Among Scotland’s more than 50,000 listed buildings, and alongside traditional sites such as castles, stately homes and churches, are structures as diverse as pubs, police boxes and car parks.
Now, a skatepark could be set to join them for the first time, with a new consultation from Historic Environment Scotland (HES), the body responsible for designating and managing listed sites, seeking views on a site in West Lothian.
Built in 1981 in Livingston, one of Scotland’s five postwar new towns, Livingston or “Livi” Skatepark is both well-loved by locals and renowned in the skateboarding world.
Designed and built by architect Iain Urquhart, who based his creation on American parks, it is considered one of the oldest surviving examples of a vintage skatepark. Famed skateboarders have come from near and far to visit, including world champion Tony Hawk – nicknamed Birdman – who drew huge crowds in 1990.
In 2021, a bid was launched for historic status when West Lothian council wrote to HES asking it to consider listing the site. “The locals at the skatepark welcome any effort to try and protect the history and heritage of the space,” said Jamie Ferguson, 33, who has skated at the site since childhood and hopes listing will ensure its protection and restoration. “Skateparks of this style are a thing of the past and must be preserved for future generations to enjoy. There’s still life left in the old concrete, but it’s in desperate need of repair and conservation work.”
Urquhart died at 44, when his nephew Steve Urquhart was a child. It wasn’t until adulthood that Steve, now a radio producer, found out about Livi skatepark. He subsequently made the BBC documentary Curves and Concrete about the site.
“I was struck by how well used it is , whether on a sunny Saturday afternoon or a drizzly Tuesday morning, by people of all ages and backgrounds,” Urquhart said. “This seems to have been the case consistently, ever since it opened more than 40 years ago – and despite skateboarding itself having fluctuated in and out of fashion during that time.”
The bid to give the skatepark listed status, while widely supported in the area, has also been criticised by some who deem it too modern and too urban to deserve protected status. But, said Dr Alistair Fair, reader in architectural history at Edinburgh University, this might be a misunderstanding of the process of listing.
“Listing recognises a structure’s significance, which can be defined in various ways. Design quality is one important measure of significance, but rightly there are other measures of significance, too,” he said.
“These include a place’s social value, which can be defined as the importance of a place in people’s lives. There is also its evidential value, which relates to its associations with a particular moment, person or movement. What this means is that the listing system has increasingly come to be more inclusive and representative.”
“The number of sites from the postwar decades which are listed has increased significantly in recent years, and going forward I think there will be growing recognition of our 1980s and even 1990s heritage.”
If listed, Livingston will join Rom Skatepark in Hornchurch, east London, as the only other listed skatepark in Europe.
Dara Parsons, head of designations at HES, said the organisation recognised the site as a “hugely popular piece of urban heritage”. She said: “We want to hear views from as many voices as possible to help us understand more about its cultural and historical significance and its position among our 20th century heritage.”
