skate park

There is a lively discussion at the SPAR message board about building a skate park in Springfield. Daniel Blanchard posed the question of building a skate park in Schell Park to the Springfield community late last week. The response from the community has been largely supportive, and a few who don’t like skate boarders or the parks the skate at. I would like to weigh in on the topic of building a skate park in Springfield.

I think it’s a great idea. Being a former skateboarder myself I speak from experience when I say you can never have too many skate parks in a city. That’s a skateboarders point of view. So if there is any question of whether it will be used, we can but the question to bed and tuck it in with a “yes it will be used”.

A skate park in Springfield will draw skaters from Downtown, the ultimate skate park, into Springfield. It is about a 15 minute skate from Downtown to Schell Park. One unintended consequence of the skate park in Springfield would be an increase in skate boarding at FCCJ. The nature of skateboarding it is skate from spot-to-spot, and FCCJ is right in the middle of Downtown and the proposed skate park.

I see the park being most active in the summer and on the weekends and evenings, when most skateboarders hit Downtown. I think the actual number of skaters from Springfield will be small compared to the number of skater who will flow in from all points of the city.

There are a few components that are essential to making the park successful. One, don’t make it like the other parks in the city. The park should be different from the skate parks in Atlantic Beach and the Southside. Two, consult a professional to make the park challenging. If all the obstacles (rails, gaps, ledges) are easy to skate, people will lose interest in the park quickly. It can be too challenging, making it no fun to skate. A professional will help strike the right balance.

The Ludington skate plaza in Michigan is a great example of how a skate park should be designed. Make sure you check out the video. It’s cool because the design is much like something a skater might encounter in a real urban environment. I also like it because the park can also be used for other events:

The design calls for a 100-foot by 130-foot plaza, every inch of which is available for use by rollerbladers and skateboarders of all ages. The plaza is also designed for multiple uses and may feature concerts, ceremonies and other public events.

The Ludington design will cost about 220K to construct. At this time there is no money in the city Parks and Recreation Department budget for a skate park in Springfield. The community would be responsible for raising the money. By contrast the skate park in Atlantic Beach cost 160K to build. To sum it up, the skate park is a good idea. Way to go for thinking outside of the box on this one Springfield! Remember what Skaters for Public Skate Parks say: If your city doesn’t have a skate park, you city is a skate park

Related Links (Thanks smithsonpearl!)
Campaigning for a Skateboard Park
Ludington skate plaza
Wascana skate plaza
Woodstock skate plaza
Skaters for Public Skate Parks

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Springfield. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.