Skokie Plans Park for Skateboarders
A skate park is planned to be built near Lincoln Jr. High in Skokie. “Skating is an incredibly popular activity that not only youth but young adults engage in," said Skokie Park District president Mark Schneiderman.
It may be a stretch to say the X Games are coming to Skokie, but a skate park is definitely on the way.
In a three governmental agency partnership, the village is footing the $250,000 bill for a new skate park to be constructed on the northeast portion of the Lincoln Jr. High property. The Skokie Park District will oversee and supervise construction of the facility and will be responsible for any maintenance issues. For legal purposes, the Park District will likely pay a nominal rent to the District 69 as part of an intergovernmental agreement, according to officials. The announcement was made at a village board meeting on Monday.
“Skating is an incredibly popular activity that not only youth but young adults engage in,” said Park District Executive Director Mark Schneiderman. “Typically if you don’t have a skate park in your community, than your community becomes the skate park. In other words the skaters will be skating downtown, they will be skating in public areas and skating wherever they can and frequently that causes problems.”
Instead of coming up with a design and just handing it to the students, the teenagers were brought into the process by District 69 superintendent Quintin Shepherd and the Park District. The students were taken on a tour of other community skate parks and let it be known what was liked and what wasn’t liked. Other students and skaters will eventually be consulted and there will be a public hearing scheduled all with the hope of getting as much input as possible on the final design, according to officials.
There is hope for a late summer or early fall construction.
“We feel that a skate park is highly desirable in the community,” Schneiderman added.
Still there were questions raised about the possibility of injuries and liability since the park will not be supervised. Signs will be posted urging the skateboarders to use helmets, but there will not be anyone on hand to enforce the policy.
“If we go ahead and supervise the park, then the liability shoots through the roof,” Schneiderman said. “Then we have a duty to make sure the kids are using the equipment specifically as per the design. That is the primary reason it is unsupervised.”
While the motion was passed unanimously by the village board, Patty O’ Malley, who has three boys at District 69 and was a former PTA President, had misgiving on several issues, even if she is not opposed to the skate park per se.
O’Malley was concerned about the lack of notice to parents about the construction as well as the use of the land in addition to the priorities of the District 69 right now. “What is the need to putting this on school property?” she said, “Of all the things we need, do we really a skateboard park?”
The village board also approved a $250,000 matching grant from the downtown TIF fund for a job-training program in the area of nanotechnology at the urging of Mayor George Van Dusen. That grant mirrors the amount provided by the Chicago Community Trust for the program and Van Dusen is hopeful that federal funds might also be on the way.
According to Village of Skokie Economic Development Coordinator Tom Thompson, approximately $8 million is left in the TIF fund which is set to expire at the end of 2013. Most of that money he says will be used for a scheduled facelift of Oakton Street.
Earl Weiss
7:32 am on Friday, June 22, 2012
"The village board also approved a $250,000 matching grant from the downtown TIF fund for a job-training program in the area of nanotechnology at the urging of Mayor George Van Dusen." A TIF is supposed to increase real estate tax revenue thru redevelopment of an area there by generating more real estate tax revenue which is used to pay back borrowed money used for the redevelopment. This is a misuse of tiff funds unles there is some twisted logic that this will somehow generate more job candidates for the village research park project which has fallen far short of projections.
flocka
10:11 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a public financing method that is used for subsidizing redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. Similar or related value capture strategies are used around the world. and i got that shit from wikipedia so you know its legit
Howard Baitcher
11:17 am on Friday, June 22, 2012
Who is going to be responsible for injurys? And you know we will be sued. I for one as a taxpayer do not think I want to be responsible. No to the skatepark, sorry. Way to much liability.
Terry Wallace
1:59 pm on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
I am in complete agreement with both of the above comments. My understanding is this was generated as a solution to a few kids who skateboard downtown, and merchants (or SOMEONE) complained. So, is it a good idea to reward good behavior with a brand new park??? With TIF money? And, where is the community's voice? Even if a skate board park was deemed a good idea, should it be on school property? What about safety? Security? Where will those kids go to the bathroom? I say "no" to the proposal. To whom can I voice my concerns?
Mike Reid
10:12 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
The skateboard board has been an in-demand project in the community for many years. The park district has been searching for a viable venue for awhile. This is a joint effort with School District 69, the Village, and the Skokie Park District. We believe this will be a benefit for the entire community, not just a few kids in D69. And please, know all the facts before critcisms are thrown around.
Mike Reid
President, Skokie Park Board of Commissioners
Mike Reid
10:12 am on Thursday, June 28, 2012
Sorry, meant skateboard park in the previous comment.
Evanstonian
9:34 am on Thursday, July 12, 2012
I have been trying to get this done in Evanston also and am thrilled beyond words. My very polite skating sons and their skating stay-at-home dad will be heading to Skokie a lot and buying food and drink at nearby restaurants and stores. The litigation around skateparks is a myth (not that there are NO lawsuits, but that there are no more than with other rec activities and with posted signs, lots of the liability is reduced or eliminated.). The Consumer Product Safety Commission shows quite clearly that soccer results in more injuries per capita and most serious skateboard injuries occur in the streets and not in skateparks. If your town does not HAVE a skatepark then your town IS a skatepark. Go Skokie! I will donate $$ if you tell me how.
Evanstonian
9:45 am on Thursday, July 12, 2012
PS -- PLEASE include a bowl or two or three! The closest bowl is Wilson and we don't have one N of Chicago til you get to Milwaukee as far as I know.
Tristan
1:19 pm on Thursday, July 12, 2012
Hey I'm a 16 year old junior at Evanston Township Highschool and I an tell you right now if there is a skatepark built in Skokie at least 20 to 30 skaters from Evanston would be thrilled to head over, Skokie isn't that far and would be the closest skatepark for Evanston skaters since Evanston doesn't have a skatepark. Skateboarding is a great way to get out and exercise, meet new people, and no matter what it always makes me happy. If people could just look past the myths and stereotypes about skateboarders we can get this park built! I think it would be a great thing for not just Skokie but skaters in surrounding communities as well. I look forward to hopefully skating a Skokie skatepark soon.
concerned citizen
9:53 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
So based on the above comments we will also have evanston children coming to use the park, and maybe chicago children beacuse they can walk there from the swift.. It seems as if we have enoough of our own problems in this area .is this the smartest thing to happen on 69 property. When will dist. 69 tax payers have a chance to respond, and how is tif money being used when it is suppose to be used to produoce revenue for the tif area. this is really creative financing.
Evanstonian
10:13 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
too bad that you think of children engaging in sport is a "problem".
Mike Reid
12:50 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Yes, this will be a "public" skate park. Just like our other public parks in Skokie. Don't assume that the kids who would potentially use this park are going to cause any trouble. They just want a place to go to safely practice their sport and get some exercise. And this is just what this proposed skate park will do.
Mike Reid
President, Skokie Park Board of Commissioners
Luis P
11:35 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The closest thing we have to a "skate park" would be the Shred Shop, which is just a parking lot. I can speak for most skaters around Skokie when i say that the work and effort put into the skate park would be greatly appreciated. When the skatepark at Wilmette was built the vast majority of teens went out to see the park and it turned out to be a good park, so we all started spending time in Wilmette rather than Skokie. Problem was the park is too far for kids who cant drive. So we stuck with the streets. All skaters have been yelled at and whatnot for skating in parking lots, stair sets even just skating the street. Way we look at it is, most people complains about skaters, but nothing is being done to resolve this problem. As long as we don't have a place to skate, we will stick with the streets. After all skateboarding is far too popular and kids wont stop skating and for now that is what will happen.. Again, it would be greatly appreciated if this project was completed. Skaters are not out for trouble, just entertainment like everyone else.
Nicholas Keay
9:19 am on Monday, July 30, 2012
as a 46 year old skateboarder and Skokie homeowner I can't tell you how happy I am to hear that Skokie is finally catching up to the current century. Injury and liability are no more of an issue than any other activity park(baseball, jungle gyms, tennis courts). This also an opportunity to bring some much needed business and activity to the downtown area. I'm hoping the plan is well executed and built by skatepark specific builders rather than general construction workers. There have been many municipalities that overspent and received poorly executed designs due to non-skateboarders running construction efforts(the bowl at Northbrook) or subpar, overpriced modular construction(Wilmette).
Nicholas Keay
Mike Reid
1:25 pm on Monday, July 30, 2012
The skate park is being designed by a firm that specializes in this area. We look forward to offering this additional recreational choice in Skokie in the near future.
Mike Reid
President, Skokie Park Board of Commissioners
George Slefo
5:06 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
In case you haven't seen it, check out our Letter to the Editor regarding the proposed skate park - http://skokie.patch.com/articles/letter-to-the-editor-skate-park-in-skokie
A U
12:20 pm on Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The park will promote healthy physical activity for kids who may otherwise be zoning out in front of the TV. I also see kids with skateboards all the time on the steps around the Chase building, and this will give them somewhere to go. It's important to show our children that their interests matter to us, and it will be a bonus to have them close to home.
Ramona
1:35 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
There are many different skate parks at park district locations as well as school locations. People interested in this sport or activity should be able to have a place to go...all the other sports do..football, baseball, tennis, etc...I support the skatepark.