Student film tells history of skateboarding in State College, while supporting its future

State College is most known for being a college town, built around Penn State and its large sports complexes, but what some might not know is that the ever-changing area has a rich history in one extreme sport — skateboarding.

John Marenic, a senior studying marketing at Penn State, received a grant from Converse to direct a film showcasing the community of skateboarders that has developed over the decades in State College.

“Making It Work: State College Skateboarding Documentary” features archived videos of local skateboarders and interviews with a few past members of the skateboarding community to tell the story of how the sport got popular in the area. The film is available to watch at thrashermagazine.com.

A skateboarder himself, Marenic said when he moved to State College for school, he realized the skateboarding scene exists mainly on the streets, where it’s illegal.

Without a local skate park, Marenic said most skateboarders have “nowhere to go.”

The closest outdoor skate park to State College is Tussey Mountain Skate Park in Boalsburg, but Marenic said he and his friends will sometimes drive to Altoona to skate at SK814 Action Sports Park, which is about a 45-minute drive from Penn State.

When will State College get a skate park?

While the film’s main storyline focuses on the history of skateboarding in the area, Marenic and videographer Ben Wentz highlighted the recent efforts made to build a skate park in State College.

Since 2018, the project has been making its way to becoming a reality. Former, local and professional skateboarders have collaborated with the borough and New Line Skateparks, a skate park construction and design team, to build State College’s first-ever all-wheel skate park designed for skateboards, BMX bikes, roller blades and more. It would be located at High Point Park, off Whitehall Road.

As of now, according to Gordon Kauffman, a lead volunteer for the skate park, he and his fellow volunteers have raised $1.06 million, which includes a $30,000 grant from the foundation of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Their goal is to reach $1.5 million by March to secure a spot in New Line Skateparks’ 2023 construction schedule. Otherwise, the project will have to wait another year.

The volunteer committee is working to secure more grants, and they are also still accepting donations through their website, highpointskatepark.com.

If all goes as planned, Kauffman said the three-month construction process could start as early as August, and he said he feels “confident” that’ll happen.

“The real need is creating something unique and something that doesn’t currently exist for the kids in the community,” Kauffman said.

Growing a sense of community

Jake Johnson, a professional skateboarder who grew up practicing his skills in the 2000s in State College, is featured in Marenic’s film, which incorporates archived videos of his early tricks on Penn State’s campus and his experiences with skateboarding in an area where not many people approve of the sport.

“Not everybody understands skateboarding, but I think everybody understands having a community,” Johnson said.

This sense of community between skateboarders is something Johnson believes will grow with the construction of the skate park.

Johnson, who is also a co-founder of the downtown IQ Skateshop, has had a hand in the design and layout of the park, taking inspiration from urban landscapes and parks like Love Park in Philadelphia.

From his experience, Johnson said an open area with obstacles, rails and ledges, rather than large concrete structures, creates a space for free-flowing collaboration where skaters and bikers can “coexist.”

To him, skateboarding is as much an art form as it is a sport — he compares it to graffiti — and he wants the open, urban design to showcase that.

“I wouldn’t even call it a sport to a certain degree because it’s a performance,” Johnson said. “It’s a performance that sort of came from that interaction with these obstacles and with this infrastructure.

“It is important for skaters to have a place to practice as the art form develops more into a sport.”

Wentz, who has been skateboarding for nearly 30 years and also noted the need for street-style architecture, provided many of the archived videos for Marenic’s film and acts as a “liaison” between the skate park committee members and the local skateboarding scene.

Growing up in State College, Wentz said he wanted to become a professional skateboarder, but he was missing a safe place to practice his skills and get recognized by other professionals in the industry.

“It means a lot to have a legal place for the community now to see that skateboarding isn’t a bad thing,” Wentz said. “It’s a place they can take their kids, and their kids aren’t going to be corrupted, and they’re going to be safe, and they’re developing an important skill for life.”

As far as the future for the short film, Wentz said the plan is to make an hourlong documentary to premiere at The State Theatre this spring to engage more of the community in the history of skateboarding and the construction of the skate park.

And for the next fundraising step for the park, Wentz said the volunteers are hosting an event at Camp Woodward, an extreme sports complex about 40 minutes away from State College, from 4-9 p.m. on Feb. 24.

With the film and fundraising working in tandem to rally excitement behind the new park, Kauffman said he wants people to realize how “deep-rooted” the community is tied to skateboarding.

“I truly believe it’s going to be unique,” Kauffman said, “something that is going to blow people’s minds.”