September 15, 1999

Boarders upbeat about new skate park

By Justin Trapp
Herald staff writer
       Heard, first in rumors, the legend of an utopic park that would house skateboarders and give them a place to practice their art in Traverse City, was still nothing more than a rumor when Sean Kelly was told the story.
      But it was such a good story, Kelly set to work to make this skate park reality.
      "...all the skaters think 'you know it'd be nice to have a skate park in Traverse City,'" Kelly said, "there's nowhere to skate. We get hassled everywhere we go."
      Kelly, a junior at Traverse City Central High School, joined the Grand Traverse Youth Advisory Council (YAC) seeking help with his idea, and found a group of people ready to help. Dylan Hiatt, Curt Beckett, and Aaron Cook also had plans for a skate park, but couldn't find the clout at city meetings without an organized voice. When they met Sean, it seemed best to team up and work together.
      What followed was amazing; Tom Kern, director of the National Cherry Festival, began to see a group of enthusiastic teens who called themselves the Traverse Area Skate Council (TASC), attending City Commission and Park and Recreation meetings, making it well known that they intended to get a skate park. Kern decided to help, and, with the help of the YAC, began writing grants to various local groups for funding a legal skate park for the town.
      The park, which has been approved to be built at the Civic Center, is thought to cost approximately $180,000. Currently, the total amount of TASC raised cash includes $5,000 from the YAC, $30,000 from the city, $30,000 from the county, $40,000 from the Exchange Club, and $60,000 recently given by the Traverse City Rotary Club for a grant submission.
      Harder still to believe is that all this began less than a year ago. The members of TASC, after some considerable discussion, decided that their efforts began in the "fall of 98." Now an organized force, the TASC group projects that their utopian skate park should be skateable and fit for public consumption by July 1, 2000.
      The response from local skaters has been varied.
      "I'm excited to have a place to skate where the cops can't bust me...for skating," said Billy Wood, an employee of B-Xtreme skate shop in Traverse City.
      Wood also expressed his trepidation that this new skate park might end up like others in the area, their wooden ramps falling victim to the harsh northern Michigan weather.
      Despite some concerns, most skaters are optimistic that this skate park will be a success, and are pleased to have a park that will be publicly owned and easily accessible.
      However, will the new 15,000 square feet of impervious surface stop street skating?
      "No," says Wood. "Kids like variety. No one wants to get the same old thing everyday."
      Others agree that, although this park will sizably reduce the amount of street skating, it will not completely stamp it out. Kelly and his friends insist that because skating is born out of an urban culture, it will find its way in through the cracks sooner or later.
      "Streetskating is a huge part of rollerblading and skateboarding," Kelly advises critics, "It's never going to stop...this is going to give us a good place to skate but (streetskating) part of the sport.