Filed under: Importance of Parks, New Park, Skateparks | Tags: Eugene, Skateparks
Teens and young adults alike have been falling victim to those 6 dreadful words for years. From trespassing arrests to the damaging of public and private properties, skating has taken a beating on its reputation over the years. “This is, unfortunately, an image that was created by my generation,” said Jamie Meagher in his article titled “The Public Option- Why Melbourne Needs a Public Skatepark. “I have run from more than my share of security guards and grinded more than my share of public property…the destructive behavior of my youth could have been drastically reduced had there been a place to do the thing that I loved most.” So is it truly the skater’s fault or just a lack of concern by the local city Governments? The only problem has been the lack of availability of public skating areas in the first place.
Before you get too riled up on opinions, good news is on its way for all. There has been talk circulating the air in Eugene about a design for an 18,000-square-foot skatepark that would be built in Washington-Jefferson Park.
On January 13th 2010, a non-profit organization called “Skaters for Eugene Skateparks,” organized a gathering at the Eugene Public Library to gain public feedback on the “Dreamland” skatepark design. The skatepark is being designed by a Lincoln City-based company that has designed many skateparks in other states. The design includes components such as “skateable art” where painters and skaters alike get to paint on and around features. This will allow skaters and artist of all sorts to display and progress their work in a positive worthwhile manner without breaking laws.
The “Skaters for Eugene Skateparks” has raised $32,000 to date, which is an incredible feat for such a small local non-profit organization. The city of Eugene plans on paying $300,000 towards the “Dreamland” skatepark as its apart of their capital improvement plan. The final price tag for this great community development is around $550,000. The remaining funds to meet that price mark, are in the hands of “Skaters for Eugene Skateparks.” The group along with members of the community are extremely excited about this new project. The organization hopes to have all funds collected by April 1st.
Since skating has garnered such a bad rap over the years, having a legit skatepark in the city of Eugene will not only cater to all-age demographics, but will help to clean up graffiti and public/private properties where skating has been taking place. It will also be an extreme improvement to the “Bowl” skatepark in the Amazon Parkway Park. Due to its close location to South Eugene High School, highschoolers have been found skipping school to skate, along with smoking underage, and dealing drugs.
Providing a new, fresh, and well-designed skatepark in Washington-Jefferson Park, will help to eliminate some of these problems. On a national platform, professional skateboarder Rob Dyrdek of MTV’s Fantasy Factory, designed a plan called “Safe Spot Skate Spot,” where he designs and builds skateparks in different states across the country to promote positive growth in communities. Having these open spaces in cities has been proven to help improve the quality of life amongst the community. It also advocates growth and understanding of the outdoors, along with contributing to the importance of living healthy, and enjoying life.
1. http://www.spacecoastvibe.com/articles/view/The-Public-Option-Why-Melbourne-needs-a-public-skatepark
4. www.tpl.org/content_documents/tx_H-GBenefits.pdf
5. http://www.americantrails.org/resources/benefits/HealthGrnwy.html
Blog By: Cody Dummer
