City hears from veteran boarders on proposed skate park

David J. Mitchell, Daily Star Staff Writer Hammond, LA) -- 3/5/2004

Known for sending themselves headlong down vertical ramps and bowls, skate boarders from Hammond, Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Mandeville called for the city Thursday to "do it superhuge" if it's going to build a city skate park.

"If you're going to spend the money, do it right," said Doug Lejeune, a 34-year-old Baton Rouge resident who said he would travel to Hammond if it built a quality skate park.

Lejeune said Baton Rouge "dropped the ball" by building a park with modular sections that many skate boarders don't favor.

Lejeune was one of numerous skate boarders, roughly from their pre-teen years to their mid-30s, and some parents who filled the City Council chambers to speak in favor of a skate park.

"I think anything that gets this generation into City Hall to do planning ought to be done," said Julia Andres Wolf, a Hammond resident whose 14-year-old son is a skate boarder.

City Recreation Director Joey Keener, City Councilman Tony Licciardi, Mayor Mayson Foster and other city officials are considering the park, and a recent request for proposals has been narrowed down to two companies, the Seattle-based Grindline Skate Parks and the Lincoln City, Ore.,-based Dreamland Skateparks.

Keener said the meeting was held to gather input from the skaters themselves about what kind of park should be built.

The skate boarders clapped when Keener announced that Grindline and Dreamland were in the final running.

Several skate boarders said the companies were operated by skaters who understand what people are looking for and build concrete parks, which are more durable and preferred by skaters but, as City Planner John Dardis pointed out, will add to the cost along with other additions.

"All these are things that have to be considered, but the more you add, the price goes up," Dardis said.

The skate boarders said the two companies, but especially Dreamland, have the credibility among skate boarders nationally to draw immediate interest from skater magazines and professional skating circuits.

"They are by far the best people to do this. They build the best parks. They design the best parks," said Stephen Fontenot, a 27-year-old New Orleans resident.

Fontenot said he traveled twice across the country to visit skate parks and, like many of the skate boarders in the room, visits a private Hammond skate park whose owners are helping Keener decide how to select a design and a builder for the project.

Many skate boarders also said they wanted a "bowl" in the park, similar to what a drained swimming pool would look like.

The City Council set aside $100,000 for a park, but examples of large concrete parks shown by Dardis in a PowerPoint presentation ranged from $300,000 to $400,000.

Several skaters, who said they were hassled for skating in public parks and around business parking lots, suggested local businesses and even Southeastern Louisiana University be sought for additional funding.

"Building a skate park would help us, and I think it would help them and I think they should be here," said Dwight Carroll, a 24-year-old Hammond resident.

Keener said he did invite area businesses, but no business representative spoke at the meeting.

John Kent, a 40-year-old father of two and a soccer coach who has recently started skate boarding, said SLU has capital outlay funding that can be used for areas as far as five miles from the campus.

As a part of Dardis' presentation, he said the city was looking at three sites that the city already owns: two at Zemurray Park and one near the soccer fields on Fagan Drive.

Although the 10-acre Fagan site would provide the most space, a majority of the skate boarders, by a show of hands, favored the vacant corner of West Coleman Avenue and South Oak Street because of its proximity to downtown.

Dardis said a park's size could range from 6,000 to 30,000 square feet, could be built in phases with separate areas for different levels of experience and would take 18 months to construct.

The West Coleman site is approximately 27,400 square feet, the smallest of the three sites, Dardis said. The city's old gym was demolished there last year.

Keener said that with the public hearing completed, representatives from Grindline and Dreamland would be interviewed to select the winning applicant.

Postscript: Dreamland was awarded the Hammond, LA project and will begin construction early summer of 2004.