Skatopia

Skatopia is an eighty-eight acre skatepark near Rutland, Ohio owned and operated by pro skater Brewce Martin. Skatopia is known for its anarchist atmosphere and annual music festivals Bowl Bash and Backwoods Blowout. It was described by one writer as "a demented mess that meets halfway between an anarchistic Mad Maxian Thunderdome and a utopian skateboard society."FacilitiesStructures include Lula Bowl, Epcot Bean, Church of Skatin', The Full Pipe, the Amity Whitelight Amphitheatre, the Skateboard Museum and, formerly, King Dong.HistoryMartin says he built the original Skatopia in 1977 at his parents' basement using closet doors, particle board, and other odds and ends. In 1979, he built his first quarter pipe. In the eighties, he continued building skate ramps, even after moving to Florida in 1988 to attend university. Years following, Martin would tour the world skateboarding before revisiting his dream of Skatopia.Early years (1995–2003)Martin moved back to West Virginia in 1995 where he started work on a permanent Skatopia on leased land at Progress Ridge near Parkersburg. During that October, Skatopia was forced out from West Virginia. Within seven days, Martin found an alternative location in nearby Meigs County, Ohio, signed a land contract to purchase the land and with a cohort of friends moved the entire ramp complex to the site. During this time, the group formed the CIA, or Citizens Instigating Anarchy, where fifty friends donated money to cover the down payment on the final resting place of Skatopia. In 2003 a writer from TransWorld Skateboarding described Skatopia as "88 Acres of Pure Skateboarding Anarchy", a term that stuck and was shortened and used as the subtitle of a later documentary.