Salisbury Skatepark approaching reality
After five years of promoting, working and fundraising, the Salisbury Skatepark committee finally recieved good news about a DNR grant to help with construction costs
Delmarva Daily Times
Later this month, Lower Shore residents and visitors will have an opportunity to watch some of the country’s top skateboarders compete in Ocean City while the Dew Tour is in town. Skateboarding, once an activity seen as a nuisance, has matured since the 1970s and is now a legitimate sport and recreational activity.
It should be pointed out that in the late 1970s, Salisbury had a small skate park, behind the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center on South Park Drive. Initially popular, usage dropped off until finally, the park was abandoned and eventually dismantled. That fact is often used in arguments against replacing that long-gone facility.
Five years ago, an effort got under way to get a skate park built in Salisbury –where, by the way, it is illegal to skateboard on the roadways and sidewalks within the city limits. A group of motivated enthusiasts, along with a few city officials, have been working since 2007 to find funding and support sufficient to get the project off the ground. Good news arrived recently in the form of a $262,000 Department of Natural Resources grant that will fund the first phase of a proposed 14,000-square-foot skate park near the location of the original facility.
While the 1970s skate park may have been built prematurely in terms of the activity’s established popularity, today skateboarding is relatively mainstream. University students use them to travel around campus, and occasionally to get from nearby residences to campus and back. Youngsters practice the sport in parking lots, driveways and wherever they can find a paved surface that’s relatively free of traffic.
They are, however, sometimes a problem on sidewalks or roads when they interfere with pedestrian or motor vehicle traffic. Sometimes the skaterboarders are inconsiderate; motor vehicles may not be entirely comfortable sharing the roadside with skateboards. Pedestrians may feel threatened by skaters whizzing past them.
Skaters mostly want a place to practice their sport in safety, with physical facilities that allow them to learn, enjoy and occasionally engage in some friendly competition. Ocean City has a magnificent skatepark, but it costs money to use it. Pocomoke City and Delmar both have small-scale skate parks for local use.
It’s time for Salisbury to add a skate park, especially since using sidewalks, parking lots and roadways inside the city limits is not legal. The dedicated members of the Salisbury Skatepark Committee have worked long and hard for five years now, raising more than $9,000, repeatedly applying for Project Open Space and other grants, working toward 501(c)(3) status and selling their dream to those who are in a position to help and support their cause.
The skate park is a team effort involving the city and skateboard enthusiasts. A public hearing s scheduled for Wednesday at 5:30 in Room 301 of the Government Office Building in downtown Salisbury. Whether you support the project or object to it, please come out and make your views known. More information is available online at www.ci.salisbury.md.us.
It’s time for Salisbury to get on board and support this healthy, popular recreational activity.
Source Article from http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20120807/OPINION01/208070369/Our-View-Salisbury-Skatepark-approaching-reality?odyssey=nav%7Chead
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