Number of contacts at Logan skateboard park reported
The new Logan skateboard park has been constructed and in use for a month now, so a few of the questions posed in pre-production can be answered.
Mike McClesky, sophomore said, “It’s a nice cement park. It has transitions, quater-pipe based stuff; you can get a lot of quality skating time in. It’s also free and you don’t need pads. Those are a major plus.”
Other riders agreed, although offered some dissent.
“It gets hot out there. They need some shade, like put in some trees,” said Brett Gerfen, a local skater. “And there isn’t enough rails, and the two they put in are hard.”
Andy Frujillo, also a local skater said, “It’s doing a good job of localizing skaters. With the younger kids, their parents just drop them off. If I were a parent, I would drop them off. I know where they are. Most young kids who are starting to skate are coming to the park.”
While it is too early to tell if skating will be reduced on campus, skating in restricted areas of Logan are on the decline.
“It has been a good thing. There has been a decrease in skating in prohibited areas. BMX bikes really have been more of a problem with property destruction and police altercations,” Sergeant Eric Collins, who partly handles enforcement around the park, said.
Regarding the skatepark, Collins said, “The problems have been minor; more of an administration issue than discipline. For example, using the dumpster as an obstacle. Things of that nature. I have some school resource officers who check frequently on the park, but the skaters have been self-enforcing regarding the policies. Especially the no bike policy.”
On campus, the results have been less clear. Police-to-skater contacts in 1999 totaled 76, the year 2000 totaled 72, and for 2001 they total 73 on campus, as of Sept. 19, according to Campus Police Statistic Report, 1999-2001.
USU Campus Police Lt. Steve Milne – who deals with on campus contacts, said, “It is still too early to tell what affect the skatepark will have on campus. It has only been open a month.”
Some skaters do not think the park will solve all street skating problems.
“A park to skate in provides a good environment, but street skating is a huge part of the sport,” McClesky said.
“Older kids will skate street. The younger kids will go to the park, but older kids do it,” Frujillo said.
At the X-games this last August, a special skateboarding event was designated on the Philadelphia capital building area, a normally illegal place to skate. The event was created to pay respect to the influence of true street skating in competition.
Regarding skating, Mike McClesky said, “With the skatepark being built, it is a double-edged sword, because it gives the cops an excuse to bust kids who street skate. It can lead to eventually banning all street skating. So people are always going to be on the street, parks or not.”