Photos by Sean Bendon

Video by Elias Parise

How long have you been coming down here?
Jeff– I came down for the first time when it was the phase before this. It had a crazy loop and some other very crazy obstacles, but it was really fun. That was probably five or six years ago, pretty close to when I moved to Philly. Then I met Bam and got closer to him, and then Caroline started coming around when it became this phase of the park.

Caroline- Yeah, 2020 was my first time up here, actually right at the beginning of the pandemic.

I heard that you guys quarantined up here for a little.
Jeff– Yeah, we got pretty lucky. We quarantined here for six weeks. It started with just us and then a couple more people got on board and we had to cap it off. I think it ended up being eight of us, which was kind of a lot still, but it was a good time. We became a little family and had a great quarantine. I was trying to skate and film a clip every day of the year and they closed all the parks in Philly. Even FDR you couldn’t go skate. So I hit up Bam, told him the situation and thought we would stay here for a week or two. I didn’t know what quarantine really was going to entail. It ended up being six weeks and we skated every inch of this place and the outside. We had good weather and were making stuff. It was a crazy time.

Caroline– We had the best Easter Sunday that anyone could ever ask for. I think we had 200 Easter eggs set up all over the property here and woke up to firecrackers and then everyone was out doing the Easter egg race.

How did you meet Bam?
Jeff– Just through coming here, skating. I think he kind of had already heard of me from skating FDR because when I did come he was like “Rasp!” He already knew my name and we just kind of became friends. He was trying to get back into skating and was sober. He’s had his ups and downs and he’s doing great now, but it was just very random. Every time I came and he was here, we just talked and hung out, and he would tell me to do tricks and get stoked.

How did you end up coming here for the first time?
Jeff– Just through friends when I first moved here. Tyler Yuraszeck, Andrew Metzger and a couple of those people had the hook up through the FDR homies that helped build here. We’d hear about winter sessions popping up and we would just jump on them.

What was it like back then before the renovation?
Jeff– It was really strange. It didn’t have a really good flow. It had a weird spine up top and it had this obstacle that was just a really big roll in and then as soon as it got to the flat it turned into a straight noping quarter pipe. So you had to roll in and then double roll in, or else. I watched so many people roll in and just shoot to flat. Concrete was exposed because only half of it was skatelite, so if you would fall off that roll in thing, you’re smacking the concrete. It gave you all the speed to go to this crazy ribbon loop thing. It was like a two foot transition that kind of went up and ribboned. It was crazy. You could pretty much just carve it and that was it. I think Dickie, this guy that lived here, he quarantined with us. I think he did back tail and reverted out, which is insane. There was another quarter pipe that had a banked ledge. I like this version way better for sure.

So we’re at Bam’s. Bam’s not here, but do you know what the status is on the house and the property? Can you talk about that.
Jeff– As far as I know, he owns it and right now he’s just kind of touring and doing his thing, but when he’s back he stays here. I hope that he has no plans of selling it anytime soon, but I really don’t know, he hasn’t really talked about that kind of stuff with us, but I know he loves this place. We got to see him skate here just a couple weeks ago and it was kind of the first time that he’s been in the real shape and health to skate this place. And he was like a little kid. He was ripping, going fast, it was sick. I think he has had this place but never really been able to skate it to his potential. So now that he’s skating and feeling good, I think he’s a little more stoked to come back here and chill in the house and have this place.

Caroline– He kind of orchestrated a sesh that night too. He invited us up to come eat some food with him, but then when we got here, Ed Duff and his parents were here, so it was like a little mini sesh between the four of us. It was cool to see Bam pulling some strings to make things happen.

Jeff– It’s sick. He did the freaking whirly bird, the pop shuv tail grab.

Caroline– I was stoked. He was as happy as a 10-year-old when he landed it too. It was amazing.

Who built the barn and the outside? Or has it been different builders?
Jeff– I heard he just hired Amish people to come build a barn. We’re in a huge Amish community and they’re great at building barns. I really don’t know if that’s true, but that’s what I heard. As far as the ramps, it’s been Carlos from FDR, he’s kind of been manning it, and the Skaters Union, those guys put in a lot of work here.

What’s your favorite thing about coming down here?
Jeff– I think for me and Caroline, it’s a special place for us. We met at Wharton, and then we started kind of seeing each other, and then we quarantined here for six weeks. We definitely got to know each other and we had some great times. So it’s a very special place for us. That’s one of my favorite things about it.

Caroline– When I was driving in today, even by myself, I was just thinking about all the memories that I have here. Even when we were in quarantine and I would go drive up to the store, I would just be like, I can’t believe this place exists and that we’re here. I feel like I still get that dumbfounded feeling whenever I come here. It’s pretty crazy. You walk up and you hear the session happening and you’re always just like, who am I going to see? Who’s going to be there? What’s going to happen? That’s my favorite part about it.