Myrtle Reservoir skatepark question cloudier still

Another quick update from the Design Commission meeting downtown: A new schematic design for Myrtle Reservoir park, “option C,” is moving forward. (It’s not online yet but we have a printout and will upload a photo when we get back to WSB HQ; 7:12 PM UPDATE – that’s it atop the post; we’ll try to get an electronic copy tomorrow so you can see it more clearly.) The design moves the play areas on the park’s north side further to the center of that side, and sets aside an area a short way south of the northeast corner (fronting on 35th) as “future skate spot.” Parks managers and architects at this meeting pulled back from the statements we heard in February that this area was definitely where the skateboarding proposal would move forward, going back to the “one is proposed for here or for High Point,” and also countered what a parks manager had told us in February, now saying skate feature funding would NOT come out of the park’s $1,068,000 budget ($668,000 for construction, $400,000 for design/planning/administration). After the meeting, we asked parks official Colleen Browne to clarify the situation regarding precisely where the Myrtle skate feature stands now; she asked us to check with her tomorrow for an official answer. 7:13 PM ADDITION: Most important of all, the next public meeting for the project is set: 7 pm May 1, High Point Community Center. The Design Commission also asked the Parks Department and architects to bring the project back for them to have another look, too.

Skateborad mom April 4, 2008 (11:20 am)

There needs to be a skate park in West Seattle! My son has no safe, local place to skate and skating is his passion- what will it take to get the cities attention for the skaters of West Seattle? 1 out of 5 kids from middle school up skates and if you just take a look around you will see ALL of them- and where are they? On the streets and sidewalks, in parking lots and at the local schools – is that the best place for them? No it is cause for concern- they can be hit by a car, they could damange someone’s property on accident, the property owners could be sued if they are injured – BUILD THE PARK FOR OUR YOUTH!!!

Peter April 4, 2008 (12:02 pm)

Skateparks actually get used. Every park should have one.

chas redmond April 4, 2008 (12:58 pm)

I’m somewhat disappointed with Parks for reducing the skatepark to a “potential” element. I suspect the next round of community meetings will bring more contention – something which Parks seems to have brought upon themselves. They listen, but not apparently well enough. Looking forward to that next Parks meeting.

MLJ April 4, 2008 (1:16 pm)

What baffles me is why skateparks, and vis-a-vis skateboarders, are subjected to so much attention and scrutiny.

Everyone just acts like it’s acceptable to treat skateboarders like refugees, and skateparks like homes for wayward sex offenders.

Just because a few neighbors don’t like teenagers, the Parks Department decides to play silly games with these design iterations. Seattle Parks needs to step up and build the skateparks that the City Council has unanimously approved, and take the flak from the anti-skatepark crowd.

How about some vision and commitment Seattle Parks?

Sue Scharff April 4, 2008 (2:42 pm)

my son is a skateboarder too, and he and his friends, and many of the good folks at torn skateshop in the junction (also home of the skate church) are all committed “straight edgers,” i.e., no smoking, no drugs, no drinking. they know those activities will impede their skating, and they don’t do them. skateboarding requires a tremendous level of skill, strength and commitment; skaters try hundreds of times before managing to nail a trick properly, and might try hundreds more times before they nail it a second time. they deserve our respect as athletes, just as our football, baseball, volleyball, etc. players do. giving them a safe facility to practice makes good sense on many levels – as skateboard mom points out. peter’s right too: skateparks would get a lot longer use from a larger segment of the population than the endless “play structures” plunked down in an island of beauty bark for little kids, who use them for maybe 3 years before they outgrow them and start looking for something else to amuse them for the next 13 years.

Gatewood Resident April 5, 2008 (4:56 am)

Come on people…the beef is NOT with the skateboarders themselves, okay? Stop having a pity party over this and acknowledge that most neighbors (w/in the Myrtle Res) are concerned w/ the non-skating crowd and assoc crime that seem to frequent skate parks. Here’s just a couple of examples (apparently skaters and non skaters involved)…

http://blogs.thenewstribune.com/crime/2008/03/09/skate_park_closed_after_fight_breaks_out

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-68717437.html

It’s simple to google for this stuff…obviously the local SB parks have some problems associated with them. OF COURSE they have many positive benefits for those kids using them too.

Personally, I totally support children skating, biking, throwing frisbees, soccer, t ball…whatever to get them moving and not playing w/ or staring at an electronic gadget.

Additionally, the location of the skate park is touchy b/c you’ve got a neighborhood anticipating some peace after almost 2 years of heavy equipment, dirt, noise, construction traffic, etc w/ the lidding project. Sheesh…now a skateboard park creating more traffic and noise?? With no plans or money for bathrooms?? Okay, it’s just common sense to consider placing the SB park across the street at high point field where there are bathrooms, lighting, and parking lot (by the comm center).

Sue Scharff April 5, 2008 (11:05 pm)

i’m glad to read of what might be other problems with the skate park idea, gatewood resident, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is a serious and widespread bias against skateboarders. if the issue is with noise, let that be part of the conversation, but there is definitely bias, and bringing that into the conversation is not a “pity party,” it’s shining a light on one of the issues at play.
but really: sumner and tacoma are “local” skate parks? try googling “volunteer park” and see how much crime comes up. or the former reservoir park on cap hill, now named for cal anderson: we used to find used needles in the sandbox, and condoms everywhere. anyone can make the argument that parks draw crime, and anyone can find news stories to back that up. that argument leads to only one conclusion, which is that we shouldn’t have any parks at all. yeah, that’ll fix the problem.

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