Colville, Washington -- 02/02/2011
Photo - Crews tear down old skate park ramps on a cold Monday morning.
Park dismantled and turned into futsal court
City of Colville crews began the process of dismantling the Jeff Weeman Memorial
Skateboard Park Monday morning, per the request of the Colville School District.
A letter was sent to Colville City Hall from Colville High School Principal Kevin Knight,
dated Jan. 12. In the letter, Knight says, “After meeting with the (city) recreation
department and Barbara and Dave Weeman, we plan on removing the skate park
and implementing a futsal court.”
Futsal is a variant of soccer that is played on a
smaller playing surface and mainly played indoors.
Knight added that the court will take less money to maintain and be the sole
responsibility of the school district, which will be in charge of maintenance
and insurance.
The skateboard park is located adjacent to Colville Junior High
School and across Hawthorne Avenue from Colville City Park.
Photo - Crews tear down old skate park ramps on a cold Monday morning.
The facility was constructed in September 1998 at the behest of Barb Weeman
and the Jeff Weeman Foundation. Weeman, the City of Colville and the Colville
School District worked together to construct and install a skate park on school
district property, with the city in charge of maintenance and materials, not to
exceed $1,500 annually.
Unsafe with no funding source
“It’s gotten to the point that it (skateboard park) is just deteriorating and
could prove a liability to the school district,” Knight says. “It’s mostly made
out off wood, which is peeling and becoming structurally weak. It’s unsafe
and there’s no appropriate funding source to keep it up.”
According to Nichols and Dave Rarrick of the districtd Maintenance Department,
incidences off vandalism have increased at the skateboard park over the years,
most notably graffiti.
The proponents of the new plan figure it’s a good, healthy alternative to the
skate park. “It’s a good way to get youth involved in soccer and provide the
community with another positive activity,” says Rarrick of the park’s changes.
“We have to show appreciation to Barb Weeman for helping create a skate
park in the first place and now being so open to the changes.”
Photo - Colville High School senior Calden McCombs, who is renovating
the former skateboard park into a futsal, or indoor soccer, court.
The skateboard park is around 200 square feet, with two large ramps and several
small ones, along with some metal rails for skateboarding. The space will be renovated
into a futsal court by 17-year-old CHS student Caden McCombs, who is transforming
the space for his senior project. The park will remain uncovered with strategic court
dimensions painted on its surface. The park could also be used for a roller hockey rink.
Colville Mayor Dick Nichols says the park will also
retain the name Jeff Weeman Memorial Park.
Mayor says skate-park could return in some form at old park tennis courts
“With our parks department absorbed into the street department, the skate
board park is an expense right now that is hard for the city to maintain,” says Nichols.
“The city is not opposed to re-establishing a skateboard park in the future at a different
site, but it appears that the current situation is not feasible for the city or the school
district.”
Nichols added that the skateboard ramps have been relocated to one of the three
tennis courts in Yep Kanum (city) Park. He says it’s possible that the tennis court
could be transformed into a new city skate park, if city council approves funding to
repair and maintain the ramps at next Tuesday’s city council meeting at City Hall at
7 p.m.
“The funds have to be approved first and then we will go from there,’ says Nichols.
ACC - http://www.genesbmx.com/Eastern-Washing ... Parks.html
