The first question you need to ask yourself is what type of equipment does the project need? -
Steel, concrete, wood, a mix – for use indoor/outdoor?
You can go on any Internet website search engine and type in ‘skatepark ramp companies’ ‘skatepark equipment manufacturers’ etc and get pages of mainly American based websites. To save a lot of time trawling all the sites, it would be a good bet to do some research in advance on skateparks in the UK - based on sites you have either visited or seen in magazines. Magazines usually have listings of where the skateparks are so you should easily find a telephone number for them (if it’s a privately run one) or directory enquiries will give you the Council phone number of the town where the skatepark is.
If you visit other skateparks and are already using different types of equipment, you will know what would be ideal for your site.
Telephone, and ask the following:
Find out which Ramp Company they used, their name, address, phone number, email, website etc, then:
Ask how much the whole project cost, how long the project took and how the money was raised. Who designed the layout?
Ask how well the Ramp Company performed whilst delivering and installing it. Were they on time or was there a delay? Ask what the delay was.
Ask how old their skate park is and what made them decide on the ramps they have (the materials used). Ask if the ramps are wearing well after use. If there were any teething problems, did the Company respond quickly and effectively to sort them out?
You will find Council Officials or skatepark personnel will be happy to tell you all these things. Ask them if they are happy to recommend the Company they used to install the ramps, and why? If they do not want to recommend them, ask them why not? They will not mind answering all these questions because they will be aware you will potentially be spending a large sum of money and they are in a position to put you in the picture of any deals/experiences/problems etc they had. Some Ramp Companies offer special financial payment arrangements, particularly for Councils.
We do not personally recommend a Ramp Company as we would like to remain unbiased so that we can supply sound, general information only. We have just gone through the experience of having a street course installed in Weymouth and will give feedback in due course. Please see the photographs of the installation on the Radipole Funseekers pages.
Contact: dk@great-to-skate.co.uk if you have any queries.