24th st. BART ‘skate park’ opening soon

The nice-ification of 24th st. and Mission continues: first we saw the reclaimed wood makeover for that crusty old Micky-D’s, now the fencing is starting to come down on the mysterious construction at the 24th st. BART Station.

The big reveal? A skate park. OK maybe not exactly a skate park, but c’mon. Those rails and steps probably have every kid in a 5-mile radius reaching for their boards. I’d dare say it’s one of the best unintentional skate parks since the Tenderloin’s US District Court Northern District Of California.

There are other changes in store, including a bizarre obelisk structure next to the stairs. It’s hollowed-out inside and appears to have an entrance so who knows what it’s real purpose may be… BART jail? Communications tower for contacting the mother ship? It’s anyone’s guess.

[2nd photo via BART]

29 Responses to “24th st. BART ‘skate park’ opening soon”

  1. Grizzled Mission says:

    Other than skating, the only other purpose for those stairs-to-nowhere is seating. Weird, since I thought they were trying to reduce BART plaza loitering.

  2. timbo says:

    I don’t even skate (at least not for 20+ years), and skate spot is the first thing that came to mind when I saw this last night.

    • timbo says:

      And I suspect that the weird spaceship tower is a way to disguise some sort of service ladder. That’s my guess, anyway.

    • blah says:

      Perfect thing to put at the BART stop that people take to get to the Potrero skate park. Kudos to the designer for such comprehensive obliviousness.

    • noche says:

      My first thought was how easily the skaters are going to destroy those “obstructions” that are supposed to stop grinds.
      Second thought, now that I realize that everyone thinks the same thing, great!, just what we need is some doofus trying to pull something rad and missing, sending the board flying into some unexpecting foos domepiece.

  3. delicate fleur says:

    I think you mean “US District Court Northern District Of California.” The US District Court Clerk Northern District Of California is a person. Owie!

  4. scum says:

    Let the vandalism begin. I give it one night before the assholes start fucking it up.

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      Yup. Sadly, I’m afraid you’re probably right.

    • rory says:

      calm down, gramps. This isn’t as good a skatespot as you non-skaters think. There’s almost no run up to the rails, which wouldn’t sustain any damage anyway. The ledge in the back is already knobbed and the steps aren’t set up for grinding since the rails are in the way. Things can be done down the platform, and the curved wall around the escalator shaft is fine, but there’s not going to be any skate-related damage here.

  5. Ellis Island says:

    Waaaa waaaa vandals waaaaaaaaaaaaa

  6. josh says:

    looks like that ledge up top already has skate stoppers bolted to it. this all makes sense.

  7. Valenchia says:

    Will the escalators work? that is really all that matters.

    • Ben says:

      Exactly! They should spend the (our?) money on a roof over the escalators so that they aren’t always broken.

    • Loose bowel says:

      I hope the escalators work. Crapping on escalators at Civic Center is so 2011.
      Let’s see how long it takes to fill these ones with human excrement.

    • troll says:

      I mean they work now (the ones that actually escalate).

  8. HRod says:

    Hahahahahaha…..so many clueless transplants in the Mission. The bubble will burst, oh yes it will burst.

    • troll says:

      Haha – BOLD statement. When? What year and quarter? Back it up. Otherwise, no shit, there’s always a bubble in process, and they always burst.

  9. The sad part says:

    The sad part is Cafe Venice closed. The mural unobstructed now that the construction is gone shows the old guy who ran it with the tag “the heart of the mission.” I loved that old guy. He always had a kind word for me. The place was always packed at 5:30 AM with garbage truck drivers, construction workers, and a few other misfits on the early morning schedule. His coffee was damn fine. Not like de la cruz or ritual, but from the second wave. He also had good pastries. Alas he was really old and left, I think he got sick. His son took over and he didn’t have the same commitment. I miss him and the Cafe Venice

  10. noche says:

    I’m banning this exit, I don’t want some jackass losing a board and tagging me in the face, coming up those said failly escalators. Stairs and down escalator be damned!

  11. mememe says:

    And by “kid” you mean 20-30 year olds…