MARTINSBURG, WV – So what if their skatepark doesn’t have heat? Skateboarders and BMX riders around the region are simply grateful they now have one to call home.

The Berkeley County BMX/Skatepark was officially dedicated Tuesday night in its location, an old cold-storage warehouse that previously stored apples and other fruits. The facility is adjacent to the BP gas station/ROCS convenience store off of Kelly Island Road.

The idea for the park came about quite some time ago, but it had been consistently battled by the state because of liability insurance, said Steve Catlett, executive director of Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation.

Catlett spoke Tuesday to a crowd of about 40 people, which included members of the Martinsburg City Council and Berkeley County Commission. He said state representatives eventually softened their stance, as they viewed skateparks comparable with other athletic venues in terms of injuries.

Funding and location also were issues for the park creation. Catlett said skaters had always been reprimanded for meandering around the city, but they never had an option for a place of their own.

“The problem was we never had a solution,” Catlett said.

Now, with a generous monetary contribution from the now-defunct Beth Jacob Synagogue & Jewish Community Center and the contribution of property from Roach Energy, which owns the facility, skaters and BMX riders can now flock to the skatepark, which features $50,000 of equipment, including quarter-pipes, bank ramps and roll-ins.

Catlett said there is also a second cold-storage unit behind a wall that currently contains a large amount of apples. Once the apples are removed, the unit could be viewed as an expansion of the park, which is currently a 6,100-square-foot facility.

“Where we are now is a great start, and to have this funding put into public recreation for people to enjoy themselves is great,” Catlett said.

Mark Peacemaker, a self-proclaimed “skatepark parent,” said he was absolutely thankful for the Parks and Recreation board, especially with Catlett at the helm.

“It’s remarkable how far they can stretch a dollar, and what they can do with such a small budget,” Peacemaker said. “It’s just a blessing to have it all come together.”

He also expressed gratitude to the Roach family for its contributions. Peacemaker said he wrote a letter for The Journal’s editorial page that stated the ideas that he and fellow members of the park’s citizen group had. His lone response came from Joan Roach of Roach Energy, who wanted to help make the park a reality.

Roach said she was more than happy to utilize the space for the park.

“It thrills me to see kids having a place to go and do positive things,” she said. “It’s just wonderful how respectful everyone is also.”

Martinsburg City Councilman Richard Yauger was in amazement while watching bikers and skaters nail tricks that appeared to defy the laws of physics.

“This is just a fantastic thing to be a part of,” Yauger said.

Catlett said he hopes the park will sustain itself through user fees, which can be found online at www.mbcparks-rec.org. The park’s hours and rules also are available at the site.

The doors will officially open at 5 p.m. today. Skaters under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian’s signature on the park’s liability waiver.

[ The Journal ]

Designed primarily for BMX, the 6,100-square-foot facility at 39 Kelly Island Road is in a former cold storage warehouse owned by R.M. Roach & Sons Inc. (Roach Energy) along W.Va. 9.

Roach Energy agreed to lease the space to the recreation board for $1,000 per month on a one-year trial basis, Catlett said.

Catlett estimated the facility’s budget will be about $3,000 per month. He hopes the skatepark, made possible by a $134,751 donation from the now defunct Beth Jacob Congregation in Martinsburg, can be self-sustaining through the collection of user fees.

Ron Bain has helped bring new skate and BMX park to life in Martinsburg, W.Va. He works for the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board.

“We’ll have invested about $100,000 once it’s open,” Catlett said. “We have needed this facility in our community for a long time.”

Daily admission will be $5, and $50 monthly memberships will be sold beginning in January 2010, according to the recreation board’s Web site. The skatepark’s hours of operation also are posted on the Web site.

Jamie Hess, who owns Groove Merchants BMX specialty shop in Martinsburg, believes use of the skate park, particularly by modified bicycle riders, will far exceed the recreation board’s expectations.

“I think BMX is bigger now than it’s ever been,” Hess said. “It’s not a fad. It’s proven that.”

BMX originated in California in the early 1970s, according to the American Bicycle Association (ABA), which claims to be the sport’s largest national sanctioning body, with more than 60,000 members. BMX made its Olympic Games debut in 2008 in Beijing.

On any given weekend, Hess said 100 or so riders come to his North Queen Street shop, which he has operated in Martinsburg for three years. Area riders currently travel from the Tri-State area to a Baltimore-area facility now because there are few places to go, he said.

“It’s going to be big,” Hess said of what he described as a medium-size facility. “I’m superexcited.”

Hess, who still rides at age 35, has led a group of area BMX enthusiasts who have volunteered their time to set up quarter-pipe ramps and other freestyle stunt and jump-propelling structures purchased for the new skate park. A wood-frame ramp also was donated by the Hagerstown BMX track at Fairgrounds Park, he said.

If the skatepark’s success matches the enthusiasm already aired for the new recreation facility, Catlett said the recreation board might be able to expand into a second cold storage unit next door.

That unit still has apples in it, and both spaces can hold about 100,000 bushels of apples, but Stanley Roach of Roach Energy said the company will not be storing fruit in it next year.

“We were at the point of upgrading the equipment and staying in the cold storage business or doing something different,” Roach said. “We hope the (skate park) is successful.”

Roach said his family’s company had been renting the cold storage space to Knouse Foods Cooperative, which ended applesauce production in Inwood, W.Va., last year.

A Subway sandwich shop and one of Roach Energy’s BP gas station/ROCS convenience stores still operate at the Kelly Island Road property, which formerly was owned by Mountaineer Orchards Inc.

[ Herald-Mail ]