Authored by: cgrotke on Tuesday, May 05 2009 @ 09:54 AM GMT+4

Thanks for the unfortunate news.

The municipality is meeting this evening and amnesty could be brought
up during Public Participation. Maybe suggest a temporary lifting of any
ban on skateboards until a suitable site is found.

(I did some more research on permeable concrete. It exists and works,
though someone familiar with it said that it requires vacuuming so it
doesn't get clogged.)

Authored by: janed on Tuesday, May 05 2009 @ 11:02 AM GMT+4

Any surface would need some kind of maintenance... would vacuuming be worse than other maintenance like leaf-blowing, snow-shoveling,lawn-mowing, hosing-down, zamboni-ing and whatever other regular maintenance is required for other surfaces?

I realize these questions are beside the point if there is no skatepark.

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janed

Authored by: spinoza on Tuesday, May 05 2009 @ 06:08 PM GMT+4

As Mr. Beemer said last night, the surface has to be rock hard and butter smooth, so when you fall you slide rather than rip the skin.

The real question is why if there is a local ordinance in place prohibiting impermeable surfaces in those types of places, why did we have to go through a year and a half of contortions, set-backs, compromise designs, meetings, adjustments, and the rest?

The plan was on the books at the town meeting before last, surely there could have been better communication between departments?

Authored by: cgrotke on Tuesday, May 05 2009 @ 08:49 PM GMT+4

Permeable concrete is not smooth...it has extra big chunks in it, and
gaps for the water to flow through. Oh well, it was worth checking
out.

This seems like such a simple request from skateboarders - let us
have a place to do something constructive, outdoors, it's social, it's
athletic, it keeps us from becoming bored and likely to do other less
productive things to fill our time.

Maybe a town rep will offer an amendment to add a place for
skateboarding at the new wastewater treatment plant. The town is
asking to buy a strip of land that connects the train station to the
plant, so there could be a path to get there.

How much would it add to the $32.8 + million already budgeted?
.0001%?

Or maybe someone could find a way to get the skating rink to be the
summer home to skateboarding, since we like spending money on that
facility for skaters?

I can see why skateboarders are frustrated. Imagine if bikes were
banned in town until a proper place for them was found.

Authored by: cgrotke on Tuesday, May 05 2009 @ 10:11 PM GMT+4

One more thought. Have there been any discussions with the Circus Arts
school? Perhaps someone could be found to teach performance
skateboarding, and a facility could be built around it.

I've seen rollerblading at circuses...

Authored by: paulgardner on Wednesday, May 06 2009 @ 07:35 AM GMT+4

I'm sad for the skateboarders, but sorta glad the flood plain issues were overriding.

Seems like it would make more sense to swap out a ballfield from Memorial Park, putting two new ballfields down by the river and a new skateboard area in place of one of the ballfields at the park. Call me crazy, but it makes sense to me!

Authored by: pjmelton on Wednesday, May 06 2009 @ 12:16 PM GMT+4

Apparently the people who live in the condos near Memorial Park nixed the idea of a skate park. They might be able to hear the skateboards over the sound of the traffic or something....

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"Economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings." -- FDR

Authored by: spinoza on Wednesday, May 06 2009 @ 01:07 PM GMT+4

Nixed...With Extreme Prejudice...

Authored by: cgrotke on Wednesday, May 06 2009 @ 01:23 PM GMT+4

100% urethane wheels with a hollow core attached to a board powered
by a human can be so noisy! I can barely hear the lawn mowers,
chainsaws, lumber trucks, and sirens if a skateboard rolls by.

Somehow the argument that skateboarders at the park would be
noisy, but skaters, ball players, swimmers, and fireworks are OK
seems illogical. If one lives next to the big town park, one should
expect sounds of people being recreational.

Lifting the ban on skateboards would probably be best, from a noise
point of view. It would distribute it evenly over the town and not
create a pocket of activity. It would decriminalize kids, too.

Whomever finds the solution will be a hero to young people.

Authored by: local on Saturday, May 09 2009 @ 09:49 AM GMT+4

Authored by: pjmelton on Saturday, May 09 2009 @ 03:45 PM GMT+4

Is the Elm Street lot the one that is right there on the road, or is it adjacent to the Youth Theater?

Either way, it's possible the space is not large enough to accommodate a park of the necessary dimensions. Apparently, based on comments I have seen here before, a small skate park is worse than no skate park at all. Having exactly zero knowledge of why this is, I can't elaborate.

It also seems like a no-brainer to me that a skate park could easily go into Living Memorial Park. I don't understand why the needs of a few residents who surely hear the exact same constant traffic noise that I hear as a West Brattleboro resident override the needs of hundreds of skaters. Maybe the noise issue is just a cover-up for not wanting "riffraff" around? When I lived in Nashville, the hoity-toity neighborhoods practically had an uprising about a proposed bike path, and since there was no noise issue to pretend they objected to, it soon came out that they thought only poor people rode bikes and that the poor people were going to sneak in on bikes in the night and steal large-screen televisions.

Perhaps it's worth going back to the drawing board about Memorial Park, though I gather advocates are getting a little worn out at this point. Also, I would rather see it downtown, where it would be accessible to more people without so much driving. Maybe they could build another level on the parking garage for skateboards only! :)

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"Economic laws are not made by nature. They are made by human beings." -- FDR