Birmingham (and much of the world) is seeing a skateboarding resurgence of astronomical proportions. Two gigantic skateboard-related developments in our city have recently taken place, and promise to bring even more skaters of all skill levels riding through the Magic City. The expansion of Faith Skate Supply and the creation of Birmingham’s first official skatepark as a part of the soon-to-open City Walk BHAM project are propelling the city from a DIY skate darling to a national skateboarding destination.
We sat down with Peter Karvonen, Birmingham’s #1 skateboarding supporter and the founder of Faith Skate, to discuss the importance of the last few years’ worth of developments. Peter has lived in the Magic City since he was 6, and “started skating as a latch-key kid when I was 13, and just never stopped.” Dreams of becoming a California skateboarder turned into dreams of providing basic skating necessities for the city he called home. “There was never a good skate shop here, so I definitely wanted to pursue that and made that happen with a loan from my mom for $5,000,” Bham’s skateboard guru shares, “26 years later we’re still kicking.”
Since its 1995 opening, Faith Skate has moved about 7 times and has seen every variety of ebb and flow possible in regard to Birmingham's cultural and financial vibrancy. Previous locations were located in Southside by Zydeco and Alabama Art Supply, then the current Yo Mama’s (Mrs. Peterson can often be seen proudly wearing her Faith Skate hat) and Redemptive Cycles locations. From Redemptive they moved a skip and a hop over to their current location, which they share with New Republic Printing. If that move wasn’t exciting enough, the two businesses recently made a big move to be the sole inhabitants of their current building this year - which means both companies have significantly more space. Both have taken full advantage of this opportunity.
For Faith Skate, this means a newly upgraded and larger retail shop to better showcase their impressive collection of boards, wheels, accessories, shoes, socks, old skating magazines, and so much more. “Anybody looking to get into skateboarding, that’s what we’re here to service. A lot of people think there’s a stigma around skate shops-you got to be an avid skater to walk in there. But it’s not like that. We want to welcome everybody. We want to get everybody on a board,” Peter shares of the shop’s motives, “Come in and we’ll walk you through every bit of the process to get you on your first board or get you back on a board where you left off when you were younger, whatever you need. I’m selling (skateboards) to three-year-olds. I’m selling them to 55-year-olds. Women, men, everybody. It doesn’t matter.”
Faith Skate has noticed a large increase in first-time and returning skateboarders over the last couple of years. “You can do it by yourself and not infect anybody else,” he explains, and another easy incentive is the financial barriers being lower than most. “The price-point of skateboarding is pretty much economically viable for anybody. If a kid comes in here and really has no money, I can get him on a board pretty cheap.” This passion for affordability extends to the brand’s own “Faith” skateboards, which are better priced than the average deck. “Here in Alabama we’re not nestled in the skate industry or anything so your closest connect to skateboarding has always been the shop. It’s like the clubhouse. So having branded boards and branding is very important in these areas for sure,” he explains, “You don’t always have to be a $60 deck. We get our boards pressed at the same places and they’re $44.”
These affordable skateboards are about to have one of the most pristine locations to roll around in just a few short weeks. “We’ve been fighting for a skatepark for forever with petitions. Ever since Lankford was mayor,” Faith Skate shares, “But this time it was real, and it’s funded. That’s the biggest thing - funding. It’s kind of hard to come up with 3 to 500,000 now flash forward and ALDOT is paying for all of City Walk and it’s a 3 million dollar skatepark. It may have taken a long time but we’re getting the real deal for sure.”
When Birmingham listened to the public and was ready to build a skatepark, Peter was the first person they called on to be a skateboard liaison of sorts. Peter immediately turned to Kanten Russell and New Line Skateparks, who had helped Faith Skate campaign for a Magic City park in the past. The two skate-loving companies then held a community forum at Cahaba Brewing that invited skaters to help plan the creation of their perfect park. “Next thing you know we’re building,” Peter remembers.
After a decades-long struggle for skating the new park is expected to open in June, and the massive celebration is planned to include professional skaters. “That’ll be huge, and after that it’s on. If we have that beautiful facility, we’ll be doing contests,” Faith Skate shares, “We’ll be doing skate camps and clinics for kids, how-tos, all that stuff.” Another fun day will be the annual Go Skate Day celebration, which will bring a lot of fun to City Walk on June 21st. It’s safe to say skateboarding has hit a new and glorious landmark in Birmingham's history.
“I’ve grown up skating downtown my whole life, and it was deserted. You could park anywhere you want. You don’t have to worry about meters, you don’t have to worry about anything. But now, I swear the past 5 years have just been game-changing and I love it. It’s rejuvenating,” Peter shares, “There was nothing to do, but now this city has stuff to do. It’s awesome. I’m real proud of our city these days, and then likewise our skate scene. Our skate scene is just booming. It’s been really great, but we couldn’t do it without the support of people and people really have been loyal to our shop and our purpose and it really shows.”
This skate scene is booming because it’s had Faith for decades now, and it’s encouraging to see what changes can happen when Birminghamians believe in something bigger.
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