In the Morning Call on Monday, August 14, 2006 Sarah Fulton wrote, "Jim Thorpe to seek grants for skateboarding park" (read it here).
In the article she states that the borough of Jim Thorpe is eligible for a $20,000 grant to help pay for the park anticipated to cost $60,000.
It also notes that the process of having a park began three years ago.
At the recent Nazareth Borough Council meeting the proposal to allocate funds to the skate park (money was from the impact fee collected from development and is required to be spent within three years of receipt and must be earmarked for recreation) was declined. Some of the reasoning was that it should have been brought up at budget time, not now.
It seems to me that Jim Thorpe is well on its way and must have done a lot of leg-work that couldn't be much different from what Nazareth will need to do. The $60,000 figure is very similar to what Councilman Herbst noted would probably be required.
I'm torn on this issue, as I'm not sure given the total population what percent would use a skate park, compared to the use by residents if the money were spent to improve existing park features or adding news ones. On the other hand, a well-designed, thought out, skate park could not only provide an outlet for a group of youth often over-looked and neglected (compared to say youth soccer, baseball, etc), but a new and for many very different activity to watch when they visit the park.
I'm not saying Nazareth would host the X-Games (consider it a modern day circus where performances are not only athletic, but acrobatic and undeniably entertaining in an environment that is very youth culture based), but with proper viewing areas (small bleacher sets) events could be held that would draw people to the park throughout the spring, summer, and fall.
In this regard the Skate Park would be more than just for the skaters and it may open alot of people's minds about this activity.
What do you think? Should Nazareth reconsider a Skate Park, maybe utilizing the work already done by Jim Thorpe (or some other municipality) to cut down on its own costs and time-frame? Should the money be directed elsewhere, and if so, where would you like it to be spent (again it must be recreation based)?
View a list of articles from NewsOverCoffee regarding the Skate Park here.
5 comments:
As a (new) Nazareth area property owner, taxpayer, and long time skateboarder, I fully support the allocation of funds and proposal for a skate park in our town.
Local government supported skate parks are long, long overdue! Skateboarding is as popular as ever, but year after year our local administrations shoot down proposals for a proper place for EVERYONE (not just kids) to ride and enjoy the sport.
Please post any information on how I can help.
Sincerely,
Rich Strucke
Rich,
Thanks for the note. Send me an email off line and I'll get you in touch with Councilman Jack Herbst.
He has had several meetings on the topic and I'm sure he can use some help.
You can contact me at editor@newsovercoffee.com
Thanks for taking a sip!
Ross
Thanks Ross,
I look forward to helping as much as possible to make this a reality.
I drive past plenty of empty baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts during the summer months. Whereas, I then pull into my development and see a dozen or so kids (on skateboards) teaching one another new tricks, or more recently go to Potts for hot dogs and watch the local kids showing off tricks to one another in that little park across the street (on the basketball court, no less).
They need an outlet. There are hundreds, if not thousands of other community skate parks nation wide we can use as example. A few even sponsored and insured through the local YMCA. There is a way, I just hope the community can come together on this and make it a reality.
Thank you for your help!
~ Rich Strucke
whats the lastest news on this topic > any?
Last I heard money was put into next years budget in the event the Council does approve it, but it has not yet been approved.
They were also trying to get other communities to support it, but I haven't heard of any confirmations.
Most are fearful of legal liability it seems.
Nazareth, however, does have to use a portion of the rec money or they will lose it, so I would expect something this spring.
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