Public skateparks should be open 24-7, and free to boot, but that’s a different rant altogether. Dan Hughes made a road trip recently, and ran into a bunch of padlocks.
From Dan Hughes
While locked skateparks maybe normal around the country, here in the northwest, free open skateparks are the norm. It’s rather unusual for us to see a big lock on a free unsupervised city park.
In my trip to Utah, I really wanted to skate the new Grindline park in South Jordan. But, it was locked up. And being next to a community center, I inquired at the front desk. The answer? – “Closed for the winter.”
HUH? (it wasn’t snowing, and it was 40 degrees out? I was perplexed!)
I asked them if I could just shovel the snow? “Nope…” The liability was just too great they said. Which didn’t make sense to me, if it’s a free unsupervised park? Especially, if I’m willing to shovel the snow!
I was perplexed. Who closes a skatepark for the winter? I guess, like I said, I’m just not used to the idea of closing a free city park.
Then I found the Layton, Utah skatepark and wanted to skate that, but it was locked up as well.
Now, by this time I got to thinking how many other free city facilities are just “locked up” for the winter? Basketball courts? Tennis Courts? Baseball fields? Soccer fields? Hmm… well I just can’t think of another free facility that is just locked up for the winter.
Now, to be fair, there are some skateparks in the area that remain open in the winter, and the skaters themselves do the hard work of keeping areas clear to skate. The Riverton skatepark, the Fairmount skatepark are too good examples of that.
Now, here’s where I start to get really upset with the whole situation. Skateboarders are individualistic by nature, and often aren’t served by team sports or other facilities, and here their only facility is locked up. Even though it’s not snowing. Not super cold. But, it’s locked up tight. What is the message that these kids receive? Where are the kids supposed to go?
The message?
They don’t matter. They don’t have a voice. Their activity, their sport, their love is controlled by non-skaters who don’t really understand or care about their situation. Sure the signs say that it’s dangerous. But, “Skateboarding is dangerous” is really a stupid thing to say to a skater. Because really, it’s not. It’s only dangerous to a non-skater. Skateboarding is like walking to a skater. Is walking dangerous?
So, after seeing the Riverton skatepark, where the skaters had cleaned out the mini-ramp area on their own.
And at the Fairmont skatepark, where the skaters had cleaned out quite a bit.
I went back to Layton and hopped the fence and spent about an hour shoveling the snow so I could skate the bowl. I was waiting for the cities finest to come and tell me that I was being a criminal for cleaning and skating a closed skatepark. That didn’t happen, though.
It wasn’t that difficult, and I wish I could have done the same for the South Jordan Park. But, oh well, it’s closed for the winter, you know. And just so you don’t get the wrong message… it has a big lock on the gate as well!
Dan
( Check out Dan Hughes’s Northwest Skater )
11 comments
brady
that is amazing
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curtis
I live way out in the country, so I am a visitor at any park I go to. . I clean the park just for my own personal saftey. last year I broke a bone on some debris that stopped me cold in the flat bottom.
I am currently in the town I grew up in, and it is clear that I have not been here in 2 months. I cleaned the park for an hour the other day, and I am going to go finnish the job right now (instead of watching the swearing in).
anyways, you can’t padlock a park that does not have a fence. any fence arround a park is suspect to me. so folks, if they put a fence around your park consider that to be a red flag.
Brad K.
They are way weird about the South Jordan park. They have closed it down, just as punishment, for graffiti and another time for glass bottles in the park.
But man, its a nice park.
Dan Hughes
I did check out Herriman. http://www.northwestskater.com/herriman.html
But, the bowl wasn’t completely free of ice, so I didn’t ride it. Then three days later it had snowed, and it was locked up too, even though it was warm and not snowing at the time.
If it wasn’t locked I would have cleared the bowl.
Zed-word
That photo makes me sad.
baade
yeah, some of the parks are weird about that but next time check out Herriman. Need to verify if they are doing it again or not but last year the parks department actually had a crew that kept it shoveled and skateable pretty much all winter.
Dan Hughes
Indeed, locking parks is a cheap way to “solve” the problem as if we were just children. And the net result of treating skaters as if they were second class citizens?
The park receives no respect from the locals. No sense of ownership. No sense of pride. No sense of community.
Rich
Agreed nweyesk8 a little respect goes a long way. Padlocking the park only hurts the locals and really doesn’t instill any sense of ownership for the local skaters. It’s just another case of laziness on the part of the people who have the ability to padlock the park. It’s easy to padlock the park and it doesn’t solve the problem. Why not allow the local skaters to have a say in how to solve this problem. Sure makes for better social environs when people feel a sense of ownership. It’s ironic how these small communities sometimes don’t embrace what seems so obvious, community.
Kilwag
Easier said than done. You can’t force a community to exist where there isn’t one. For example all the trash on the outskirts of Pier Park is certainly from th elocals and not out of town visitors, as is all the crappy graffiti. There’s a community of people that are locals, but nobody has a sense of ownership other than spraypainting something lame on the concrete. I doubt the city of Harrisburg is preventing skaters from having a sense of ownership. It also highly unlikely that they just decided out the blue to close it without first firing a warning shot across the bow. Something to the effect of “The littering better stop, or we’re going to shut this place down.” The locals need to step up on their own accord, lead by example, encourage people not to mistreat their park and/or clean it up themselves.
But yes, first rule for anyone should be “Respect.” I like to leave a skatepark cleaner than it was when I got there, regardless of whether or not I’m a visitor.
nweyesk8
I went to Harrisburg today and found it padlocked shut. I guess the city has it closed as punishment after huge out of town crowds this weekend left behind a lot of litter. It seems th e locals always get the blame and punishment for out-of-towner’s. How many times has Aumsville been shut down because of non-local’s drinking at the park? Respectg other peoples parks as if they were your own.
BJJPDX/Tom
The culture in utah is bizarre. Seriously. It doesnt surprise me at all. I lived there 8 years and it sucked.