City has $200,000 for facility North Side has twice rejected

Spokane has $200,000 to build a North Side skate park. Trouble is, the city Parks and Recreation Department has no place to put it.

Fearful of traffic, noise, graffiti or just plain unruly teenagers, North Side residents have twice rebelled against plans to place the skateboarding facility in their neighborhoods.

Both Andrew Rypien Field in Hillyard and a planned park near the new Northpointe Wal-Mart store have been discarded as potential sites because of neighborhood resistance.

"I think they are concerned that it will bring an undesirable element * into their neighborhoods whether it be vandalism or graffiti," said Tony Madunich, who is heading up the Parks Department's skate park efforts.

The department will meet with the Northeast Community Center's advocacy committee Monday to look at options and will hold a citywide informational meeting sometime in October, Madunich said.

"We're kind of in the process of regrouping," he said, adding that the department doesn't want to force the park into a location where it's not wanted.

But that's not the impression that Nevada *-Lidgerwood Neighborhood activist Jeanie Wagenman got when Madunich called her to ask her thoughts about the site near Wal-Mart.

"It sounded like it was a done deal," said Wagenman, who said the residents were promised a simple neighborhood park and then later told that a skate park might be added to the plan.

"We were promised a small, 3- to 4-acre park with a portion of grass for kids to play and play equipment," she said, adding that there is no room for a skate park, and that it would bring too much traffic to the area.

The neighbors revolted and the location was shelved.

The same thing happened in Hillyard when the Parks Department began considering Andrew Rypien Field.

"I'm not against it," said Celina Pearce, a member of the Hillyard Steering Committee. "I just don't know anything about it. People in Spokane don't know what the skate park will look like. The only experience we have is the (downtown) park under the freeway and there is a lot of graffiti."

"We hope that if we get together we can find a solution," Pearce added. "I believe the kids do need a place for this type of activity, because right now they do it on sidewalks, stairs, any place they can find."

The $200,000 for a skate park was earmarked as part of a $15 million park bond issue that voters passed in 1999 *.

Madunich estimated the money is enough to build a 10,000-square-foot facility.

He envisions a skate park that's very different from the one downtown underneath the freeway at McClellan.

Instead of an asphalt park covered with graffiti, the Parks Department is planning for a free-flowing concrete park, with a below-grade bowl, multiple jumps and "street" features like rails and benches.

"I'm tired of this park. It's so boring," said Angello Stepak as he skateboarded at the downtown park on his lunch break Friday.

The 15-year-old Lewis and Clark High School student said adults shouldn't assume all skateboarders are bad. He said there probably wouldn't be any graffiti at a better park.

"I think if they had a park up there, it would get taken care of," he said of the North Side plans.

Rather than thinking about downtown's under-the-freeway park, North Side neighborhoods should envision a facility like Post Falls' new skate park, said Madunich.

Graffiti-free and nearly trash-free, the Post Falls park has been well-maintained by users and Parks Department staff since it opened in July. Located at the corner of Third Avenue and Greenberry Road, it sits on a busy thoroughfare, adjacent to vacant land on three sides.

About 30 teens and preteens practiced their tricks Wednesday afternoon at the park, diving into the concrete bowl and jumping over a picnic table.

A few kids were smoking, but the majority seemed to be there to just get in some after-school skating and visit with friends. Most weren't wearing helmets as required under park rules, however.

"We duck down when a cop drives by," said Zak Bosley, 14.

"One of the things we stress to the kids is you are going to be responsible for this park," said Bob Kasun, Post Falls Parks and Recreation Commission chairman.

He added that the park will be upgraded when money is available.

Della Rowland has had no complaints about the Post Falls skate park. She manages an apartment complex across the street.

After a loud grand opening celebration, the park has been quiet, she said.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's been fine. The only thing you hear occasionally is a skateboard hitting the cement," said Rowland.

"It keeps the kids off the street and gives them something to do," she added. "I enjoy sitting outside and watching them."

Sixteen-year-old Corey Lynn, a student at East Valley High School, traveled to the Post Falls skate park from Newman Lake on Wednesday.

Lynn said he would like a similar park closer to home. He'll soon get his wish.

A $500,000 skate park outside the Spokane Valley YMCA at Mirabeau Point is in the works. Construction is scheduled to begin next year.

The city of Spokane should stop trying to find a North Side location for a new park, and just invest its $200,000 to improve the existing downtown park, said Steve Sanchez, owner of the nearby Spirit Skate Shop.

The park has no "flow," he said, explaining that the ramps and other features create situations where skateboarders have to halt their momentum to avoid walls. The surface is also rough asphalt rather than new, smooth concrete.

The city could build a North Side park later, said Sanchez.

"Once we have a good park downtown, more people will be accepting of the idea of a skate park outside the core," he said.

Tihs article was originally entitled "Neighbors resist skate board park" and was found at http://www.spokesmanreview.com/news-story.asp? date=092802&ID=s1224659&cat=section.spokane

Search this site for more about Funded Skatepark Seeks Home *