LOVINGS LANE

 BRINGING ROLLER SKATING BACK TO LAKE MERRITT, CALIFORNIA

A project presented to the City of Oakland by:

David Miles Jr.
DMJ Skate Sports Marketing LLC
The Church of 8 Wheels

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:                                                August 26, 2020

David Miles Jr.
Phone  -------- 415-752-1967
Web Page----- http://www.churchof8wheels.com     

WHAT - - - - Bringing Roller Skating Back to Lake Merritt
WHO - - - - -The Church of 8 Wheels, San Francisco’s Roller Disco
                       David Miles Jr., the GodFather of Skate
WHERE - - - The Gazebo behind Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, Oakland, Ca.  

Introduction

Every city has a public tennis court.  Every city has a public basketball court.  Skateboard parks are everywhere. There are a plethora of examples of where communities provide fantastic recreational activities for people that enhance their quality of life. However when it comes to roller skating, facilities are growing, but the present sees them as few and far between. 

The purpose of this communication is to express the need for the City of Oakland to provide a space for the public to come out and enjoy roller skating. We are following the successful examples of the 6^th Ave. Skatin’ Place in San Francisco, Dance Skate Plaza in Venice Beach, Ca., Dead Road in New York’s Central Park. Judkins Park in Seattle, and Oakland, NJ where they just allocated $380,000 for an outdoor rink just last year.

Roller skating has had a deep, rich history with both American and international communities. Roller skating rinks flourished for decades.  However in the late 70’s the disco beat sent people out roller skating in the streets and parks everywhere.  In 1979, there were weekly estimates of roller skaters numbering between 15,000 to a peak of 25,000 rolling in Golden Gate Park alone

While roller skating was going outdoors, roller skating rinks began to decline and close. That decline has continued to the present day with only about 6 roller rinks in the entire San Francisco Bay Area and only one within the City of Oakland, Ca. – the Dry Ice Roller Hockey Arena. The last real roller skating rink in Oakland, Ca. was RollerLand 5411 Telegraph Ave that ran from 1930 to 1972. (https://localwiki.org/oakland/Rollerland )

While outdoor roller skating in general has experience ups and downs in popularity, those communities that have facilities for skaters to roll have seen steady usage over the years. Roller skating was included in the Golden Gate Park Master Plan in 1984.  6th Ave. Skating Place in San Francisco was created in 1985.  This is a prime example of what should be in every city. 

It is located at 6th Avenue and Kennedy Drive in the park. It has been officially dedicated and recognized as the home for outdoor roller skating in the San Francisco.  https://vimeo.com/128875444 Skaters have been rolling here since the  roller disco days of 1979 when it was common to see thousands of people

flocking to the park to skate on Sundays when there are no cars.The closed roads become a safe recreational paradise for runners, walkers, skaters, cyclists and others who were looking to escape the pressures of the fast paced city lifestyle and enjoy themselves in a lush, green, sylvan park environment. It was and still to this day is an absolutely wonderful scene and a great way to spend the day in San Francisco. 

 Other examples

 Dance Skate Plaza - Venice Beach, Ca.   

The Venice Beach Skate Dance Plaza is home to the most globally recognized skate dance community in the world. The iconic outdoor rollerskating phenomenon known as “roller dancing” was born in the mid 70’s with the advent of the polyurethane skate wheel and found its’ most famous home steps away from the Venice Beach Boardwalk, amidst the gritty urban beach landscape that serves as a popular Los Angeles recreational spot for all ages, races, religions, and

socio-economic backgrounds. People have gathered in Venice Beach to admire and share in the free skate lessons and solo and group skate performances that have been immortalized in movies, television and music videos.  Aside from its influence on popular culture, the Venice Beach Skate Dance Community has preserved its rich artistic expression in a safe, free, public recreational activity that has served the public and the participant alike. 

Dead Road in New York’s Central Park

Just like the other examples, New York City has a great place for people to skate.  Like the other examples they have been skating in the park since the late 1970’s. The area is called Dead Road.  The northern third of the Dead Road is where the skating action can be found, an area which you may also hear called the "Skate Circle". This is the place for dance skaters to meet, with scores of quad and inline skaters roller dancing here on summer

Besides the dance skaters, there are usually other skate activities happening on Skaters' Road. There can be pick-up roller hockey activity weekend mornings and weekdays after school/work. If not you might still encounter a couple players practicing. Additionally, small inline classes may be found on weekend mornings during the skating season, and private lessons may happen at any daylight hour throughout the week.

The City of Oakland, New Jersey recently allocated $380,000 towards the creation of a brand new outdoor roller skating rink in 2019.  Roller hockey in Oakland has been around for years and has its own commissioner, Vivian King, who said the sport now serves

More outdoor roller rinks include Prospect Park in New York City, Judkins Park in Seattle, Swope Park in Kansas City, Mo., Oaks Park in Portland Or., Wildomar Ca. and the largest outdoor rink in the United States, Blue Cross River Rink in Philadelphia. There is even an outdoor rink at Viejas Casino and Resort in Southern California.

Lake Merritt Skate History

Just like most of the examples shown. Lake Merritt had a vibrant roller skate scene in the late 1970s.  Bellevue Ave., the road that enters the lake at Grand Ave., was closed to car traffic on Saturdays and on Sundays.  People would flock to the lake and skate on the closed roads and roller dance at the concession stand.  There was a group called the “Lakeside Rollers” that would regularly showing off their fantastic skills with their friends and families every weekend.  However around 1984, 1985 there were people coming around to sell drugs, drink and cause trouble.  The City of Oakland decided to end the road closures and the skate scene began to diminish. There were no roller rinks in Oakland, so all the Oakland skaters came across the bridge to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to skate.

The Proposal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKhXGlkTYys&t=6s This is a mostly unused area just in front of the Gazebo behind Children's Fairyland.  It is a perfect place to establish a public roller skating spot at the lake.  It’s former recreational use was for tethered cars and planes to use the circular paved area to race along the track. It hasn’t been used for that in many decades.

The area would be paved in with a great skating surface. The benches would be moved to the outside of the skating area facing in. Local DJ’s could use the Gazebo to spin music. Schools, churches and community groups and people of all races, all colors and all ages can come together to participate in a great time roller skating at the lake.

 Why Lovings Lane?

Regina Lovings was one of those Lakeside Roller skaters that loved to skate at the Lake on the weekends.  She was much loved and worked as a scheduling nurse at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland for many years. In 1998, she was reported missing over the Thanksgiving holiday.  For ten days the Oakland police and the San Francisco police searched for her along with all her skater friends and family.  The story was followed daily in all the news.  This is a tragic tale as her body was discovered under the house she shared with her brother, Derrek Lovings who had murdered her and hid her remains in the basement of their Oakland home.  The talk of creating a roller skating space was going on even back then.  I made a promise that I would work to create this roller skating area in her name.  I am now working to keep that promise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wta67IIyjv4&t=288s

The purpose of this proposal is to introduce you to my efforts to make the creation of Lovings Lane a reality.  I am sure you already have a process to move forward on ideas like this.  I want to work within that process to see if the City of Oakland would want to move forward with this as a concept, then work together with you to make it a reality.  I have recruited Oakland resident and general contractor Rinard Ford to help me grind out the details in terms of the actual size dimensions, design, construction costs. He would be part of the 7 person steering committee that would work with the City of Oakland to make this great dream come true.

It is my belief that there should be a roller skating area in every community. It should be considered as much as a part of the recreation mix as tennis, basketball, lawn bowling, skateboard and BMX parks and other forms of recreation cities and towns provide for their youth, citizens and constituents. Roller skating is great fun.  It’s a great workout.  It’s something that takes you away from the pressures of life.  It’s even better when you’re outside in the sunlight, interacting with others in a beautiful park setting. I am on a mission to spread “Rolligion” to every community.

As you consider what I propose to do, please take a look at my history in the development of roller skating over the past 41 years. There is no one with the experience and accomplishments in creating outdoor roller skating opportunities. I created Golden Gate Park’s skate area with this same kind of cooperation I am asking of you.

I have no intention of profiting personally in any way in this effort. I own my own roller rink, The Church of 8 Wheels in San Francisco and can afford to pursue projects that I feel are worth my time and effort. I sincerely hope that we can work together to make this happen.

DAVID G MILES JR.
The Hardest Working Man In Roller Skating
Phone - 415-752-1967
E-Mail - Sk8GodFather@earthlink.net

The Godfather of Skating, the Pied Piper of Skating, the Mayor of Golden Gate Park, these are some of the accolades bestowed on David Miles Jr. For the past 41 years, he has been a staunch advocate for everything roller skating. Originally from Kansas City, Mo., David moved to San Francisco in the spring of 1979. His third day in the City, he ventured out to Golden Gate Park to see the sights. While walking through the Conservatory of Flowers, David was startled by four roller skaters that whizzed by. This was unheard of in Kansas City, but it totally fascinated David. The next day he went out and bought his first pair skates. The rest is history!!!

For David, roller skating is life long passion. He has committed himself to the development of this sport. He has developed a very vibrant and successful skate community producing and participating in over 2000 skate events, competitions, races and parades and more. Events like the Napa to Calistoga Road skate, the Bridge to Boardwalk Roll from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, the San Francisco to Los Angeles Skate Against Violence and the Bauer Point to Point from Fresco Ca. To Bakersfield, Ca. have been featured in national magazines including Sports Illustrated and on the front page of newspapers throughout the country.

It began with the creation of the Golden Gate Park Skate Patrol in 1979. https://www.sfchronicle.com/oursf/article/The-legend-of-the-Skate-Patrol-guardians-of-14086452.php This was the main factor in keeping roller skating from being banned in Golden Gate Park.  It lead to the creation of the California Outdoor Roller Sports Association which he founded. 

In 1989 he created the Midnight Rollers Friday Night Skate that saw hundreds of skaters taking the action to the streets every Friday night. The trend spread around the world and is still rolling to this very day. http://www.cora.org/Bladerunners96.html

The Skate Against Violence Campaign is a 450 mile road skate from San Francisco to Santa Monica and Miles has presented this 15 times. In 2008 the skate-a-thon began at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland in honor of Oakland resident and skater Regina Lovings.  http://www.cora.org/OakTrib15APR098.htm

For the past 20 years David has been taking his love of roller skating to the Black Rock Desert at Burning Man.  The Black Rock Roller Disco is an award winning theme camp that brings joy to  thousands of people who roller skating in the desert and having a funky good time.  https://youtu.be/LcYDvsfBILU

In 2013, as always, David was searching for a place to skate. The idea was to have a roller skating party indoors.  Since there are no roller rinks in San Francisco, he had to search far and wide where someone who would allow him to use their building for roller skating.  The owner of the closed up Sacred Heart Church of Fell St. and Fillmore gave him permission. The event was so successful the owners allowed him to repeat the event.  Today that building is now The Church of 8 Wheels, San Francisco’s Roller Disco.  It is the most successful rink in the SF Bay
Area.  In 6 years, it was won “Best of the Bay” awards from multiple magazines including 5 years from San Francisco Magazine.  Today the Church of 8 Wheels is one of those wonderful experiences that makes the Bay area such a fantastic place to live. https://vimeo.com/106117838

DMJ Skate Sports Marketing LLC is the company formed to produce all levels of skate events.  We build mobile roller rinks and install them throughout California and Nevada.  The past three years we build the roller disco at the Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas.  We built a mobile roller rink for the City of St.  Helena, Ca.  We build a month long roller skating experience for Ft. Mason Center in San Francisco and a two week mobile roller disco experience for the City of Santa Barbara, Ca.  http://www.churchof8wheels.com/mobilerollerrink.html

Please take a look at the motivating force behind the creation of Lovings Lane Roller Rink at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wta67IIyjv4&t=9s  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKhXGlkTYys

To see more of the amazing world of roller skating in the San Francisco Bay Area, please go to the Church of 8 Wheels webpage at http://www.churchof8wheels.com