We've been going since October 2004. Marginal Way may not be the biggest or the gnarliest of the DIY parks around but we're definitely the smallest and we're fine with that. The initial motivation to start building came from the impending doom of the original Ballard Bowl.

The city was ignoring our needs while parks were going in everywhere outside of Seattle so we had to have something to skate to pass the time.

Within the first year of building illegally we had successfully lobbied the city into granting us permission to not only keep what we had already built but to continue doing what we wanted with the site. Since that time it's been a lot of work. We've got a dedicated crew of builders down there on the weekends getting shit built whenever we have the money.

When we don't there's other friends trying to make some dough for the cause, booking shows, planning bbq's or whatever it takes. There has been so much support from the entire Seattle skate scene, the shops and companies that call Seattle home have all helped out.

So far we've got almost 2/3 of the allotted space built out and skateable, the more we build the better our stuff gets.There is a legitimate deep end now with some vert, it's not huge since our bridge is low but it works. Some of the old shit is rough, steep, kinked, and janky, I'm sure some day we'll end up redoing parts of it when we've taken up the rest of the space we have left to build.

Max Hohlbein, Bs Tail

For now it's fun though, you need some local knowledge to get around here, it's not a buttery smooth park where you're going to make all your tricks first try.

The future is looking great, there's new sections being framed up right now and it looks amazing, people are going to be stoked. Four years into it and still going strong, it's taking some time but we'll get there sooner or later. -Dan Barnett

Check www.MarginalWaySkatepark.org for more information about donations & upcoming benefits.