How a St. Louis Church Became a Skate Park
Date Posted: December 21, 2018
Posted In: Ideas, Projects,
From Atlas Obscura: Skateboarding has long relied on the presence of empty space. When the counterculture kids of California first started occupying kidney bean-shaped, water-less swimming pools found in residential backyards under construction, skaters became known as a community of people who could reimagine abandoned architecture into places of utility. Skaters are known to revamp their worn boards by applying a smattering of skate stickers to their undersides; similarly, skate communities around the world have implemented a similar process to converting old spaces into new parks.
While the omnipresence of vacant pools is particular to the Golden State, other forms of architecture are being repurposed elsewhere around the United States. In St. Louis, Missouri, one church has been converted into a private skate park, providing a sanctuary for skaters in the Midwestern city.
St. Liborius was established as a German national parish in 1856, and construction of the church was completed in 1889. This large Gothic Revival building, marked by its pointed arches and thin, vein-like pillars, went through several transformations to reach its current form. Over the years, St. Liborius gained a clergy house and a convent, and merged with nearby parishes due to a dwindling number of Catholics in the neighborhood. Before its official closing in 1992, St. Liborius was declared a City Landmark in 1975 and recognized as a National Historic Place four years later. Today, it exists as a shell of a church, where the stained glass windows shine vibrant light on skate ramps instead of pews. Its new name is Sk8 Liborius.