By BECKY THOMAS
Staff Reporter
About two dozen teenagers and a handful of adults gathered Nov. 15 to discuss the possibility of building a skateboard park in Cheney.
Jaden Rivera, who has led the call for a park since this past summer, ran the meeting with the help of parks and recreation director Paul Simmons.
Rivera told the crowd about the advantages of skateboarding, calling it a mode of transportation and a form of exercise.
“It's our hobby and our passion,” he said. “It's what, for a lot of us, drives our day.”
He said skateboarding is a way to stay active even if someone doesn't play school-sponsored team sports.
“Honestly, there's not much else to do in Cheney,” he said.
Rivera said he and some of his friends have been circulating a petition in support of a skateboard park, but they've only gathered around 100 signatures so far.
Simmons spoke about a skateboard park from the city's perspective. He mentioned the notion that skateboard parks have more liability for the city if someone is hurt, but said a skateboard park would pose the same liability risks as any other public playground or sport court.
“Athletes that play more common team sports are much more likely to be injured than skateboarders,” he said.
Simmons also spoke about the history of skate park supporters in Cheney, noting that a skate park committee formed in 2002 and received a $1,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, but disbanded in 2003. Simmons said the money is still in a city account.
There has been little discussion of a skate park since 2003, Simmons said, pointing out that no one advocated for a skate park during public meetings held to discuss the design of the 50-acre park.
The group looked at examples of skateboard park designs, ranging from simple to extravagant with costs to match. The examples ranged from $25,000 to over $400,000. Simmons said the best location would probably be the 50-acre park, since it's not in a residential area where noise could be a problem.
The meeting was opened up for comments, and several of Rivera's family members voiced their support for the project.
Frank McCorkle, who was a member of the 2002 skate park committee, said the group wasn't able to get community support for their idea. He said skateboarders struggled in Cheney because they didn't have the team support that other sports had and police busted them for skating on city streets.
“It's their passion. This is what they want to do,” he said. “You're not going to go rip a football away from all those football kids at the high school. I mean, come on.”
Travis Denton, an EWU professor who said he used to skateboard as a kid, said he would help the group with grant applications to secure funding for the skate park. He advised the skateboarders to reject the stereotypes, be polite and dress nicely.
“I have kids in the community, I want them to go to the skate park,” he said. “I'm 110 percent behind you guys.”
Simmons said the typical public process of achieving their goal—demonstrating a need, get community support, design the project and find funding—could take years.
“It could be a three or four year process to get something like this going,” Simmons said. “That's not, you know, my desire, but that's just the reality of the situation and how the public process works.”
The meeting concluded as Rivera and several others stayed to hash out regular meeting times. Simmons said they will form an official committee and subcommittees at subsequent meetings, which will be held the second Thursday of each month before park board meetings.
Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].
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