More than 100 citizens: attended the Auburn City Council meeting Tuesday to show their support for a new skate park in Auburn. Presenters informed the council of the growing popularity of skateboarding. Kyle Cooper / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
More than 100 Auburn citizens, ranging from children to adults, attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting in support of a proposition to build a skate park in Auburn.
Carson Williford, an eighth grader at Auburn Junior High School, made a presentation to the council, which included a video showcasing several children and teenagers from Auburn with an interest in skateboarding.
They complained there was nowhere in Auburn for them to skate without getting in trouble.
David Zima, a sophomore in architecture, represented the college-aged skaters, saying the current skating facilities only allow middle and high school skaters.
“Unfortunately, there is no specified area in Auburn where we can all skate without getting in trouble with the police or feeling endangered because of traffic,” Zima said. “Just as a football team needs its practice fields and a basketball team needs its stadium, skaters need a park where they can practice their sport and hang out with friends.”
Zima also said a skate park can give an opportunity for younger students to be around older students who could act as mentors.
“I also believe having this park would also help the students reach out to the Auburn community reach out as mentors to the younger generation of skateboarders … it would help get the kids off the street and into a safe location,” Zima said.
The students also expressed how skateboarding is often portrayed as a negative sport, and they made a point to show that those interested were generally good students who simply enjoy their hobby.
Bradley Hooks, a 46-year-old skateboarder and counselor at Ogletree Elementary School, also made an argument for the need of a skate park.
He argued that not only is it against the law to skate on the streets, it is also dangerous.
“In 2006 there were 42 deaths across the United States involving skateboards,” Hooks said. “Of those, 40 did not take place in skate parks but involved a vehicle. These are kids skateboarding on the streets instead of in a skateboard park. That is where the injuries are happening.”
He also presented statistics about the growth of skateboarding as a sport and gave ideas of how other cities have built and designed skate parks and dealt with the issue of liability.
Councilman Arthur Dowdell said he was impressed with the attendance at the meeting
“We haven’t ever seen a crowd this big,” Dowdell said. “I feel like we either fumbled the ball or dropped the ball, but this kind of presence here tonight made me realize … that we do need to consider having a skate park.”
Mayor Bill Ham said the council would consider the skate park during the upcoming budgeting process.
If the council does budget money for the park, it would likely be built in phases.
“We have a great parks and rec programs, but it appeals to mainstream kids,” said Councilwoman Sheila Eckman. “There are a lot of kids we miss, and I think this would pick up a lot of those kids.”
The council also held a public hearing about the Indian Hills Road connection, however, since the traffic study the council had requested from the developer was not yet completed, the council voted 6-2 to table a vote until June 17.
