This was a letter to the editor in the Press of Atlantic City, published Saturday, 2/13/2010:
As a skateboarder, I feel Mullica Township made a grave error in removing its skate park. For the past five years, it was my favorite practice grounds for skateboarding, and the 45-minute drive from Millville was well worth it every time. I understand and agree the damage done to the facility was getting out of hand. But there are some steps Mullica should have taken instead of simply giving up. And as far as I'm concerned, it's not too late.
First of all, think about the equipment itself. It is not designed well or with longevity in mind. Never mind the fact it may have had pro-skater endorsements - that's just a selling point. This park, like most other parks in New Jersey, are manufactured by playground companies that really don't care about quality, permanent skateboard practice facilties.
Case in point, the black plastic riding surface. Had these ramps been metal (as in Upper Township, which has never required any ramp repairs) or better yet concrete (as in Brigantine), none of these repair issues would have occurred. A small, well-designed concrete park, despite popular belief, is not more expensive. Brigantine is proof of that.
Secondly, I understand the adjacent picnic tables and gazebos have not been immune from damage. However there are ways around this. The picnic table should be moved closer to the Pine Cone Zone playground and cemented down. As for the gazebo, I recommend moving that also to the other side of the playground.
Third, there is a solution for the missing gate.
Bayonne has a special gate in its skate park designed to keep bikes out. It has vertical bars so that skaters have to squeeze through, and bikes cannot fit through it.
There is no excuse for any municipality to give up on its skateboarders. It is wrong to punish the whole bunch over a few rotten apples. I am more than willing to help in any way possible to help restore skate parks to skaters who desperately need them.
CHRIS AMENDT
Millville
Saturday, February 13, 2010
SAVING THE MULLICA SKATE PARK - A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
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6 comments:
Water over the dam.
"And as far as I'm concerned, it's not too late", yes it is.
As one of the Mullica taxpayers, who pays for this facility, I am tired of the senseless destruction of our municipal property. A chained down trash can was destroyed. Who is paying to move the gazebo (like that would matter, since there was one on the opposite side that was destroyed) and who is paying to cement down picnic tables for a "few rotten apples"?
An adult, and by that I mean someone over the age of 18, admitted to cutting the fence.
I suppose it is considered "uncool" to "snitch" on the "few rotten apples", however how cool is it now that there's no park?
Maybe you can help out Millville and guide their committee/council on how to build a skatepark.
How long are these skateboarders/bikers going to prolong this? The horse is dead, stop beating it!
Chris seems to know a lot about skateparks. Now he should learn about taxpayers who tried to do something and it didn't work out. Now we don't want to pay for it anymore. Simple as that. Over and done.
RE 11:20 am
That was a great suggestion you made to Mr. Amendt. Millville will have the chance to build a skatepark the correct way with the expert advice of Mr. Amendt.
I hope he doesn't forget to tell them they will have to cement down their picnic tables and maybe paint or scrub them often because of the graffiti.
Good Luck to Millville.
In response to Shredless and the others: Millville could care less- I'm ashamed to live there- my friends and I have circulated numerous petitions, letters of support,and yet their lame excuse, without fail, is "they need a new roof on the city hall" or other pathetic lies. Yet they can build a brand new soccer complex at the motor sports park, upon countless other things, flushing millions of OUR TAX dollars down the toilet, but not include a tiny little skatepark the size of my bedroom for all i care!!!! I take issue with that!!!!!!! We havetried for years; same story in nearby Bridgeton. Only we're somewhat close to making progress there, thank God. But given our circumstances, to make a long story short, it will be nowheres near as good as Mullica was, what a shame. The reason I wrote this article and felt so strongly about this is that I feel Mullica was nicely kept and i was glad it had free access and not restricting hours, despite the vandalism issues and poor designing. I really empathize for the skaters that have no where to go but deserve one. NOT ALL SKATERS ARE VANDALS!!! I am certainly upset that the few jerks screwed things up for all of us, and I'm certainly sorry your tax dollars are wasted and if I could, I would do what I can to help make things right for you. If I could fix the park myself I would!!! (I personally wouldn't even Want tax dollars!!) If I were their father I would give em an old fashioned belt whippin (which is BIBLICAL) to teach em respect for taxpayer resources. Just because I'm a skateboarder, don't assume I condone whatever the vandals did, because I'm appalled!!! Believe it or not, like it or not, there ARE skaters that are grateful from the bottom of their hearts for Mullica skatepark. I even wrote Mullica township such a letter the year it opened, thanking them for it and how much I enjoyed it, wishing to build a duplicate for Millville and they sent me a nice, professional response. . You have NO idea how many times I have tried to convince my local towns to give my local fellow skaters a chance. You speak of taxpayers, yet how do you expect these FUTURE taxpayers to WILLINGLY pay them and become faithful law abiding citizens? If the municipality turns its nose just because of pre-conceived stereotypes or "rotten apples"naturally it would leave a bad taste in skaters mouths. The tension has to stop somewhere!
Thank you all for listening. If Millville or Bridgeton ever does get a skatepark built I hope to see u there. And yes, we're prepared to fight vandalism.
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