Rotary calls community for skatepark meeting

After working tirelessly behind the scenes to provide a safe place for grinds, and ollies, the Rotary Club Of Saipan is taking community related athletic activities to the next level by bringing a skatepark to Saipan.

Before anyone busts out kick-flips and rail stands the RCS will hold a forum to exchange information and ideas to develop a skateboard park for Saipan’s skateboarding community.

This is not just a meeting for government officials and business owners to talk about zoning laws and building codes. The Rotary wants all skaters to take an active part in the process alongside students, parents, clergy, youth support groups and agencies, as well as local business leaders, and law enforcement at the Garapan Central Park on Dec. 2 at 10am.

According to Laurie Peterka, Director of Club Services, the Rotary Club of Saipan constantly searches for different ways to assist the community with projects, ranging from fire victims assistance to the Parade of Books celebrating Literacy Month.

This time around, the idea of a skateboard park arose from a handful of Rotarians who asked their children for feedback about the club’s intention to organize a youth project. Peterka said the Rotary decided that facilitating a youth project in an effort to provide another type of positive activity, but the idea for the skatepark has been in the works since the days of the previous administration.

In 2003, Department of Lands and Natural Resources Secretary Tom Pangelinan was working to get a farmers’ and fishermen’s market with an associated public park established at Garapan Fishing Base, but the site remains vacant.

The Rotary Club’s Skateboard Park Project Committee found that skateboard park projects are very popular in many U.S. communities, and wants to find out whether Saipan’s community is still willing to get behind and support the project.

So far the SPPC has cited the location and safety of the park as the primary concern and discussions with Parks Services at American Memorial Park, the CNMI Division of Parks and Recreation, and legislators have already taken place.

Rotarians have already conducted research and discussed the size and design of a skateboard park based upon existing parks and builders in Hawaii as well as a similar ongoing project in Guam, and one of the plans include seeking assistance from the Tony Hawke Foundation.

“The idea is to learn from the Hawke’s professional experience in building skateparks across the U.S. and to get expert input and guidance to insure the safest and most successful project for our community,” she said.

Skateparks are being built in big cities and small towns all over the world, and a quick web search reveals the benefits communities reap from their projects.

In the 2001, Tony Gembeck of TranWorld Media found that there were roughly 16 million skateboarders in 2002—up from 11.5 million skateboarders in 2000, and an estimated 400 public skateparks in the United States alone.

That figure was compared to the nine million Little League baseball players at that time and then highlighted that most cities with multiple baseball fields had yet to build skateparks.

Anyone interested in discussing the establishment of a skateboard park in Saipan is welcome to attend the meeting and for more information, contact Dennis Yoshimoto by calling 287-1267 via email at RCS-SPPC@yahoogroups.com.