Getting A Skatepark
It’s fair to say that I’m not the most qualified person to write on this subject. Why? Because I’ve never actually had a skatepark built. However, I have been part of a local skatepark committee for a long time and I’ve been around to deal with the types of problems you can face. Nine years ago I started skateboarding, and eight years ago I became an active member of the local committee who were rallying to get a skateboard park built in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. The park still hasn’t been built due to numerous problems, but I’m confident it will happen someday. Luckily for most of you reading this, getting a skatepark built won’t be as much of a hassle, although it will still require a lot of work.
Getting Organized
Nobody is going to take one skateboarder seriously. You alone aren’t going to get a skatepark built in your town or city unless of course you’re going to pay for everything yourself. What you’ll need to do first is get organized. A skateboard park is an expensive facility and people aren’t going to be willing to put their money and time for towards something unless it seems worthwhile. What you need to do to show them that it is worthwhile is build up a good image and show that there is a need for a skateboard park.
Getting together support from all of the local skateboarders is a great way to prove there is a demand for a skatepark. Have some sort of meeting, get the names, email address, and phone numbers of people who are interested. Talk about the fact that you want a skatepark and are going to need help fundraising, etc. Create interest in the project. Hopefully at this point someone more respectable in the eyes of the local government will want to help out. Usually it will be parents of the skateboarders becoming involved. I’m not saying that skateboarders aren’t respectable people, but your city or town council will respond better to adults.
Deciding on a name and logo for your skatepark committee will be very helpful. When people have heard of your group they will be more willing to donate or help out in some way. It’s best to do this with everyone else. The more input everyone has, the more they feel connected to the project.
Before you start pouring your time into fundraising, get your group together and prepare a presentation for the city council. If you gain their support they will likely become one of the biggest contributors for your project. Make sure you have details for them, like how many people in the area will use the park, the benefits or having a park, etc. Explain that you will be fundraising for the park but could use help. One of the best things you could ask for from the city is a piece of property for the park. With out skatepark project it took a very long time to secure some land, and that held things back. One of the first things people want to know when you are asking for donations is where the park is going to be. If you don’t have a location then people don’t always see the project as something worthwhile. Of course, if the city is offers money that will help too. At the least, they should support the idea and take a passive role by publicly saying they support the idea, and promoting the committee.
Fundraising
Fundraising is a very important part of getting a skatepark. Unless you luck out and the city is going to pay for the whole thing, you’ll have to go out there and actually do some work. When planning your fundraisers there are some things to keep in mind. First off, make sure that you are running all of your fundraisers legally. If you’re doing raffles or other giveaways, make sure you get the proper licenses and permits. Someone should also be doing book keeping for your group. Secondly, try to get the public to acknowledge your fundraisers. Ask the local media such as the newspaper and radio to advertise your events. When the event is actually taking place, invite them to cover it. Doing this will build up the committee’s image. People will see that there are skateboarders out there working hard to get a skatepark built and they will be more willing to contribute.
Be smart with your fundraising. A car wash or a barbecue is a good way to promote your cause and raise a bit of money, but at the end of the day after many hours of work you’ll probably only have a few hundred dollars to show for it. A skatepark is going to cost a few hundred thousand. You’re better off to do only do those small fundraisers occasionally to keep promoting that the group is active and to keep people interested. Instead you should put on your thinking caps and get some more profitable ideas bustling.
- Raffle off a big ticket items (car, boat, snowmobile, etc)
- Write letters seeking donations from clubs and groups such as the Rotary Club, Lions Club, Legion, etc.
- Skateobard Competition - Get free prizes by mailing companies about your cause. They’ll take snail mail more seriously than email.
- Find more ideas from this site: Skatepark.org.
The Park Design
There are many parks out there that can be considered “excuse parks”. The city or town took a lump of money, built a crappy little skateboard park for the locals, and then threw by-laws prohibiting skateboarding in the rest of the city. These are bad parks as far as quality goes, and much of that is due to a poor design. There are other parks out there that weren’t excuse parks at all. Committees formed and worked hard to for them, just like you may be doing if you follow through with the teachings of this article. The result was again a poor quality park. Why? Because they didn’t deal with professionals when it came to the design. You may think you know a lot of skateboarding and what would make a good park, and maybe you do, but you’re probably not that great when it comes to actual design dimensions. On the flipside of this, just because someone is an architect doesn’t mean they can design a skatepark. What you want is someone who skateboards and knows how to make a proper, creative design. You don’t want all of your hard work and money going down the drain. Seek a professional to design your park. Not sure who to get? Spectrum Sk8 and Dreamland are two good places to start looking. Both have designed several amazing skateparks, and they will consult with your city’s skateboarders to find out what you want in the design. If you decide to go with another designer, that’s cool too. There are probably many more good ones out there. Just be sure to find out what other parks they have worked on, and see how those parks turned out. There’s no excuse for your city or town ending up with an excuse park.
Construction
By the time you are ready to begin construction most of the work for getting your skatepark is already complete. By this point in the article though, you still haven’t actually done anything, so we can go back and talk about some things that you will decide on early in your skateboard park project. One of the first things you decide will be what your park is going to be made out of. A wooden park is cheaper in the short term and quicker to build, but requires more maintenance. A concrete park will cost more to construct, and the actual construction is more specialized work, but it is more durable. Wanting a park that would last, we decided to work towards a concrete park for Kirkland Lake. Your own situation will have a large impact on what you make your park out of, especially if it is going to do an indoor park as they are mostly wood.
Again, like with the design stage, the construction of the park could really use a skateboarder’s know how. No one wants to ride a wavy transition, or lumpy and rough concrete. Find a professional who has build skateboard parks before to over see the construction of your park.
To Wrap It All Up
There. That wasn’t so tough. A very basic guide on getting a skateboard park for your city or town. It’s all just common sense really. If you do decide to go out and do it, please pay special attention to what I said about getting a skatepark designer and someone to over see the construction. If you’re going to do a park, do it right. Good luck.
Stumble it!
