"Cigarette butts, cardboard boxes and tissues form soggy clumps underneath its benches. The concrete tops of its walls are crusted with pigeon droppings. It's empty, save for three pedestrians, who sit and talk quietly. For some, this structure is a landmark, but today, the only hint of that history is a pair of metal signs at the bridge's end. On one of them, the lettering, which used to read "No skateboards or bicycles," has been thoroughly scratched out."
"For skateboarders, though, it's called China Banks. It's a name recognized worldwide, one repeated in countless issues of Thrasher Magazine. This bridge, apparently useless to civilians, is one of the city's most notoriously challenging skate spots. Speaking on the spot's significance in a phone call, Ted Barrow, Ph.D., an art historian and skateboarding expert, was unequivocal: "If you were to ask anyone around the world, any skateboarder, what the most famous spot in the world was, they would say China Banks.""
The pedestrian bridge over Kearny Street linking Portsmouth Square to the Hilton Hotel is littered and largely unused by general pedestrians. The structure carries multiple names, commonly known among skateboarders as China Banks, and is lined with concrete benches and brick walls. The bridge is globally recognized in skateboarding culture and celebrated in skate media for its challenging features. City plans call for the bridge to be torn down next summer or fall as part of an extensive Portsmouth Square redesign. The planned demolition will remove a long-standing, internationally significant skate spot from the cityscape.
Read at SFGATE
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