Scott Winton – the catalyst
In Santa Teresa, New Mexico, a few miles north of El Paso, Texas, Winton Homes began developing a new subdivision called Edgemont.
“From a business standpoint, our goal is to make as many homes as we can on the land and sell them.” says owner Scott Winton.
Winton also understands the landscape of why people might buy a home: “We wanted to add a basketball court, a playground and a small skatepark.” he said.
Photo credit: El Paso Development News
Ditch design
Through a series of meetings with the developer and the EPSA, it was resolved that the top 80 feet of the concrete ditch could be built as skateable terrain.
EPSA was able to modify the existing ditch template into a skatepark friendly design.
During the process we had to keep in mind that the ditch needed to be designed for its original purpose which was moving water.
In the end, the contractor agreed to build escalating 3 to 5 foot radius walls down the ditch and bowl ends at the top where water flow would not be affected.
Bain Construction
Jim from Bain Construction was the man in charge. Dude’s got a reputation as a darn good bridge builder, so we were pretty confident he could pull off a decent skate ditch.
Hand stacking concrete
The first concrete trucks rolled up on the morning of September 10, 2009.
The contractor who normally built sidewalks and curbs would be hand stacking radius walls for skateboarding. During the two week build EPSA reps were on site to monitor the construction.
Since the contractor had never built a skatepark it was especially important for us to make sure the forms were set and the concrete finished properly.
Magazine coverage
EPSA board member Bill Robertson happens to be old buddies with the publisher of Concrete Wave magazine Michael Brooke.
He told him what we’d done with the Edgemont project and pitched the idea of us writing an article for the mag – Brooke was down.
So…we had a sesh, took some photos, put pen to paper and got published in the Spring 2010 issue with an article called Which came first – the drainage ditch or the skatepark.
Ed Templeton
The Edgemont Ditch has attracted skaters from all over the country. Traveling pro skaters will put it on their list of things to hit because of its uniqueness.
Back in February 2011, legendary pro Ed Templeton stopped by with the Burnout crew as they explored the Northern Gate for Thrasher Magazine.
Get there
You can find this ditch in Edgemont subdivision located just southeast of the major intersection of Artcraft and McNutt in Santa Teresa, NM.
Our best estimated address is 5818 Edinburgh.
For the direction-inclined: from Interstate 10, exit Artcraft and head west to McNutt, turn south on McNutt, turn left on Leeds to Edinburgh, turn left on Edinburgh. Go down a wee bit and the ditch will be on your right hand side.