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Park Is Nearly Ready To Roll

Photo from Mark Staffieri

The city of Tampa hired Team Pain and general contractor Cutler Associates last year to build a $695,000 state-of-the-art, concrete skate park in New Tampa.

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By KENNETH KNIGHT

kknight@tampatrib.com

Published: March 25, 2009

TAMPA PALMS - A perfect day on the job for Brett Papini is to grab his skateboard and go for a ride.

Before wrapping up construction of the New Tampa Skate Park last week, Papini took a quick spin on the 14,288-square-foot course he helped build.

The thrill seeker made a series of drops into the 7-foot bowl, testing out the gnarly canyon and other cool elements meticulously carved into mounds of dirt and concrete in the shadow of the New Tampa Recreation Center at 17302 Commerce Park Blvd.

His board glided along the narrow ledge, jettisoned into the air, dipped into the bowl then careened across the basin.

"It's like surfing 24-7," Papini said, "and I don't have to wait for the wave."

The 36-year-old Bradenton native works for Team Pain, an Orlando-area based company that hires young skaters to design and build skate parks around the world.

The city of Tampa hired Team Pain and general contractor Cutler Associates last year to build a $695,000 state-of-the-art, concrete skate park in New Tampa.

Papini and a dozen other members of Team Pain's concrete crew arrived in Tampa during the holiday season with a tight deadline and a quiver of skateboards.

In three months, they constructed a course, featuring elements to appeal to skaters of all skill levels. An official opening is set for April 4 after the city parks department completes the landscaping and city inspectors give the final OK.

As the work neared completion, Papini and his co-workers had the enviable task of christening the new skate park. Officially, they were testing the course to determine the smoothness and flow of the ride. To the skaters, it was all about having fun.

"It's the best experience ever," Papini said of breaking in a new course.

"The fruit of our labor is to ride what we build. If we couldn't ride, we wouldn't be here. We really love to skateboard."

Papini began his workday sweeping leaves out of the two-level bowl and helping co-workers finish a few touch-up projects. But he was on his board a few minutes later.

Papini doesn't mind getting a little sweaty and dirty to build the park, but he said he is happiest when he is on his skateboard. He loves the thrill that comes with bowl-riding.

"It's kind of like gravity takes you where you want to go," Papini said. "You just don't worry about it. It's definitely a thrill sport."

His favorite bowls are as much as 12 feet deep, but he understands why the two bowls at the New Tampa skate park - 7-foot and 5-foot craters - were done to the city's specification. They were designed to cater to beginner and advanced skaters alike.

The team stuck with the original design but added a few twists such as bumps, a concrete bench and soft tacos to make the park more skater-friendly.

"It's not so much about how it looks," Papini said. "It's about how it rides."

Mark Staffieri, a senior project manager at Cutler Associates, said he was in awe of Team Pain's work.

"It was some of the most beautiful, high-quality concrete work I've ever seen," Staffieri said. "I skated it, and you couldn't feel any bumps. It's absolutely smooth."

The course, which resembles an outdoor plaza, will test a skater's skill and agility handling pyramids, stairs, curbs, handrails, ledges, banks and hips. The design includes a series of quarter-pipe turns that allow skaters to flow from one element to the next.

"It's definitely street-oriented," Papini said. "We tried to duplicate what you would find on the street."

The love of skateboarding has helped Papini stay off the streets and out of trouble. It is not his only hobby but the one where he has made the largest investment. He has nearly 20 skateboards - five he uses on the street and the others are on display.

Papini has been skateboarding since age 8. His grandmother's driveway in Bradenton bears the marks from his early years.

"At 10, I started really getting into it," he said.

Although he had various odd jobs, Papini always hoped skateboarding would be a part of his future. He was working at a Florida park where Team Pain was building a skateboard course four years ago when he got an opportunity to work with the company.

"I started coming in to help out, rolling wires and cords," Papini said. "I just wanted to go."

The job has taken him throughout Florida, as well as to Belgium, Colorado and Las Vegas.

He travels to Denver in about four weeks for his next assignment, where he will reunite with co-worker Adam Calderwood.

Calderwood, 30, focused on last-minute caulking and detail jobs, while Papini took a final run on the course March 16. The Massachusetts native was planning to grab his skateboard at lunchtime for a farewell spin.

Calderwood conceded that he and his Team Pain teammates are in a unique situation as skaters. "You get to build something; you get to skate," he said. "It's kind of cool. It's something that will be here for years and years."

Don't expect Calderwood to put down roots soon. He likes to build parks and move on.

"I like to travel," Calderwood said, adding that he is ready to go wherever the next job takes him.

Reporter Kenneth Knight can be reached at (813) 865-4842. To view a gallery of the New Tampa Skate Park from beginning to now, go to northeast.tbo.com, keyword: NT Skate Park

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