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| Glenhaven Park new home for skateboarders LEE PERLMAN THE MID-COUNTY MEMO
About 70 people, most of them skateboarders of all ages, attended a meeting last month at Madison High School to discuss a proposed new skate park slated for the adjacent Glenhaven Park. The facility will cover about 10,000 square feet and be located in the southeast corner of the park, adjacent to the school. Mark Scott and Sage Bolyard of Dreamland Skateparks, a world-class designer of such facilities, have submitted four options for the Glenhaven facility. Based on the input received, they will create a new design. This will be unveiled for public comment at a meeting starting at 7 p.m. April 5, also at Madison. Portland Parks & Recreation’s Rod Wojtanik noted that skateboarders have been seeking new public facilities since 1977. So far the city has just two: a volunteer-built and -run structure under the Burnside Bridge, and one Parks Bureau facility in Pier Park in north Portland. From Northeast 82nd Avenue, it would take 83 minutes and two bus transfers to reach this park, Wojtanik said. Finally, in 2002, the bureau passed a levy that included $11,000 for new skate parks. Over the next few years they considered 170 potential sites, most but not all of them in city parks. Among the criteria were availability, accessibility by both car and transit, and a safe distance from residences and natural areas. Another criteria was community acceptance. This last helped Glenhaven rise to the top of the list, based on endorsements from the Madison South and Roseway Neighborhood Associations and Central Northeast Neighbors. Also selected were a 10,000 square foot addition to the Pier Park facility, and a 2,000 square foot “skate spot” in the new Holly Farm Park soon to be constructed in southwest Portland. At the Glenhaven facility “you’ll see parents and kids there, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and people coming to watch,” Wojtanik said.
Another observer suggested there be some separation between the park and Northeast 82nd Avenue, lessening the chance that an errant skateboard would veer into traffic. In answer to a question, Madison Assistant Principal Roger DeVille said that the school would have no direct hand in running the park. Students can bring their boards to school, but once inside they must be stowed in a locker until the end of the day. When asked if students would all congregate at the park at recess, he said, “I hope not.” If this happened, he and Wojtanik agreed, both agencies would have to “rethink” their rules. One supporter, Dave Tobin, suggested that skateboarders be given a role in maintaining the facility, including the removal of graffiti. “We could save the city a lot of work,” he said. |
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