JENKEM - The Evolution of... The West Los Angeles Courthouse

While there are many more spots worth chronicling at home in New York, we decided to expand our horizons and take a trip west to California to start chipping away at some of the heavyweights over there. The iconic courthouse has been documented in videos as far back as Risk It in ’90 and continues populating our feeds today with NBDs on the stage.
The West LA Courthouse, sometimes known as the Santa Monica Courthouse, has been proving ground for generations of LA-based skaters and up there with the Brooklyn Banks or EMB as a destination spot for visitors.
Up until 2014 it was still illegal to skate until Alec Beck, Aaron Snyder and Nike worked with the local government to convert the space into a permanent skate area and funded renovations like revamping the ledges.
To try to capture as much of the history as possible, we talked with old school filmers (Socrates Leal, Tim Dowling) and a grip of skaters (P-Rod, Stevie Williams, Chris Roberts, Kelly Hart) who all contributed their own memorable tricks to the spot.
Filmed by: Bobby Bils
Edited by: Alexis Castro
Produced by: Ian Michna
Special Thanks: Alec Beck, Socrates Leal & Steve Roth

[@simonyadig]

Damn, had no idea Chris Roberts did a switch flip manny on the stage!

[@metr0_retr074]

Hahaha me to 😅

[@reecejamesvickers]

News to me too!

[@TehhPass]

That was fire

[@vperkv6554]

Lol

[@danielbenson6407]

Biggest secret in skateboarding!

[@jovanysj]

For a minute there I thought they weren't gonna have Chris Roberts on this 😂

[@Quesly1]

I love that stevie saw ray barbee and was fanning out so he got a bunch of clips

[@edityourlife]

Thought the same thing. So legit.

[@patrickhanlon932]

Man up, Jenkem, make an extended edition of these videos and make them, like, 40 minutes long.

[@samcatsam]

Totally totally

[@mycahwilliams9795]

definetly back that

[@frosty287nab]

Love how u got Chris's interview at the same time u were there for ur nine club interview! Time management at its best!

[@thagomizers6329]

Can't talk about the courthouse without having to mention Chris Roberts switch flip manny lol

[@1984session]

You can, Crob can't!

[@ihavesoul4real]

Whoever did that switch flip manny should have a podcast.

[@1984session]

Yeah, he should. Bet he would never bring it up either. Not even as a joke

[@matthewjames206]

Yes! I love this series. Glad they included C-Rob's switch-flip/switch-manny in this segment. Please keep these coming.

[@davidvanvliet193]

Thank you Jenkem. Do also an Evolution of : Beryl banks. Lockwood. NYC Brooklyn banks. Pier7. Embarcadero. Hubba hideout. South Bank London. Love park. Wallenberg. Etc etc.

[@davidvanvliet193]

Also do an evolution of BARCALONA. Macba, big 4, so many spots. BCN is a skatepark.

[@Rufusdos]

South Bank would be epic.

[@thatboyzerk1680]

I think they already did one for Brooklyn Banks

[@ETHAN7695]

would be good to do one for Martin Place in Sydney as well

[@Pantouflable]

love park for sure, I want to hear cole, asta, ishod and suciu talk about this place

[@EastsideDonkey]

Evolution of Clipper would be a sick one too

[@fendilohan1044]

Abd

[@AlexG1020]

Slash was the peak

[@BrandonHoyt]

Fucking cab front nose, a truly unreal trick to be thrown down something so big 😆

[@twuandixon8675]

@@BrandonHoyt cab fakie nosegrind homie! May of been accidental but......IT HAPPENED lol.

[@michaelgarganese340]

I ollied up the stage for the first time today. The height of that thing is no joke! Can't imagine flipping onto it, let alone doing it switch. HUGE respect to anyone and everyone who has ever got a trick on the stage. This place is truly heaven on earth. Thank you to all the legends who have helped make this spot what it is today.

[@15350077]

i love documentrys like this soo much, just wish they were longer like the love park on summer one.

[@johnnyluna7824]

yessss

[@NinjaLifestyle]

I forgot how many awesome tricks Chris Roberts did sheesh!

[@mikexxxmilly]

It’s crazy how far style has come in skating. Not just tricks but how clean everyone is now

[@TEFLONDONTRUMP2024]

Some of the kids make it look effortless

[@ultravioletlight4426]

There's almost too much fake steez these days though

[@mikexxxmilly]

ultravioletlight how do you fake style? It’s a physical action lol

[@twuandixon8675]

@@mikexxxmilly theres alot of fake steez, its almost became acceptable cause of Instagram ffs lol

[@demstudios5799]

Being a skater from upstate New York we have some dope ass street spots but no famous spots other than the quarter pipe that Jamal smith did the tornado spin on. Can’t wait to skate here one day🙏💪

[@bwcastillo]

dem studios we have eve, that’s a little famous

[@heyitsmoriah7362]

dem studios Brooklyn banks was THE iconic new york spot. Rip to that.

[@chromebomb]

albany is cool!

[@joshthegringo]

I wonder if Crob has ever done any cool tricks there

[@gandhimahatma3304]

Nobody gonna talk about the nollie inward heel nose manny nollie tre out? That was bonkers

[@AlexNiedt]

Seriously, I had to rewind that

[@twuandixon8675]

That was definitely fucked.

[@jphjphjph]

2:15 that sw flip back tail was crazy, had to rewatch it to see it was actually one footed, his front foot wasn't on the board

[@sauske2killer21]

seriously fucked like how lol

[@sneakerknockerz702]

kelly’s fakie tre manny is just too damn good

[@twuandixon8675]

Literally have to flip the fakie tre a certain way for it to even get up there, insane

[@javypadilla4015]

Love this series keep em coming!

[@artopunk1423]

piece of art

[@olbuddydownthere]

Yes! Needed this gold.

[@watchmesk8betta]

Love that park! So glad I finally got to skate there after seeing it on videos all of my life. It was like a dream come true! 🤘🏼👴🏼

[@RomieTheKid]

I was so hyped to Finally go there for the first time a couple years ago!! The energy is great, definitely feels like a place of history when you skate there

[@AlexNiedt]

Same here. First actual spot I hit up when I moved out here. It was surreal, and that stage is CRAZY high for the tricks these dudes are doing. People were falling trying to ollie up it 😂

[@traddad9172]

Worst come to worst you can just come here" Must be too many try hard locals- the pros don't want to come around no more🤣

[@alexismendoza1545]

That's with like every skatepark in LA bruh I swear 😂

[@AlexNiedt]

Always seems like a relaxed vibe, to me, but maybe I just miss the try-hards, haha

[@JawsHLL]

This series needs to make a comeback

[@shig5190]

love that slick rick in erics line. so 90s

[@DARRENTINOnz]

Sick episode, keep 'em coming boyz! 🤜

[@OpenRangeStudios]

These stories are dope! Keep em coming

[@genesis2187]

CROB's style definitely hits different.

[@Pantouflable]

kinda have that marc johnson landing style with the arms

[@traddad9172]

Mr StyleyPants

[@hexenring6276]

5:00 The absolute pinnacle of evolution right there, it's been all downhill from then on.

[@johneapleseed6876]

Jenkem never disappoints. Was that Carroll lipping the fountain ledge. Its forbidden ked.

[@dabproductions]

keep with this series, they are so sick!! Thanks

[@ibnar911]

DOPE EPISODE!

[@gooutsideasfollows9105]

Keep it up with content🔥

[@BK-tp3sg]

Best one yet !

[@twuandixon8675]

Goddamn that Creager line was heavy lol

[@AlexNiedt]

Seriously way ahead of its time.

[@Hanksabutt]

Hell yeah, i've been waiting for the courthouse to show up.

[@lukaklips7522]

this kind of content we want to see , so good, jenkem don't play

[@joejoe2658]

these videos are dope.

[@jeffreymorgan6632]

It was cool to see the stages height in comparison to a skateboard....It really put it into perspective how high that thing is.

[@gnarlybrahhh89x88]

One of my favorite spots to skate

[@uccimane]

jenkem has the best content

[@ryannalepa9664]

Iwas introduced to the courthouse in Kieth Hufnagels "day in the life" for 411. His manny and flip tricks up and down the stage stand out as the best, at least to me.

[@andreasakselvoll171]

This was sick - how bout' some Love Park history next :)

[@JefeDeJefes8484]

When I first went there in 98 it was getting dark and when we started skating and the homeless heard it. They came out shouting gtfoh! Which also it seemed like there were homeless people everywhere surrounding us at 16 so we stuck to skating there in the daytime after that. It's still fun with the ledges now with metal edges but I miss the old concrete ledges they were butter for being skated so hard through the years. Legendary spot.

[@nacfilms3259]

who remembers the scenes from mid90s here?

[@SeanBolisVlogs]

Last time I skated the Santa Monica courthouse was 2000 something and I still haven’t skated the remodel for some reason? Anyways this was rad and brought back some amazing 90’s courthouse skate mission memories 🙌

[@jempanuncialman9361]

Good to see p-rod again 🙂

[@suits.onfire]

Prod explaining going there for the first time reminds me of the mid90s scene where stevie is skating around hyped with his friends

[@dunnyify]

Please do evolution of Australia spots!! Make these much longer too please thanks! :) ❤️

[@coreyross1255]

I love this series. So sick.

[@abepenner4714]

Need one of these for the big 4 in Barcelona

[@nocturnalron69]

This was my second home from 86-94. I was there for the Shiloh tricks and I was there for all the Girl stuff. All dope

[@th3rd3arplan3tradio]

Hats off to the legends that did their thing on those ledges. Also thanks to the developers of the video game Session. Now you can experience the ledges in a game.

[@Botched_toes]

switch flip switch mannie.

[@vanlifefishing]

Could listen to paul talk all day

[@funkydankspliff]

Iconic spot

[@sebastienlaplaine]

Josh Katz’s Wallie Nose manny was beasttttt

[@rudedude101]

jenkem can you do the evolution of the carlsbad gap? thanks man!

[@loganthomas8699]

Moreee!!!❤️

[@sirdabzmcgee]

RIP to Love Park I drive by there many times every week and what they did to it just sucks. It’s not even a spot to hang out anymore. People used to just post up play chess, talk, meet up as a intersection. Wasn’t even about skating all the time.

[@satisfactoyz]

Could you imagine CRob if they didn't include the manny?

[@foreversubaru6543]

I live in Toronto and was lucky enough to skate here in 98-99 on a vacation. There was literally almost no one there except for a few boozehouds. Had such a great time after seeing it in all my vids and I go to skate for about 2 hrs until the cops kicked us out, how ironic.

[@eggboye352]

I was ready to start angry typing bc i thought crob wasn't going to be in this, I clicked on this fully expecting 7:57 of switch flip manny, but this was really great too.

[@johnnyboy2653]

gino switch flip one foot back tail 🤣

[@yoyoz333]

whats P-rod smoking? a nollie backside flip is a "frontside halfcab flip"?

[@scottlopez9089]

More please.

[@AB-ye6cl]

Last time I skated I had a vision gator but what impresses me is that the technology of boards hasn't really and never will progress much more but the tricks they are doing now were inconceivable back then but correct me if I'm wrong you could do them on a board from that era.

[@shaneboss420]

Lets Just Make These Daily!!!

[@louisleguillou8940]

I wish other iconic spots such as Love park, Pier 7 or EMB could have been saved like that... it’s a great initiative that the skateboarding community and companies managed to give back to places like these which contributed so much to the evolution and the progression. The metal corner makes sense to keep the spot sustainable on the long run, but it will definitely never be as good as real buttery concrete or granit ledges. I bet you can’t have everything.

[@louiealouie]

I used to go there before they put the metal copping. The ledges were beat to shit but it was so sick. You’d always see someone at least kinda famous there. Shit was dope. From there we Would take a bus and go to University high school. Those were the days

[@matthewskelton6929]

5:00 of course. CROB button for all the nine clubbers.

[@cesarcervantes6997]

7:28 paul with the perfect snare

[@chvrliebrowwn]

you need to do an evolution on UCI!!!!! i would love to see that

[@shadow.banned]

Too bad you can't do one of these for Venice Beach Pit.

[@SchnellVITALVINYLVLOG]

Awesome

[@DylanFrom313]

Learned my first tricks ever here..... unreal.

[@dunnyify]

What happened to this video? Thank god it’s back!

[@sixohtwo12]

Damn that Kelly hart shit was nuts. Legend

[@matthewgorgoglione5492]

Dam that's when I moved to Vegas and started training all day homies here pro now 💪👨‍🚀🤳🧤🕶️😷🌎🕊️🎉

[@MrEldon2287]

Kinda nice for skate xl to add this to there maps

[@sasproductions701]

i seen one guy switch ollie late front foot flip to manny on that stage switch varial flip out. cant remember his name tho.

[@SeniorMojo]

Crobs sw flip sw manny must be one of the most watched tricks in skate History by now😁

[@jeffladrillono2313]

What!!! No clip of Gino's switch back tail shove on the stage in a wifebeater?

[@spikerzombie]

Shout out Nine club yo

[@supershadow230]

sick how people aren’t kicked out anymore

[@ClassicalKev]

appreciate the dreams

[@ADubTheGrizzy]

when did the fountain last have water in it?

[@HeyForty]

I remember getting chased out this place in the late 90’S many times

[@juanfo7307]

So much left out, the drop off the stage roof, back five, five, back tail, and nose grind on the long drop off ledge on the north entrance, also the back smith and back tail the whole stage curve ledge

[@JonathanGuzmanV1997]

Was that a switch kickflip switch manny

[@drballsballsballsballs]

Pls Next compton ledge

[@cleepatron8billion210]

Why cant this be longer

[@randybobandy6020]

5:00

[@JJMza]

Tell me what's better... a great place to skate with other skaters puttin' in work or be the only skater in a special park still skating?

[@antoniopiepo5526]

Watch Crob say they should have just showed his part in the next experience...

[@KidDynomite1000]

When are they going to do Freedom?

[@Riz2336]

I skated that place when it was known as a bust, I remember everyone running at the site of a cop driving by

[@tasmoua]

Reminds of chaffey high school.