Lopez Center tells youth: You can site skate park here

The Lopez skate park has a site. Now it needs about $120,000 before it can become a reality.

The site is being furnished by the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts. Board members unanimously agreed to make a site available for a skate park at their meeting Feb. 11.

The vote followed a jam-packed community meeting at the center which was attended by about 125 islanders. The gathering offered proof to board members there that was virtually unanimous community support for Lopez Center to make available a portion of its land in the Village for a skate park.

When board President Mike Ellis asked the throng for a show of hands as to whether they favored Lopez Center dedicating land for a skate park, only a handful indicated opposition, or expressed a desire for more information. At least 90 percent of those at the community meeting urged Lopez Center to make the land available.

Lopez Center board members needed only a few minutes to endorse the project. They were greatly influenced by the straw vote,” Elis said. “It helped a lot.” The board felt it was speaking for the community.

Lopez Center mission statement expresses the goal to provide cultural, educational and recreational activities that enrich the lives of the entire Lopez community. Board members felt the skate park was in keeping with the mission, Ellis said.

Lopez Center, which comprises nine acres, is now the home to Sally’s (educational) Garden, the Farmers Market, the soon-to-be-built Lopez Children’s Center, an OPALCO demonstration site, and the outdoor pavilion, as well as the arts and community center.

About two acres have yet to be spoken for, and board members will soon be drawing up a site plan that addresses future needs, Ellis said.

One reason why community members embraced the skate park was because the kids themselves set it as their top priority, and have been working hard to make it a reality. A core group of youngsters has been meeting weekly for the past three months to come up with the design for the skate park.

Steve Horn, a member of the organizing committee, noted that the youngsters refused to back down even after some community members voiced opposition to their plan. “I was so impressed,” Horn said. “They didn’t give up. They kept believing.”

Horn feels that the kids’ commitment to the project is what persuaded many adults to join their effort. “A lot of people want to help them out because they’re encouraged knowing the kids will be involved in the whole process — design, fundraising, and figuring out how to maintain it,” he said.

And now that the skate boarders have a site, work will soon begin to create a non-profit corporation that will oversee the project, and raise the money to build it.

These aren’t all the hurdles that still will have to be addressed. One such issue hanging over the project is liability insurance. Ellis acknowledged that some members of the LCCA board remain concerned about liability. One possible solution is to have the San Juan County Parks Department lease the land from Lopez Center. “The county’s insurance would cover a skate park,” Risk Manager Dave Zeretzke told those at the meeting.

Some comments, pro and on, made at the meeting

Rowan North: “Skateboarding means a lot to me. If we build a skate park here, it will get so much use. ‘Go skate park!’”

Margaret Devoe: “We really need to support the kids to have a place where they feel safe. I don’t want to see somebody get killed.”

Laurel Horn: “The community center is a great place for it. It will bring in the youth.”

Gary Franco: “This will make our community center a community center.”

Ona Blue: “It’s sad that what the teens want is pavement.”

Nancy McCoy: “We need to find the best site. The current preschool site is the best site.”

— Ted Grossman is editor of islandssounder.com and The Islands’ Sounder. He can be reached at (360) 376-4500 or email.

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