Skate Parks by Benjamin Sell
Skateboarding is one of the most popular and fast-growing sports in America. In a 1993 skate park feasibility survey conducted by the city of Phoenix, AZ it was estimated that there were 7,576,000 male and 2,495,000 female skateboarders in the United States (“Skatepark”). This ranks skateboarding ans the sixth-largest participant sport in the US and the third largest for participants ages six through 18. The amazing popularity of skateboarding has placed intense pressure on the dwindling number of places where skating is allowed, causing many people to skate illegally, which often forces them to trespass. This behavior not surprisingly gives skaters a bad name among community members. In the interest of both providing skaters a place to skate and keeping local businesses happy, many communities have built public skate parks and most have been incredibly successful. Public skate parks are the best solution to the skateboarding problem.
The most frequent objection raised by skate park critics is cost. It’s true that even a small skate park can cost between $100,000 and $200,000 (“Tony”). Many communities, even small ones, have seen the value of such a project and undertaken it themselves. For those not fortunate enough to have a community willing to foot the bill for a park, there are many other options available. Several organizations have been established to provide grants to communities trying to raise money for a skate park. Among these is the Tony Hawk Foundation, established in 2000 to promote the creation of quality public skate parks (“Tony”). Other fundraising efforts have included traditional avenues such as car washes, bake sales, and silent auctions. Often skate park committees have successfully solicited donations of time, materials, and money from local construction companies and other businesses. All it takes is a dedicated committee willing to put in the time and do the legwork to solicit the donations and obtain the necessary funding (“Tony”). Any community has the ability to organize a successful campaign.
Another frequently-raised concern about the building of public skate parks is the city’s liability for injuries incurred in their park. What may surprise most people is that skateboarding is actually safer than many other sports. For example, according to numbers from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, based on emergency room visit reports there were 35,788 skateboarding-related injuries in the US in 1996 (“Skatepark”). By comparison, in that same year 653,676 people went to the emergency room with basketball-related injuries. Most public skate parks also have posted safety rules, and many require pads and helmets, thus further limiting the risk of injury. Additionally, in 1998 the California State Assembly passed Bill AB1296. This bill added skateboarding to the list of Hazardous Recreational Activities (HRA’s) along with such sports as kayaking, mountain biking, skydiving, and others. Basically this bill states that skating in a public skate park is an HRA as long as the person skating is 14 years of age or older and skating on public property. No public employee or public entity can be held liable to any person who participates in an HRA (“Skatepark”). While the law is only effective in California, it sets an important legal precedent and makes passage of similar laws in other states very feasible.
Perhaps the most important argument for the adoption of public skate parks is the skaters themselves. The number of places available for skating seems to be dwindling every day. In fact, in the four months since I started skating, I have seen three of my four regular skate spots erect no skateboarding signs. The only reason the fourth is still available is because I am the manager of the business and we skate in the parking lot. It’s unfortunate that the immature minority of skaters who engage in vandalism, underage drinking, and littering have caused community members to perceive all skaters negatively, which leads to skaters having fewer and fewer places to skate legally. Public skate parks serve to solve both sides of this issue. They provide the immature skaters a place to hang out away form local businesses and the temptation of vandalism. While, at the same time, parks provide older skaters with a haven from the stigma associated with skating earned by those not mature enough to realize they are giving all skaters a bad name. Most skaters appreciate what a great privilege a skate park is and strive to take care of it. At a local park about 30 miles from my hometown I have seen skaters cleaning up after each other on countless occasions, knowing that if there is excessive litter the park may well be shut down.
With the popularity of skateboarding at an all-time high, there has been intense competition amongst a large group of skaters trying to utilize a small number of legal skate spots. With nearly 11 million skaters in the United States, and only an estimated 500-700 skate parks nationwide, only half of which are public, the need for more skate parks has never been more apparent (“Tony”). There have been more public skate parks built in the past three years than in the previous 20, and, hopefully as they become more and more common, more communities will begin to see the benefits and think seriously about building one. Surveys report an estimated 50-100 users at any park on any given day. Compare this usage with that of a baseball field which usually goes unused, and even though it is roughly three times the size of an average skate park, can only accommodate 16 players at a time (“Skatepark”). Clearly, a skate park is a more efficient use of city property, yet almost every community has a baseball field, and so few have skate parks.
Works Cited
Skatepark.org. 30 April 2003.
The Tony Hawk Foundation. 30 April 2003.
