Martin has seven shacks to house them and acres for camping.
There's a lot of places for people to stay. One thing you learn is if you give people a place to stay they are much more likely to work he said. You can feed them
too
and in the real world
they call those food stamps
but here we call that a trade for good hard labor.
One skater from Detroit, Bryon Konvict Estep, has been working with Martin since 2000.
I've worked on most everything here
said Estep, who lives at Skatopia. We're just like hippies
only instead of flowers and candy
we'll kick your ass and burn your car.
The money for workers' food and the concrete and other materials needed to build the skate park come from donations, a few corporate sponsors and the sale of skateboarding products. The on-site skateboarding museum is a registered nonprofit and houses more than 2,000 boards from the 1960s through today. Martin expects more revenue from a Holiday 2009 partnership with Volcom.
T-shirts, hoodies and socks with the Skatopia logo are currently a part of Volcom's Stone Age line, which is distributed exclusively to skateboarding shops, said Remy Stratton, vice president of skateboarding at Volcom, who added that this is the first official merchandise collaboration with Skatopia. Volcom does not have plans to continue carrying Skatopia products.
Martin, however, has plans for that money. He and his crew recently tore down the King Dong half pipe and are trying to complete an addition to the Lula bowl by Oct. 31 for the annual Halloween Birthday Bash, which will pay homage to Skatopia's 14th anniversary and its founder's 44th birthday.
Even though Estep predicted the Halloween Bash will be hell - featuring flames, beer and general mayhem - Martin has insisted that Skatopia is more than just a place for a good time.
People understand there's a lot more to do than just hang out and smoke joints and drink your beer. I'm on a mission
Martin. I'm building a skateboarding monument that will be here for 1
