The epic skateboard ramp that had to find a new home after the summer

Richie Lebell and his friends had almost everything they needed — their skateboards and a ramp to practice their skills on.

What they didn't have was an unlimited lease on where their ramp was parked, which was on the front lawn of Richie's home in Regina.

That left Richie and nine of his pals seeking a new home for their ramp as the summer came to an end in 1989.

"They rock 'n' rolled and kick-turned their hearts out for the last two months," the CBC's Sally Haney reported in a story that ran on Midday in September of 1989.

"Their radical tricks drew lots of attention — some good and some bad."

Without further elaboration on that last point, Haney said the avid skateboarders then learned their homemade skate park — that they had pooled their money to build — was going to need to move.

'It'll have to be moved'

"The time has come and probably this fall, or at the latest, next spring, I'll be putting lawn in and it'll have to be moved," said Rick Lebell, the father of the skateboarder who had agreed to have the ramp set up on his front lawn.

That's why Richie was on CBC-TV, trying to bring attention to the urgent issue at hand.

"We need a place to put it — a warehouse or something, so we can skate in the winter or next summer and somewhere to keep it," he said.

"Are you saying that with a big please?" Haney asked him.

"Yup," he said.