Rebels with a park
Teen-aged skateboarders and bikers typically are not thought of as the most involved community residents, much less as community leaders. However, in Largo, Fla., they specifically were recruited to help develop the city’s new park. Largo Skate Park, a 14,000-square-foot facility, opened Dec. 20, just in time for the energetic winter-break crowd.
Recognizing the growing popularity of skateboarding and biking sports in the area years ago, the city decided to build a facility to support those activities. “Baseball players have baseball fields, football players have football fields, [and] these athletes deserve a place to play as well,” says Chip Potts, athletics manager for the Recreation Department.
The city called on residents to provide ideas for a skate park, posting press releases in local papers and sending representatives to middle and high schools to find students interested in joining the Largo Skate Park Focus Group. The volunteer group met regularly but constantly fluctuated in size — with as many as 35 members at one point and as few as four at another — during the course of six years. However, young athletes were a constant in the group, and, with their expertise, the city knew how to proceed once it chose a site last spring and received approval from the city commission to move ahead with the park.
The park features a wide variety of equipment, such as a half-pipe mini-ramp, 16 feet wide by 6 feet tall; freestanding metal grind rails; and a 4-foot-high by 28-foot-wide plaza with planters and a rail. The city paid for the $344,000 project through its general fund. Spokane, Wash.-based MTM Contractors built the skate park, and the city purchased the equipment and skating surfaces from Industry, Calif.-based Spohn Ranch.
The mayor, the city commission and representatives from the Recreation Department attended the December grand opening, along with 250 eager skateboarders, bikers, families and friends. The city provided food, prizes and a DJ while showcasing freestyle bicycle and skateboard demonstrations.
Park visitors can purchase annual or daily park passes for small fees that cover administrative costs. All daily passes are $3; annual passes are $12 for residents and $15 for nonresidents. However, annual park passes cannot be purchased without city-issued ID cards, which cost only $3.50 for residents but can cost as much as $75 for nonresidents. Thus most nonresidents purchase daily passes. Approximately 450 daily passes were sold in the first week, and Potts says he sees about 30 people using the facility at any given time.
Those buying annual passes must sign notarized waivers that limit the city’s liability for injuries that might occur at the park, but those buying daily passes only require two witness signatures on each pass. The city staffs two notaries at the park to make the process as easy as possible for participants.
The city plans to host local competitions at the park, to feature professional demonstrations occasionally and to organize park events, such as a “late skate” with a DJ and vendors or a movie night featuring skater/biker films.
“The city’s goal for the park is to provide a legal, safe place for the extreme athletes of our community to practice and participate in their sport,” Potts says. What might have seemed like an unsual partnership between skateboarders and city government has resulted in the construction of a unique, engaging addition to the community.