Three young men, in hopes of earning the rank of Eagle Scout, had an ambitious proposal for the city.
Adam Hebert, Jared Andersen, and Justin Andersen asked the city to designate a portion of Pond’s Park for a skate park, and in return the Scouts hope to raise the $106,000 needed to build the skateboarders’ playground.
City Parks and Recreation Director Vance Garfield agreed that the south end of Pond’s Park is the best place in the city for a skate park.
The three Scouts were eager to address negative perceptions that accompany a skate park.
“If your city doesn’t have a skate park,” said one, “it (whole city) is a skate park.”
In 2007 there were 13 million skateboarders in the United States and more than 93 percent of those were under the age of 24.
Tracy Heun, director of Community Services for Clearfield City, says cities should accommodate skateboarders just as they do other athletes. Heun believes that Clearfield’s skate park has been a positive thing for their community.
People are concerned about the trash, the noise, and the “bad element” that a skate park brings into an area, she says. But these problems in the Clearfield skate park “pale in comparison” to what goes on in other city parks. Heun says there is actually more graffiti in other city park locations.
The Clearfield skate park has been closed on three different occasions for issues of vandalism and trash. The park twice was closed because of graffiti and was not opened until someone came forward and admitted to doing the damage, said Heun. Because of this, the people who want to use the park are “self policing” because they don’t want to be locked out.
Kaysville Police Chief Mike Lee also supports the skate park. The young skateboarders “are good kids,” he said. “We deal with them almost on a daily basis.” Lee said the majority of police chiefs he has visited with are very supportive of skate parks. “This is a good thing for these kids. I support it 100 percent.”
Mayor Neka Roundy said she is pleased with the work the scouts have done to bring the proposal to the city. “It makes such a big difference” when residents want something to be done and then offer assistance to make it happen, she said.
Since the city does not have money in the budget to pay for a skate park, “these young men have looked at ways of funding [it].”
Through a combination of grants, community fund raising, and corporate sponsorship, the Scouts hope to raise enough money to build the park.
City officials agreed to reserve the south side of Pond’s Park for the skate park. When sufficient money is raised, construction will begin.
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