4.9. SR 11-17-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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D.4 Skate Away Cities be~in to accomrnodat~ your~ skaters and skateboarders. callers are interested in booking birthday parties, donating money, finding out about sponsorships and getting ail the details about the new skate park But for Smith, who is in charge of fund raising for the tacility, it's also a bit overwhelming. The tour-acre pazk for sk~eboardin~ in-line skating, in-fine hockelr and BMX bikes is not yet complete. In/act, the ground Smrdl ha~ ~st begun to see~ the handful of ma}or spon- sors she hopes to secure. "Rte're hoping a lot of the skate companies and anyone who produces any type of athletic gear will want to be involved in this,' she says. 'It's going to be a great oppor- The p~-,,- for. tunit7 for these companies to Greer's new promote their products, and include parkuamed atter them.' a~tivities for The excitement being gert- bikers from to offer, but it's also in pan to professio..,.t 'rye had people coming "TMs.i a group of teenagers and young adults who we, as recreation .. professionals, probably haven't addressed until the last couple of years. ' from all over the southeast to see what we~-e done," says H.C. C~oody) Woodward, the director of the ~ l-Iome RecreaUon Cemer -Si~ Park in Char- k~e, N.C~ one of tbe kx~k~ Gree~'s ~ ~ the west, there are quite a few skating facilities, but ltere'aren't a whole lot in this pan d the c0untry.' The 13-month-old Charlotte facility is a testtmo- nial to city-owned skate parks, as'it was rel~ ~_tJvely inexpensive to build and it's The 9,O00-square foot park was erected on an old tennis court that had a concrete pad and fencing already in place. With labor provided by the county's engineers, the park was completed for approxi- mately $$0,000, the cost of materials. The city was then able to raise about :MO,O00 in national and local corporate lng space inside the park. The number of registered reached 1,500, and about 400 Woodward says they also hold special events such as demon- stratinns and e~mts that include raffles, giveaways and product showcases from the park's sponsors. Says Greer's recreation director, Dick Ploof, ~Yhen we first started our proiect, I wasn't sure what we had gotten into. But once I went to the . Charlotte facility, I was convinced it could work. We're still very conservative here in ~x~th Carolina, and some of the kids who skate wear their hair long, and some may even have tattoos, so people see is, this is a group of teenagers and young adults who we, as recreation professionals, probably haven't addressed until the last couple of years.' 'l~'s what rn~lt~ the idea of a skate park such a viable one, says Ken Friesen, sports coordinator at Sioux Falls (SD.) Parks and Recreation. 'We believe it meets the needs that some of the other prog~mts don't,' Friesen says. A skate park may be more of a g~mhle in South the warmer months, but Friesen says Sioux Falls is ~ining to 8ive it a try. Currently the city is turning a vacated tennis court into a temporary park that can be used until snow begins to faiL 'We had an initial figure of $100,000 to build the permanent park,' Friesen says. 'We came up with this interim solution so we could see if this will work 28 ATHLETIC BUSINESS OcsabeJ' 1997