**IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT THE DEPT. CLOSING**
As you may or may not have already heard, the building that The Dept. and Cal’s Pharmacy have occupied for the last 9 years was sold a few months ago. The new building owners weren’t going to immediately occupy the building and were able to allow the park to remain open but beginning next month will have to start some re-modeling work to re-purpose the space and need to have the course removed to do so. Work on the course removal will begin next week so this Sunday August 15th will be the last day the park will be open to skate. [NOTE: CAL’S PHARMACY WILL REMAIN OPEN..ONLY THE DEPT. IS CLOSING]
Obviously this is a huge bummer to many skaters in Portland’s skateboarding community. The Dept. always strove to be a positive contributor to that community and will continue to do so in whatever way it can in the future.
The Dept. and Cal’s Pharmacy would like to extend their eternal gratitude to the previous building owners for the incredible support of skateboarding they provided by seeing it as the positive and constructive lifestyle and activity that it is-when for years that was not the popular opinion.
The Dept. would also like to thank the many thousands of amazing skateboarders who shared some of their skateboarding experiences with us. The skaters themselves are what truly makes skateboarding the best.
Stay tuned and we’ll see you out skating.
-The Dept.
[Jason,Garric,Hayes,Shawn,TSpence,TBrown,Early,Cube,Normine,Manson,Richardson,Compton,CDubs,McCloud,Manny,Joe D.,Birdie,Dan,Kyle,JakeO,Paul Anderson,B.Mohr,and all the locs.]
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August 13th, 2010 at 7:45 pm
saddest day ever.
August 13th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Don’t forget about Early C in that Dept line up!
August 15th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Farewell, D.O.S. You will be sorely missed. Thanks Kyle and all of you that made D.O.S. run day in and day out for 8.5 years. Thank you for your service.
God Bless your future endeavors,
Todd
August 15th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Early C.-fixed. Blew it with Hayes too.. Sorry dudes.
August 15th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
That is a real bummer. My son is not the skate maniac he was a few years ago, but we really appreciate that the Dept was there for him and so many other kids. It was hip and cool, yet we were comfortable putting him in your guys hands for skating, camps and all nighters. It will be a shame if the Dept can’t continue elsewhere. It is important for Portland to have an indoor skate park, particularly one as great as the Dept has been. Thanks for the good times! Skip McKallip.
George W. McKallip, Jr.
Partner, Chair: Environmental, Sustainability and Climate Change
Sussman Shank LLP
1000 SW Broadway, Suite 1400 | Portland, OR 97205
August 15th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Great list of stats. Thanks for being there for us for all those years.
August 15th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Damn, true buzzkill. that is the end of progression in the pdx
August 15th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
cant belive you guys are closing and free skateing is awesome
August 16th, 2010 at 8:01 am
[…] is closing today, August 16, 2010 after eight and a half years in operation. Here’s what the Dept had to say about it: As you may or may not have already heard, the building that The Dept. and Cal’s Pharmacy have […]
August 16th, 2010 at 9:03 am
Lest We Forget – The Fallen Skateboard Parks – http://thecrew.ca/?p=114
August 16th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
erferferferf
August 17th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Wow, I can’t believe this. DOS is a staple of Northwest skateboarding and has kept the skate scene alive and thriving. I’m hyped I got to skate there many times before now. You will truly be missed in PDX….
August 17th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Such a bummer. With companies like Nike and Adidas making so much cash off skateboarding, and that also have H.Qs. in the Portland area, one of these conglomerates needs to STEP IT UP, and build an indoor park for the skaters of PDX. Shit, Nike already has a TF on MLK why not beef up the insurance and open the doors to the public?
August 17th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
omg! im gonaa die without this place
August 17th, 2010 at 11:21 pm
[…] For more information: click here […]
August 18th, 2010 at 12:00 am
I use to live in Beaverton, and every rainy day I would wrap my board in a couple plastic bags and run to the bus stop. I would take the MAX to the Rose Garden which took 40 minutes from the Elmonica station I left from. I would walk up to the department and would finally get inside and let go of all my worries and just have straight up fun for hours. As much as it rains in the NW, there has to be some sort of indoor park that allows skaters to have fun on a boring rainy day. Here in Seattle I have two indoor park choices,innerspace and Skate Barn West, and neither one can bring me as much joy that D.O.S. did. Hope you can come up with a solution to this disaster quick PDX or there could possibly no more fun when it rains.
– Zack D-X
August 19th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Thats where I learned how to do a rock-to-fakie by accident, and pretty much every single trick I do today. 🙁
R.I.P. :'(
August 20th, 2010 at 1:59 am
R.I.P.
where are we gonna go for winter skating now? skatechurch? nah. Dept. was legit, started so many young killas, it doesnt deserve to go out like this. you wil be missed
August 20th, 2010 at 11:01 am
WTF?! i remember the first time i went there back in 2007 i thought it was the sickest park. i moved back to miami in 2008 and now i skate shitty MIA i will, WILL open a park downtown in 2011
August 20th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
My son and I are just getting into skateboarding.
I was hoping to join the DOS and take some lessons, since I suck and need to learn safer techniques before I break a hip.
So, of course you are closing.
Any thoughts of opening someplace else? There is a lot of empty retail out there.
Is there anything I can do to help?
I’m a middle aged architect and could offer some free building advice, maybe even design and documentation help.
Let me know.
Sorry I missed the closer…
August 21st, 2010 at 3:20 pm
This Sucks , The Best Place Ever Is Gone… Forever D.O.S.
August 22nd, 2010 at 1:38 am
im so pissed i was hoping to skate there again
August 28th, 2010 at 9:17 pm
that sucks that department of skateboarding closed but i had good times there , they should find another wear house to build another skatepark!!!!
August 29th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
saddest day in portland skateboarding history im going to miss this place i skated hear for about four years… whats the next chapter in portland for dept?
September 5th, 2010 at 12:20 am
will it ever reopen ?
September 6th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
the end of an era. you kinda want to cry when you watch the video. good times…
September 27th, 2010 at 9:22 pm
I am currently on track to becoming a millionaire. If a donation of say, $100,000 was offered, could we see the Department, make a return?
October 10th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
Yeah it sucks that the indoor park that is the glue holding together 500 other outdour parks closed… let’s remember the bad times…. drove from over 100 miles away and couldn’t get half my friends in because they didn’t have parents to sign waiver forms… when we did get waivers signed and paid an arm and a leg to get in, we must have been the only ones that had to pay because all the locals rode free… when they made us where helmets, not one local had to. Wow, guess the world is round! Can’t wait to see the dos locals have to wear helmets and pay at the next indoor park. Oh yeah, make sure mommy signs and notorizes your permission slip.. haha. Truly sad but some other option will present itself soon.
October 12th, 2010 at 1:10 am
wow i loved dos, cals need to hook up with nike and buy our skatepark back! same location same place …… we need dod back so much and i dont think people understand lol but someday i swear!!! dos will live again from the start first park again secound park again and third park all the way up to days park/old park………. we need we know dos needs to re open with same location same spot same park and all go back to normal to big of a change for us… we hope you live againd dept of skateboarding i gave i my 5 yrs shredding with guys …. if dos may not come back it will always live in our hearts>>…….
October 12th, 2010 at 1:13 am
so dept what happend to make beloved dos close
October 14th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Seven years ago my husband and I had our wedding reception at the DoS. And we didn’t use the park to hold a candlelight dinner with tablecloths and catered food, we used that space to SKATE. Bhangra dj, beer and bourbon, and a sandwich bar–it was the greatest wedding reception in the history of time. Now we’ve got a 4 year-old kid who is just getting into skateboarding and we are sad as hell to see the Dept. go. 9 months of rain a year and no indoor park? Rise again, DoS. We need you.
October 27th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
omg worst day of my life best skate park ever i almost cryed stupid people sewing
November 13th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I did my best skating at dos, ill miss that place like no other.
November 14th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. damn it sucks. i live in the suberbs ou in beavorton i went there or and least tryed to go to dos every saternday morning i guess lab 33 is the new dos
November 27th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
why did they close in august is people still skate the park ??
January 2nd, 2011 at 8:18 pm
why was it sold???
January 7th, 2011 at 10:09 am
It rains everyday..where are we suppossed to go? re-open somewhere else!! i mean come on..i lost my virgintiy there…
January 18th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
They need to find a new spot. Plenty of warehouses in Portland.
July 3rd, 2011 at 11:50 am
First skate park I ever hit.. Got my skillz started there and I was planning to go back, and look what happens.. Damn.. Re open??