A few weeks after our last update on the neighborhood organizers determined to take Ercolini Park west of The Junction from purchased parkland to bonafide park by summertime, there’s more news. Organizer Bill Barna says they’re almost halfway to their goal of getting 1,000 hours of volunteer time pledged; find out more about what’s up and how you can help, at the park website or e-mail Bill directly.
It’s really sad to see another group of West Seattle adults shut down a potential skate spot, this one exclusively for young kids.
I’m beginning to wonder who my neighbors are. At the Myrtle Reservoir meeting I witnessed a group of 30+ adults berating kids who ride skateboards as “degenerates”, “miscreants”, and “criminals”. The fear of youth was palpable.
Skateboarding is not appropriate for every public space, but there is currently ZERO square feet of safe and accessible public space for skateboarders in West Seattle. Skateboarding is now more popular than little league, but our kids are forced to “play” in the street with the cars. Skate feature design has transcended the “gray blob” of concrete and can be quite beautiful.
The Parks Department and DON need to step up and work for everyone, not just the few cranky folks who show up at every meeting. Kids are doing homework and being kids. Swing sets are great, but where are the activities for teens?
C’mon West Seattle…we can’t put them ALL in jail.
I agree Matt. This is disappointing, when the fact of the matter is, is that skateboarders are going to bring healthy activity to parks that otherwise may just end up being a nice vacant gathering spot for drug dealers.
Plus it’s fun to hangout and watch skateboarders do there stuff, especially when their on features made for them and not your curbs, steps, sidewalks or your public handrailings.
Actually, flipjack, we don’t need to worry about the Ercolini lot being a vacant gathering spot for drug dealers. It will soon become a beautiful park for the neighborhood to enjoy. Work will begin on the park in late summer and there will be paths, play areas and benches. The Pro-parks Levy provided limited funds, so it was up to the neighbors to decide how the money should be spent. Were you at the meetings? I guess I was one of the “cranky folks” who showed up at each meeting to put in my two cents. Unless you were there, giving your opinion at the public forum, flapjack and Matt, I don’t think you should be complaining. I sure hope you’ve at least donated your volunteer hours if you feel so strongly about things.
Thanks for your comment Misty.
You’re right….I missed the meetings.
However, I went down to Olympia to lobby for the WWRC $245K grant that helped finance the acquisition of the Ercolini property. I am also the skateboarder who invented the “skate dot†concept, and I live in your neighborhood.
I have done all this as a volunteer, but I was really in Olympia to talk about skateparks. In a way, the WWRC funding for Ercolini came about because of skateboarding. Let me explain…
I was the only volunteer that went to Olympia with the Parks Department staff to lobby for multiple projects on the list for WWRC funding. Lower Woodland skatepark was on the list below the Ercolini acquisition. Parks staff shuffled me around to meet with the various legislators. On their agenda: Ercolini, on my agenda: skateparks. The legislators all wanted to talk about skateparks…some of their kids do it, it sure seems like a healthy activity, etc… There was not a whole lot of interest in the Ercolini project.
However, because the skatepark project was prioritized below the Ercolini acquisition by Parks Department, a vote for skateparks was a proxy vote for the Ercolini acquisition. When the funds were granted, the skatepark dropped below the line for funding so it was designated as an “alternate”, while the higher priority Ercolini project received funding. By trying to get the skateparks funded, the legislators actually bumped the Ercolini project above the funding line.
The reason I am telling you this story is that I feel like some of my neighbors don’t respect the contribution skateboarding and skateboarders have made to this particular project. On the surface the skate feature seems to have been shot down by fearful neighbors who are concerned about noise. However in talking to other neighbors it seems that there was actually quite a bit of support for the skate feature. Regardless, I understand my neighbor’s concerns, but I urge you and any concerned neighbors to take a look at the city-wide skatepark plan that was recently released by the Parks Department:
http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/skateboard/CitywideSkateparkPlan.pdf
It demystifies a lot of unjustified fear and concern about what would otherwise be a fun, active and healthy addition to the Ercolini project. I know that there are 3-4 kids who live right across the street from the site, that I often see skateboarding on a piece of broken plywood in the street. A skate dot could be designed in such a way that would not only be quiet, but it would also be a really fun and active part of the park.
Unfortunately I missed the public process for this project, which is odd because I have been to meetings regarding both the Junction and Myrtle projects. But please don’t let a little misinformation and fear get in the way of having something really great in our neighborhood, that the kids would really enjoy. Not every skateboarder is a bad person, one of them was instrumental in helping secure the funding for the Ercolini acquisition. Also, not every skate spot has to be loud or ugly, and kids…especially teens…really need something to do besides sit in front of the TV.
Congratulations on a long and valiant effort to turn the Ercolini property in to the park that the original owner intended it to be. It’s not an easy thing to do and you’ve done a great job.
Thanks for the information, Matt. You’ve been a great advocate for your community. The link is very interesting and it does a nice job of providing information about skateboarding and its benefits for youth. I think you’re right that those of us who live very close to the park are concerned about the potential noise that skateboarding can create. And, a lot of it may be unjustified fear but when it comes to “picking and choosing” what we can afford in the park, the skate dot is the one thing that has been lowest priority for those who attended the meetings. But, I do 100% agree with you that not every skateboarder is a bad person.
Sorry, comment time is over.
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