News |
STREATOR: Coley revives talk of Streator skate park
02/08/2008, 12:56 pm
Comment on this story
CRAIG WIECZORKIEWICZ, craigw@mywebtimes.com, 815-673-6374
Streator native Scott Coley spent the past three years traveling the country, working his dream job as a concrete finisher building skate parks.
The skateboarding enthusiast recently returned to his hometown and hopes to revive his 2004 proposal to build a better skate park in Streator.
"The city said go out and learn everything you can know about it," Coley told The Times. "I've been building them for three years. I know the ins and outs of it now."
When Coley and other skateboarders approached the City Council in summer 2004, city officials told them to determine what type of features they wanted and potential locations for a new skate park.
While they did not commit to building a new skate park, council members encouraged Coley and the others to research the possibilities.
Four years earlier, the city built a minimal skate park at the James Street Recreation Area, fencing in a 70-by-70-foot concrete pad with wooden ramps. The removable ramps were gone before Coley pitched his proposal.
What was left of that skate park no longer exists, razed as part of an ongoing $1.6 million development project at the 19-acre James Street site. Coley is disappointed a new skate park is not in the development's plans.
"There's not even a place to skate around here," Coley said. "I think we could squeeze in a 6,000-square-foot area park."
Coley said he contacted City Manager Paul Nicholson, who referred him to Public Works Director David Fussell. Coley said Fussell told him a skate park would not be added to the James Street project and was not interested in working with him to find an alternate location.
Coley hasn't given up his quest, though. He plans to approach the City Council about building a skate plaza, which essentially is a skate park with concrete steps, ledges, rails and landscaping, for $150,000 and little maintenance. He added that his 2004 skate park proposal prompted two Streator businesses to offer donations of sheet metal and bricks. Coley said he would do his part for free.
"I'm trying to change the stigma that skateboarders are bad kids," Coley said. "It's not a delinquent activity. It can become a delinquent activity if they're skating where they're not supposed to. But you can say that about a lot of things. Skateboarding is something alternative for the kids who don't play football or baseball."
The first skate park didn't go over well with skateboarders because it was too small and equipped with minimal street elements, he said.
Coley doesn't want quick construction of a new park, but hopes the city will start planning to build in the next few years. He suggests building it close to a road, so police can drive past without having to get out of their squad cars to keep watch on the park.
"I think it could be a tourist thing if it's done right," Coley said. "Skateboarders travel to go to different parks. That's a part of the subculture. They'll come from all over the state, because there isn't a really good one anywhere. And when they come, they'll spend money in town, even if it's just on snacks and gas."
Jim Cashmer and Will Price, co-founders of Community Area Recreational Enterprises, believe the idea is worth pursuing.
"There are a lot of parents who drive their kids to the skatepark in Minonk," said Cashmer, noting many teens who frequent CARE-operated Total Rec check their skateboards at the door.
"We're actually dealing with the kids who would use the skate park," Price said.
A skate park would provide an additional outlet for Streator youths outside of organized sports -- something the city needs to take into consideration, Cashmer said.
"These kids are the future," Cashmer said. "It's a wonderful thing the city is doing at James Street. But there are 1,500 kids who don't play baseball or football. They deserve a place to go, too."
