Why the DIY Skateboard Culture of Detroit Is So Legit

Two weeks ago, a new form of skateboarding competition in downtown Detroit was a fitting expression of the city's growing skate scene. For one, the event, called Red Bull Hart Lines, was a street-style competition built over an existing downtown plaza, smack in the heart of Motor City. Most high-profile skating competitions are held on temporary installations in arenas, racetracks, or other large-capacity venues.

The event was also the latest example of the growing cooperation between skaters and the city. Attracting action sports events like Hart Lines or X Games and developing the skating community are among the ways Detroit is trying to improve quality of life there. On a local level, the city and the skaters are looking for common ground where the skaters can legally enjoy their parks built on reclaimed urban lots and the skateparks keep kids out of trouble.

On paper, the biggest difference between Hart Lines and every other competition was that it was a timed event, factoring a skater's speed through two lanes of street obstacles into his final score. The new format, like other changes within the sport, was a risk in terms of athlete approval.

"As a community, we can be close-minded about what's right and what's wrong in skateboarding," says Ryan Clements, general manager of skate company The Boardr, which organized the event for Red Bull. "We've tried a few things over the years, and not all of it's worked. People can be like, 'this is whack, why the fuck are you reinventing the wheel'… But I think people were stoked on this."

One person stoked on it was 19-year-old Curren Caples, who won the event and took home $35,000 and a jet-black 2015 Dodge Challenger R/T. Hart Lines drew 20 skaters from across the country who competed on May 8 and 9. The event will air on NBC as part of the Red Bull Signature Series on August 1. The creative inspiration for the competition came from pro skater Ryan Sheckler. Red Bull brought Sheckler's vision to life, including the prize purse, and Pennzoil Synthetics provided the Challenger.

"The contest was all about having fun because that's what skateboarding is all about," Sheckler says. "We wanted to recreate that same feeling when you're out working on lines, too. That's why I developed the two-lane concept for the event. We wanted to push the limits of skateboarding and try something new."

Red Bull has sunk quite a bit of money into the Detroit skate scene over the past few years, and a lot of that money has gone through local skater Derrick Dykas, 30, whose many projects in the city include an organization called Community Push, which encourages Detroit youth to skate. Last year, Red Bull supported Dykas' project to convert a crack den situated between two public schools into a skate park.

"People were sitting on milk crates shooting up while we were building it," Dykas says. "Since I started my first fundraiser, going to punk shows and things like that to get signatures, Red Bull has been in my corner."

The crack-den-turned-skate-park is currently in limbo. The city told Dykas last year that a developer bought the property and the skaters needed to leave the park "immediately." This year, he says, the city is shrugging its shoulders, and people are skating out there every day. With the death of the park on the horizon, Dykas and his crew are looking to build a permanent skate park, with the approval of the city, near an abandoned train station, called Roosevelt Park.

Dykas' plan for Roosevelt Park has been in the works for five years but could break ground as soon as next month. The development plan for the park includes a skating facility, and all that remains before Dykas and his crew can run cement are formalities that the city needs to iron out, according to Dykas.

"As soon as I get the green light from the city, I'm going to start building and keep building for years," he says.

After the podium ceremony and champagne spraying at Hart Lines, two men from the Detroit mayor's office asked Dykas how they could contribute to his cause. The city realizes the benefit in developing the skating community and establishing Detroit as a skating destination. The skaters realize the benefit of working with the city, which in terms of building ramps and rails means they won't get torn down as soon as they're up.

Do-it-yourself skateparks regularly show up in cities around the country, but they often exist only long enough for the municipality to muster the resources to destroy them. Red Bull sponsored a DIY park last year in Miami, and that park is now gone. One local skater calls the Red Bull-funded park "corporate bullshit," but the other DIY park in Miami, which was more typically funded and built by local skaters, what the skater calls "the real deal," was also destroyed.

There are currently no public skate parks in Miami. And that's exactly what Dykas wants to avoid. Dykas, as well as others in the Detroit, have sought city approval before building, which is an uncommon strategy within skating communities around the country.

"They're a little less renegade and more approved," says Ryan Clements of The Boardr. "The city is fully supporting the DIY stuff and that's amazing. I look at what these guys are doing, and I'm like, why the hell weren't we doing this in the '90s?"