Archaeologists to excavate Glasgow skatepark – with help from skaters

The Guardian

3 hours ago

Scotland's first outdoor skatepark – currently buried beneath rubble in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park – will be excavated next week in an attempt to preserve its legacy.
Archaeologists at the University of Glasgow are inviting volunteers to join them as they begin their excavation and survey work at the former Kelvin Wheelies park, which has been underground for more than three decades.
Incorporating a dual slalom run, half-pipe and runoff bowls, Kelvin Wheelies was considered a radical design when it opened in May 1978, hosting the first Scottish Skateboard Championships later that year and attracting pro-skaters from across the UK.
But a dip in popularity, coinciding with concerns about maintenance and safety, led to its closure in 1984, and now only a few top sections of concrete remain visible at the site, which is overgrown with trees and shrubs.
Dr Kenny Brophy, senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Glasgow and project leader, said the excavation, which is in partnership with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, was a unique opportunity to explore part of the city's modern sporting heritage.
'Glasgow city council spent £100,000 building it, which was a large investment at the time and it was designed with skaters in mind, and for teenagers who were involved in an activity that many people deemed to be antisocial and marginal,' he said.
While skateboarding will become a mandatory Olympic sport for the first time at the 2028 summer games, having been discretionary in 2020 and 2024, back then it was 'a really important grassroots sport that engaged hundreds of young people'.
Next week's field work, using hand tools rather than heavy machinery, will dig trenches to expose area of the concrete and hopefully some original 80s graffiti.
'In the same way as if you were excavating a round barrel from the bronze age, you want to extract as much information as possible from an achievable area,' Brophy said.
Brophy, along with students and volunteers from Archaeology Scotland's New Audiences programme, will also be digging with former park users. 'It's such a rare opportunity for an archeologist that we'll be digging the site with people that used it,' he said. 'We'll have skateboarders on site who used the park as teenagers and will be re-living that experience at the end of a trowel.'
Jamie Blair, owner of Glasgow-based skateboarding shop Clan Skates and a former Scottish skateboard champion, will be one of them.
'When Kelvin Wheelies opened in 1978, skaters from all over the UK flocked to this radical new facility. A park team was formed and for the next few years Glasgow was the dominant force in Scottish skateboarding,' said Blair. 'I'm thrilled that through this project we have a chance to rediscover it.'