GOODYEAR

JUNE 3rd, 2009

I'm sure most of you remember that bikes were allowed in the Goodyear Skatepark for the first three months it was open.  After that, Goodyear City Council chose to ban bikes from the skatepark.  The main reason that we weren't able to keep bikes in there was that we couldn't show the city council that Goodyear citizens wanted bikes allowed in the skatepark. 
 

Well, American Made Ride Shop has proved this wrong.  Bike riders and parents who live in Goodyear frequent the shop all the time, and they all wonder how they can get bikes allowed in the skatepark that was built with their hard-earned tax money.

 

Gary, the owner of American Made, has a signup sheet in the shop for Goodyear citizens who are willing to go to city council meetings to get Goodyear to allow bikes in the Goodyear Skatepark.  If you live in Goodyear, don't hesitate to get down there and sign up.  If you're under 18, get your parents to sign up, too.  Hell, get any Goodyear citizen to sign up that you can!  Everyone who is signed up will be contacted before the next time the "bikes in the skatepark" issue is presented to the Goodyear City Council, so that Goodyear citizens can prove to the council that the community does in fact want bikes allowed in their 1.5 million dollar skatepark, instead of discriminating against a group of valid users.
 

JUNE 14th, 2007

Ray Telles tipped me off about this article that appeared in the AZ Republic a little bit ago.  It talks about how virtually nobody is using the Goodyear Skatepark now that bikes have been kicked out, helmet rules enacted, and monitors put in place to enforce all the exciting new rules!  Whereas the park would normally see about 200 people using it at night, now only 20-30 people use it at night.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Brian Barnes, Goodyear's Director of Parks, Recreation and Sanitation, saying he had been getting numerous phone calls and e-mails from skaters and parents saying that all the bike riders in the park were preventing skateboarders from coming out to use the park?  Where are all of those alleged skaters now?  Did they all move away on the morning of March 27th just after the prisonification of the skatepark?  Maybe they all got tired of the best skatepark in Arizona at once.  Maybe they're giving out free hot dogs at Desert West Skatepark every day.  I'll get to the bottom of this, because Brian Barnes couldn't possibly be wrong, perish the thought!  I've got a hunch about those hot dogs....

Here's the link to the article:   http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0526wvskatepark0526.html

MARCH 19th, 2007

You've probably heard by now that the Goodyear city council banned bike riders from the Goodyear Skatepark.  Here's a link to the Arizona Republic's article:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/0330swv-skate30Z5.html

Left in the lurch indeed.  Here's the West Valley View article:

SKATEBOARDER JASON THOMAS of Durango, Colo., rides in a concrete bowl March 27 at the Goodyear skate park wearing a helmet and other protective gear.

The council also voted to mandate helmet wear and have monitors at the park, which is at Litchfield and Thomas roads. Temporary signs have been posted at the park and staff is already enforcing the new rules.

Two monitors will be on site when the park is open. City staff originally recommended three monitors at an annual cost of $225,000, but with the removal of BMX riders, only two are needed, Public Works Superintendent Brian Barnes said.

The city doesn't intend to leave the bikers out in the cold, however. The council also directed city staff to prioritize the construction of a similar facility for BMX riders. Money from the city's Capital Improvement Program for next year's budget has already been set aside for another park.

"We'd like that done soon," Mayor Jim Cavanaugh said. "We owe that to the BMXers."

A few sites are already under consideration, including the new community park being built in Estrella Mountain Ranch; at the northeast corner of Goodyear Community Park; and near the Goodyear Dog Park, south of Interstate 10 on Estrella Parkway.

The promise of having a park of their own didn't seem to take the sting out of BMX riders being banned from the skate park.

"Building a separate BMX park is ridiculous," said Carlos Vivaldo, a Litchfield Park resident and BMX rider. "If I had a bike park, I would still want to go to the [Goodyear Community Park]. It's two blocks away from my house. I wouldn't want to drive all the way to Estrella Parkway to ride my bike when I could go two blocks away."

Liability factor
City staff did not recommend separating the users, but was concerned about drug use and increased maintenance costs.

However, a new development regarding the city's liability was brought to light on March 23 when Dean Coughenour, the city's risk manager, attended a meeting of the Arizona Municipal Risk Retention Pool.

"Our insurance carrier is concerned that because our park was specifically designed for skateboards and not BMX that our recreational immunity, should there be claim, could be in jeopardy," Barnes said. "The insurance carrier stated that the city could be deemed to be grossly negligent and as such, punitive damages could rise to over $10 million."

The insurance pool board members expressed concern, and it was suggested the pool might wish to consider limiting coverage or eliminating coverage for skate parks that allow BMX riders that were not designed for BMX, Barnes said.

"It's important to note that we continue to be insured today," he added. "As of today, we have not had any claims reported to risk management relating to the skate park."

City officials will still implement plans to make the park safer, including increasing the height of the fencing surrounding the area by three feet at a cost of $40,000. Surveillance cameras, costing $15,000, will also be added to monitor user behavior. Both are to be implemented by May 15.

Rising costs
Other issues under consideration include changing the park's hours and possibly adding a fee for use.

The general maintenance cost of the area, which includes repairing the coping on the skate park, already has exceeded its budget.

The council had approved a total annual maintenance cost of $31,000. Currently, the general maintenance is projected to cost $51,000 and coping repairs $51,500. Money from the city's general fund pays for the repairs.

City workers have spent seven to 10 hours a day cleaning the park, have witnessed numerous rules violations, have been the target of abusive language when they try to enforce the rules, have found evidence of drug use and other inappropriate behavior and have received phone calls, e-mails and letters from parents of skateboarders indicating they would not use the facility because of safety concerns, Barnes said.

Since the park's opening, there have been 129 police calls, which represent 203 officer responses, including four incidents when the entire on-duty police force responded. Seven arrests have been made for a variety of violations and 14 fire calls were made, mostly for serious injuries including head and facial trauma. One call was for a fire in the restroom, Barnes said.

City officials have also begun discussions with the legal department, the city prosecutor's office and the police department on implementing a zone around the facility similar to school zones, where fines for violations would be doubled or tripled.

Emily McCann can be reached by e-mail at emccann@westvalleyview.com.

Damn!  Do I look pissed off in that pic or what?  It must have been snapped while Brian Barnes was standing at the microphone, lying to the council.  Yeah, I said it!  He lied.  But that shouldn't have surprised me, because he's been lying to the council, Goodyear citizens, and the press for some time now.  Anything to get your way, right Brian?  This surely does not indemnify the council in this whole thing.  Pat Blackburn and I busted our asses to get the facts in the hands of each individual council member last month by researching, typing, and making multiple copies of "The Ryan Report:  Bike Friendly Skatepark Resource Packet".  It is overtly clear that zero council members looked at it and made calls to the cities we did research on.  That actually shouldn't have surprised me either, because since the park's grand opening, the city council has not been listening to the park's users.  They've bought into Barnes' bullshit--hook, line and sinker, and ignored what the bike riders and skaters had to say.  I'm glad the press finally did look at the packets, though.

If you wanna do a little time-traveling, here's a West Valley View article that appeared just a few days before the city council meeting.  I didn't have time to get it up here before the meeting.

A SIGN TELLS SKATE PARK USERS about a City Council meeting that will discuss skate park issues.

Goodyear Superintendent of Public Works Brian Barnes said the urgent concern for officials is to ensure a safe environment for park visitors.

"Our issues go back to safe management," he said. "The bottom line is resident satisfaction with the facility. If it's not a safe place for parents to bring their kids, then that's a real issue with me."

The park, at Litchfield and Thomas roads, has never been supervised since it opened in January. Complaints concerning the shared use of the facility by skateboarders and BMX riders have arisen, but those concerns are minimal, Barnes said.

Now officials are developing a phased-in approach to prevent litter, graffiti, vandalism, drug use and coping damage from happening while user safety is maintained. The plan will be presented to the Goodyear City Council March 26 for recommendations and comments. Barnes will not ask the City Council to separate the users at this point in time.

"There's been a lot of drug use and inappropriate behavior there," he said. "We find the roaches, the razor blades that are used to divide coke lines; we find bags of pot. We've seen the aftereffects of meth, as it was described to me by one of our police officers."

The general maintenance cost of the area, which includes repairing the coping on the skate park, has exceeded its budget.

Barnes said the total annual maintenance cost was estimated and approved by the Council to be $31,000. Currently, the general maintenance is projected to cost $51,000 and coping repairs of $51,500. Money from the city's general fund pays for the repairs.

"All of those issues have spiraled out of control and that's having a financial impact on us," he said.

The second phase of Goodyear Community Park, which includes tennis and basketball courts, sand volleyball, ramadas and a splash pad in addition to the skate park, cost about $5.38 million.

Management plan
The first part of the plan will increase the height of the fencing surrounding the area and add surveillance cameras to monitor user behavior. Changing the hours of operation will also be considered.

"We have the highest number of police calls occurring after 8 p.m.," Barnes said.

Phase 2 would identify and obtain any additional staff deemed necessary to control the issues. This could come in the form of a park ranger who oversees all city parks or a skate guard who has similar duties as a lifeguard to monitor behavior.

Phase 3 would depend on findings from the first two phases. A user fee for local, state and out-of-state users could be implemented. There's also a possibility of eliminating or separating users and building a separate facility for bikes.

Tempe residents Jason Ryan and Pat Blackburn, representing the Bike, Blade and Board Coalition, have spoken at recent City Council meetings on the separation of bikes from the park.

In a document titled, "The Ryan Report: Bike-Friendly Skate Park Resource Packet," Ryan and Blackburn asked the council to "use empirical data, not speculation," in their decisions.

There is a misconception that city officials are seriously considering banning BMX riders from the park.

Barnes said his focus is on making the park safe for all users.

"The BMX bikers seem to be focused on whether or not they can continue to use the park. My focus is not about whether the bikes are in or out. I have no problem with the bikes being in there. My problem is the other issues," he said. "Only two of those concerns are specific to the bike/skateboard issue - coping damage and user safety."

Sara Bisker can be reached by e-mail at sbisker@westvalleyview.com.

Godammit, Brian!  Again with the lying!!!  It's going to be awhile before we get into that park again or get a BMX-only park in Goodyear.   We've got the new Glendale X-Court coming, so all the west-siders are going to have to wait for that to ride a park legally.  I'll talk about Goodyear some more later.  I'm too disgusted to continue right now.

MARCH 19th, 2007

So these bike riders walk into a council meeting for the third time ……. 

When we showed up to the Goodyear City Council meeting on March 5^th and discovered that parks and rec wouldn’t be talking to council that day, I suspected something was up.  It is actually a common political tactic to pull a switch like that.  It is done to wear out the people that have a problem with the city government that they want resolved.  At first I thought that’s what happened, but Pat Blackburn and I spoke a little with the city manager before the meeting, and he thanked us for the informative packets we had given them at the February 26^th council meeting.  It appears that parks and rec wanted to do research with the contacts we had provided, so to give themselves more time to do that, they delayed approaching city council about separate times for different user groups at the skatepark until March 26^th.   

So once again, we need as many skaters, bike riders, inline skaters, scooter riders, parents and supporters as possible to come to the Goodyear City Council meeting on Monday, March 26th.  We're going to tell the mayor and council that we do not want to be separated.  We're going to tell them that although the park is indeed busy, we are getting along fine.  We're going to tell them that closing the park early as a shotgun punishment for the users is completely unacceptable.  And we're going to tell them that plastic pegs need to be allowed in the skatepark, as they actually cause LESS wear and tear than aluminum skateboard trucks.

 The City Council meeting will be held on Monday, March 26th at 5:30 pm at the Justice Facility, located at 986 South Litchfield Road.  Actually, the meeting starts at 6 pm, but seating is extremely limited, so get there at 5:30 so you can get a seat.  You won't do any good standing out in the hall where the mayor and council can't even tell you exist. The council members will be able to speak on the subject this time, and probably vote.

 After the March 5^th meeting, I was outside talking with a bunch of riders.  We were discussing how Goodyear Parks and Rec was going to start closing down the park at 8pm instead of 10 pm.  One of the riders asked why that was, and I told him one of the reasons was all the trash left around the park all the time.  He suggested that we start cleaning the park up at the end of the night.  I thought that was a brilliant idea.  Goodyear’s skatepark has never seemed to have any more trash laying around than the other cities’ skateparks do, but this doesn’t mean it’s right to be leaving our cups and shit around.  Someone’s got to pick it up, and ultimately it’s the taxpayers paying for it.  All we’ve got to do is take some personal responsibility and walk over to dump our cups and food containers in the trash can. 

I always pick up after myself and expect others to do the same, but that’s not reality at this point.  I decided to lead by example and clean up the park starting at 9:30 pm a couple weeks ago.  Will and Zack jumped in and we got all the trash from inside the park and from just outside the fence in about 10 minutes, in addition to sweeping the gravel off the concrete.   I was psyched to learn a few days ago from Will that he and other bike riders have been cleaning the park pretty much every night.  The Parks and Rec staff have been taking notice and they like what they’re seeing.   

I don’t think just bike riders should be picking up their shit….I think everyone should be doing it.  I guess it’s up to bike riders to show skaters how to take care of a park.  All the users should pitch in to keep the park clean.  All the users should go to city council if they want to make a rule we don’t agree with.  All the users need to take responsibility for the park so we don’t end up being babysat by cops and having to deal with oppressive rules all the time.  Big props to Will and all the riders who’ve been cleaning at the end of the night!  Keep it up!  Eventually our good example will catch on and all users will know not to leave shit lying around.  Good trails have garbage cans that are always used, and this is no different.

MARCH 1ST, 2007

The 3BC is going back to Goodyear city council yet again.  We went on February 26th, but Brian Barnes switched his date to approach council to March 5th for some reason.  The meeting went well on the 26th, and in addition to giving all the councilmembers and the newspapers packets of research on skateparks compiled by the 3BC, Pat Blackburn and myself, Jason Ryan, spoke in the non-agendized comments part of the meeting.

Brian Barnes will be most naively recommending to the city council that they segregate the park into separate sessions for bike riders and skateboarders at the meeting.  The newspaper also said he'd try to get the council to charge a fee for park usage, but a source in the Goodyear Parks and Rec Department told me that's not true.  This source also happened to tell me that Goodyear Parks and Rec was going to get bikes banned from the park.  Does this mean Brian Barnes is on a mission to keep Goodyear residents that ride bikes out of "his" skatepark?  It sure looks that way to me.

Another thing we'll have to bring up to council is that Goodyear Parks and Rec workers have been purposefully shutting off the lights about 15 minutes EARLIER than the sign says the park closes, to get users to leave by the time the worker makes it over to the park to shut the gates.  THIS IS A PURE SIGN OF LAZINESS AND IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!  IF GOODYEAR PARKS AND REC DOESN'T PULL THEIR HEAD OUT AND STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS, THEY ARE OPENING THEMSELVES UP TO A HUMONGOUS LAWSUIT WHEN SOMEONE IS BADLY INJURED BECAUSE THE LIGHTS WERE TURNED OFF ON THEM BEFORE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TURNED OFF!!!

Brian Barnes also came up with yet another rule, which according to my source in the department, is designed to punish the kids for the litter and graffitti in the skatepark.  Beginning on March 11th, the skatepark will start closing at 8 PM EVERY NIGHT!  This would mean that Goodyear' Skatepark would be the earliest-closing park in the Valley!  Cheese and Rice!  Even the retards in charge over at Gilbert wait until 9pm to close Freestone Skatepark!

So once again, we need as many skaters, bike riders, inline skaters, scooter riders, parents and supporters as possible to come to the Goodyear City Council meeting on Monday, March 5th.  We're going to tell the mayor and council that we do not want to be separated.  We're going to tell them that although the park is indeed busy, we are getting along fine.  We're going to tell them that closing the park early as a shotgun punishment for the users is completely unacceptable, and so is turning off the lights before the posted closing time.  And we're going to tell them that plastic pegs need to be allowed in the skatepark, as they actually cause LESS wear and tear than aluminum skateboard trucks.

 The City Council meeting will be held on Monday, March 5th at 5:30 pm at the Justice Facility, located at 986 South Litchfield Road.  Actually, the meeting starts at 6 pm, but seating is extremely limited, so get there at 5:30 so you can get a seat.  You won't do any good standing out in the hall where the mayor and council can't even tell you exist. 

Check this article that appeared in the West Valley View on February 20th:

Superintendent of Public Works Brian Barnes said he has visited the park several times to speak with users about the importance of abiding by park rules.

The skate park, at Litchfield and Thomas Roads in Goodyear, has been closed for repairs twice since it opened in January. Damage, including litter, graffiti and wearing down of steel and limestone coping around the edges of the park features has caused officials to ban the use of pegs on BMX bikes.

"Several of the users suggested that rather than ask for bikes to buy the plastic or acrylic pegs to prohibit them so they don't have to worry about protecting the pedals," Barnes said. BMX riders use pegs for certain tricks and stunts they perform but they aren't vital to enjoying the park.

"Clearly 90 to 95 percent of the people using the park were not adhering to the rules," he said. The former stipulation asked users to either cover their pegs and handlebars with duct tape or buy plastic or acrylic pegs to prevent damage when riders grind on the concrete.

Barnes will go before the Goodyear City Council March 5 with a list of recommendations for the future of the park. Council members will consider separating skateboarders from BMX riders, asking for a user fee and installing a video surveillance system.

More negativity from the media....AGAIN.  When is the paper going to report all the good that is happening at the skatepark?  Kids are learning to get along with other kids that are different than themselves.  The park is keeping kids from riding their bikes and skateboarding in front of Target and Carl's Jr. and a myriad of Goodyear's privately owned retail establishments.  The park is a world-class skatepark and it's busy because it's good!  If it was a horrible, lame park, it wouldn't be used, and it would be a humongous waste of 1.5 million dollars of taxpayer money!

FEBRUARY 16th, 2007

Time to go back to council, people.  Brian Barnes, Goodyear's Director of Parks, Recreation and Sanitation will be going to Goodyear City Council on Monday, February 26th at 6 pm.  He will be recommending that the council split use of the Goodyear Skatepark into separate sessions.  "That's not so bad", you may say, but check this:  For some reason, Brian is under the impression that bmx riders make up only about one-third of the park's total users.  That means bike riders could get as few as two days a week to ride the park!  I don't need to tell you that is completely unacceptable.  What's more, a segregation like this is totally unenforceable.  Bike riders will ride the skate sessions, and skaters will skate the bike sessions.  At this point, Brian is flabbergasted that the Goodyear police have had to respond to calls from the skatepark 49 times in it's first month of operation.  That is nothing compared to the calls they will most assuredly be getting from skaters, parents of skaters, bike riders, and parents of bike riders when "the others" are riding/skating in "their sessions".  With segregated sessions, everybody loses, because everybody loses time to ride and skate.

The 3BC will be going to Goodyear City Council on that Monday to tell the council that their first decision was an excellent one.  Although there was a little tension between bmx riders and skaters on the skatepark's grand opening day, there is no tension now.  Every time I go to the park (and I go plenty), I see skaters and bike riders talking and getting along well.  Many new friendships have been made, and most everybody is communicating and watching out for each other's lines.  The only reason Brian could give me for segregating the park was that he had received calls and e-mails from alleged Goodyear citizens who said they refused to go to the park because bikes were allowed in.  What Brian Barnes is doing is buying into rhetoric instead of relying on facts.  He is letting the prejudices of a few people (possibly a very few people who are trying to seem like many) influence his decision.  This reasoning is not even close to being sound enough to warrant driving a wedge between the skaters and bike riders.  No one should have to sit on the sidelines because a few alleged Goodyear residents are so closed-minded that they can't try to get along with people that are different than them.  Here's something to chew on:  Public pools in the southern U.S. didn't allow black people to swim there until the late 1960's.  Now that's a fact.

We need as many skaters, bike riders, inline skaters, scooter riders, parents and supporters as possible to come to the Goodyear City Council meeting on February 26th.  We're going to tell the council that we do not want to be separated.  We're going to tell them that although the park is indeed busy, we are getting along fine.  We want to tell them that the crowded park is a sign of success on Goodyear's part, not of failure.  There are masses of public tennis courts and softball fields sitting empty in the Valley every day.  That is a failure, and a waste of taxpayer money.  When a park is busy, it is being used by the people who paid for it:  The taxpayers.  What Goodyear parks and rec should be thinking about is how fast they can build the next skatepark.  And the next skatepark.  And the next one after that.  The mission of parks and rec is to enable and help people to recreate, NOT to hinder them from it!  I swear to God, if parks and rec staffers in Arizona were actually focused on their mission, we'd never have to go to a city council meeting, or back candidates, or hold protests, or any of this stuff.  All skateparks would allow co-mingled use of skateparks at all times, and everyone would be happy.

 The City Council meeting will be held on Monday, February 26th at 6 pm at the Justice Facility, located at 986 South Litchfield Road.  The nice thing is we can go to the meeting, and afterwards go a little ways up the road and ride the park!

While we're on the topic, why don't I show you this letter that a very prejudiced individual named Adam McKinney wrote to the Editor of the West Valley View:

Skate park is no place for bikes
Editor:
West Valley skateboarders waited at least 2½ years for this skate park, if that's what you want to call the bike-infested Goodyear concrete facility on Litchfield and Thomas roads. Bikes aren't allowed at other skate parks around the Valley, and that should be the same for Goodyear.

I'm not saying I have anything against the bike riders, I'm just saying that there are way too many at the park at all times of the day. This is because the Goodyear Skatepark is the only one in the Phoenix area that allows bikers. The bikers can finally go to a skate park and not get kicked out, and it sure seems that all the bikers in Phoenix are flocking to Goodyear.

Bikes and skateboarders don't mix well. I have already seen numerous arguments between skateboarders and bikers at Goodyear, both threatening the other, this all within the first three weeks that the park has been open.

Then, you have the possibility of accidents. Actually, it's not a possibility, it has happened every time I've been to the skate park. Luckily, none of the accidents have been serious, but sooner or later, someone's going to get badly injured, and it's not going to be the person riding the bike. What do you think this is going to make the parents of the hurt kid do? They're going to complain to the city of Goodyear, and keep complaining because the accident rate is bound to get steeper, as well as skateboarder/biker tensions.

I have heard rumors that the city is doing a three-month trial period to see if they will continue to allow bikers to use the facility. I am unsure of the validity of these rumors, but I hope that in two months all I see are skateboarders using the skate park.
Adam McKinney
Litchfield Park

Oh, what fun it is to poke holes in the arguments of fools!  So bikes and skateboarders don't mix well, eh Adam?  Why don't you tell that to Jim McCasland, Parks and Rec Director for Prescott?  Prescott's skatepark has been open with co-mingled use for almost a year and a half, and Jim just told me that at this point, NOT ONE PERSON, no resident, no councilmember, and no user, regrets mixing bike riders and skaters in the park.  Many people from his community, and from other communities actually commend him now for his controversial (at the time) decision.  Jim also related to me that Mark Richwine, Director of Tempe Parks and Rec, told him recently that he wished he had built the Tempe park to allow bikes just like Prescott did.

Moving on to the collision statement.....  So if a 220 lb. skateboarder is going 15 mph after dropping into a bowl, and he runs into a 50 lb. 5 year old on a 16 inch bike at the bottom of the bowl going 2 mph, then according to Adam's "logic", the toddler won't get hurt.  Wow.  Maybe you should have someone go over your calculations, there Adam.  Because the laws of physics that have been well known by humankind for over 300 years would strongly disagree with you.  I guess not everyone here is living in the "age of reason".

If you can't bring yourself to get along with bike riders, Adam, just go skate one of the 11 concrete skateparks in the Valley that don't allow bikes.  You aren't a resident of Goodyear anyways, and Brian Barnes has told me numerous times that all he cares about is providing for the recreational needs of Goodyear citizens.

Here's a link to an article in the Republic about the Goodyear Skatepark:  http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/0214swv-skatefolo14Z5.html

All I want to know is:  What the hell are tire pegs?  Actually, I want to know one more thing:  Can somebody please tell Derek Bejay he's half a moron?  Bar ends don't mess up the concrete (even if they're aluminum) any more than the ends of skateboard truck axles mess up the concrete.  Go take a look at the bottom of the pyramid rail at the Wedge skatepark or the bottom of the ledge all the skaters ollie off of at Paradise Valley Skatepark and tell me I'm wrong.  And Derek's cats and dogs statement.......Jeez. Proves that some bike riders are prejudiced just like some skaters are prejudiced, and they're all wrong.  I'll tell you who's not prejudiced, though.  Jemil Castillo.  That kid's got the right attitude.

JANUARY 28th, 2007

photo by Marko Knezevic

Ah…..Goodyear.  Goodyear opened the best skatepark in Arizona on January 13^th, and about 400-500 people showed up to help celebrate.  Over the course of the day, I observed just as many bike riders as there were skaters.  Just goes to show that Goodyear City Council made the absolute correct choice in allowing bikes.   

Being sensitive to all the issues that could arise, the 3BC handed out this flyer to all the users on opening day: 

Although before the opening I heard a good few disgruntled rumblings from skaters about bikes being allowed in the skatepark, everybody was pretty chill.  Actually, the only people who we heard pitching a fit were the skate moms, airing their unfounded fears to police officers of rabid bmx riders running roughshod over their 4 year old babies on skateboards.  The cops just told them that bikes are allowed, and there’s nothing they could do about it.  Damn right.  If your kids aren’t ready to play with the big boys, then bring them back when it’s not so busy, or take them to any one of the 11 other concrete skateparks in the Valley. 

Pete Ulibarri from Show Low and Ryan Letcher from Flagstaff came down and did the bike side of the demo.  It took them a little while to warm up to the park after just hitting it cold with no practice, but by the end they made the big snake run their collective bitch.  Ryan was getting gap to tire slides on the pool coping in the deep end, and Pete was almost fully looping the capsule.  Later in the day, Pete became the first to fully loop the Goodyear capsule.  He also saw fit to go on its backside and pretty much 360 over it.   

I didn’t ride on opening day.  It was way too packed and I was sick with that sore throat/shit in the lungs/cough thing that everyone’s been getting.  The park is much less busy now, as expected.  Mornings, nights, and weekdays are the best times.  I’ve ridden there since and it’s incredible.  I haven’t even begun to imagine all the lines in this park.  There’s just so much potential. 

On opening day, the authorities were allowing bikes to ride with plastic pegs, no pegs, or with tape on the pegs.  They were also requiring that bikes have plastic bar ends and pedals or tape on the aluminum bar ends and pedals.  The rules have changed since then.  I talked to Sergio Lopez, who is the Goodyear Parks worker in charge of the skatepark, and they’ve determined that aluminum bar ends, pedals, and pegs won’t hurt the concrete.  It makes sense, seeing as skateboard trucks are also made from aluminum.  They aren’t allowing tape on steel or chromoly pegs anymore, though, because tape doesn’t protect anything.  I know it’s kind of a pain to have to take your steel or chromoly pegs off or to go out and buy plastic or aluminum pegs (aluminum pegs with chromoly sleeves like T1 or Fly are also okay), but just do it.  If Sergio or any of his parks guys approach you, just be cool.  They’re cool with the bike riders and they’re just trying to figure out what’s best for the park.  Dealing with this little thing is a lot better than getting kicked out, ticketed and arrested.  Be grateful for what we’ve got. 

Once again, big thanks to Goodyear City Council for allowing bikes in the skatepark.  I’m stoked, and every rider I’ve talked to is stoked.  Believe it or not, a lot of skaters are stoked too.  The ones that aren’t will get used to it, just like they have in Prescott and Show Low.  Everybody watch out for each other and we’ll get along just fine.

Check out what the Arizona Republic had to say at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0122skate0122.html

    photo by Marko Knezevic

JANUARY 16th, 2007

Check this Arizona Republic article on Goodyear Skatepark:  http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/0106swv-skatepark06Z5.html

And this one from the West Valley View:

1/16/2007  Skaters, BMXers converge on park opening

John Machay
staff writer

While the weekend ceremony near Litchfield and McDowell roads was ostensibly staged to herald the opening of Goodyear Community Park's final phase, even the most casual observer likely wouldn't have had trouble figuring out why a majority of the spectators really came to the party: to experience the feel of virgin cement beneath their wheels.

Along with several other amenities included in Phase II, Goodyear's long-awaited, highly anticipated and much-debated skate park on Saturday opened its gates to anxious skaters and BMXers, some of whom began camping out in front of the facility as early as 7 a.m. for the opening ceremony.

By the time Goodyear City Council members began taking the podium at 11 a.m. to deliver their obligatory speeches, more than 100 teens had conglomerated at the site, representing approximately two-thirds of the group that would eventually arrive - and outnumbering the adults by at least three to one.

"I've never felt so old," remarked one man, looking over the sea of fresh faces. "They're really excited about this thing."

Hot topic
With a roster of features that reads like an extreme sports enthusiast's wish list, the skate park in the past year has become a hot topic on blogs and Web sites dedicated to BMX and skateboarding. The zeal grew to such a fever pitch in recent weeks that Goodyear had to hire a 24-hour security guard to keep overeager adventurers from sneaking into the park at night.

"This is a real big deal for BMXers," said 18-year-old Todd Smalls of Buckeye. "There are skate parks all over the place for skateboarders, but if you want to take your bike, you have to go up north. So you end up riding down in drainage canals and things like that."

Leaving drainage canals in its dust, the Goodyear skate park features a peanut-shaped bowl for beginners; a 16-foot-high, 16-foot-wide half-capsule that's being promoted as the only one in the state; a 2-inch-thick steel coping for grinding and other tricks; and two treacherous-looking snake runs. In all, 1,200 cubic yards of concrete was poured during construction.

With such potentially bone-breaking temptation dangling right before them, one can almost understand the audible wave of disappointment that passed over the crowd when it learned that the facility wasn't going to open to the public until sometime after the ceremony's scheduled 2 p.m. completion.

"This is so lame," said BMX buff Brett Kantor, 16. "We got up at 6 o'clock and drove all the way up here from Tucson for this. Now we have to wait three more hours?"

A less vocal member of Kantor's peers expressed his displeasure by holding up his hand and extending his middle finger - and leaving it that way throughout the entire opening ritual.

"I guess a lot of these kids didn't read the press release," said Rob Antoniak, a member of the Goodyear City Council. "There's also a bunch of BMX riders with steel pegs and exposed handlebars who just found out that they're not allowed in there unless the handlebars are covered and they have acrylic pegs. So there are some kids who are a little disappointed."

Not just a skate park
Still, that didn't stop council dignitaries from carrying out their duties as the emissaries for each of the $5.38 million expansion's elements. Leaving the crowd of teens behind, a handful of people followed city officials around the community park to watch them christen its biggest attractions with their less-than-professional sports skills.

Georgia Lord broke in the four new tennis courts with a few overhand serves that barely made it over the net. Pressured by Lord's taunts from the sidelines, Dick Sousa - who last April voted against construction of Phase II based on safety issues related to the skate park - baptized the two sand volleyball courts by smacking a ball squarely into the net. And Antoniak inaugurated the two basketball courts with roller hockey overlays by lobbing several free throws in the general direction of one of the baskets.

While no city bigwigs were brave enough to romp around in the park's new splash pad area, which essentially provides parkgoers with several glorified sprinklers to run through, a few children stepped forward and took aim with the feature's three water cannons.

"He wanted to run through the arches that spray water down on you," Goodyear resident Marcia Gomez said of her 4-year-old son, Edward. "I told him, 'Are you crazy? It's barely 50 degrees out here!'"

Wipeout
Sousa's worst fears concerning the skate park came to fruition early on, when a noon demonstration by skilled skaters resulted in one teen wiping out, leaving him with a bloody mouth.

Reacting to the crowd's concerned gasps, 17-year-old Art Ramirez, also a skater, said they ain't seen nothin' yet.

"That's a really steep drop," the Phoenix resident said. "You're going to get a lot of guys dropping there who aren't ready for it. If you don't know what you're doing, you could get really messed up."

The now-completed park covers 27 acres, giving the city ample space to stage such annual events as its fall and spring concert series; its summer Movie in the Park nights; the Spring Spectacular; Goodyear's Star Spangled Fourth; the Howling Halloween Bash; and the Holly Jolly Festival. Superintendent of Public Works Brian Barnes said attendance for such festivities has grown by 250 percent in the last two years.

Goodyear Community Park is open daily from sunrise to 10 p.m.

John Machay can be reached by e-mail at jmachay@westvalleyview.com.

JANUARY 8th, 2007

We've got Goodyear Skatepark opening up here this Saturday, January 13th. The park is located on Litchfield Road, a little north of Thomas Rd, on the east side.  The grand opening, complete with bmx riding and skating demo, starts at 11 AM and ends at 2 PM.  After 2, the park will be open for bike riders, skaters, and inline skaters to ride, just as God intended.  A giant thanks goes out to Goodyear for allowing bikes in the new skatepark.  Yeeeeeehaaaaaaw!!!

Goodyear Skatepark

DECEMBER 19th, 2006

Goodyear Skatepark is officially opening on January 13th, 2007, after the grand opening ceremony.  Goodyear parks and rec was going to do a soft opening, but decided against it so the grass that surrounds the skatepark would have a chance to grow.  I'm not too happy about it, especially because right now I'm out of school like a lot of you kids, and I've got a lot more time to ride.  At least it'll be open in 3 and 1/2 weeks, so I guess that's not too too far away.

OCTOBER 30th, 2006

Here's some more of C-los's eye candy for ya from Goodyear, which is slated to open in December, with the official grand opening taking place in January.

SEPTEMBER 30th, 2006

I just want to remind everyone how very important it is that everyone gets along in the Goodyear park when it opens.  Everyone needs to show mutual respect and use proper skatepark etiquette at all times.  Frankly, I'm not overly worried about the bike riders.  We all know that this is our first legal concrete in the Valley and we all want to keep it that way.  I am concerned, however, about the 30-40 year old babies that skate who are convinced that somehow Goodyear is "their" park.  It is NOT their park.  The Goodyear City Council has decided this park is for skaters, bike riders, and inline skaters.  No one group has any right to claim exclusive rights whatsoever.  I anticipate that some of these older skaters (namely those involved with AZPX Skateboards) mean to cause trouble with bike riders, based on their many prejudices.  If you don't believe me, swing by the message board at www.azpx.com sometime.  If any bike riders are given any problems by any one of these grossly immature skaters, it is up to the bike rider to be the bigger man, because we obviously can't expect them to.  Don't feed a conflict.  Don't argue.  Don't fight.  Call the police if someone is getting out of hand, and let them handle the situation.  I know it's a little strange to expect a 14 year-old kid to act more maturely than a 42 year old man, yet this is the situation we find ourselves in.  Let's do this right.

Check out C-Los's new pics of the Goodyear Park:

AUGUST 30th, 2006

That's Goodyear below, and it looks like it's still on schedule to open in a couple months.  And if you've been hearing rumors about bikes not being allowed (as the city council voted) or some other meeting to decide on bikes in the skatepark....Don't believe that bullshit.  I've heard nothing official of the sort and if I did, I'd tell you.

FEBRUARY 18th, 2006

 Click here to see the West Valley View article about how the February 13th Goodyear City Council Meeting went for us.  Page down to A5.

We're in, boys!  This really is the culmination of all of our efforts these last few years.  I want to thank all the riders for coming out, but if you've helped with this effort at all in any Arizona city, you can take credit for this victory as well. 

This park will be open in just a few months.  I recommend that if you're going to be grinding on the pool coping, put on plastic or aluminum pegs, then you can't possibly do any more damage to it than what skateboards do.  You can always just melt or hammer some pvc onto your pegs, too.

I'd like to clarify Rob Antoniak and Georgia Lords' position on the bikes in the skatepark issue.  They weren't against bikes in the skatepark, they just wanted guidelines to be established for the evaluation of the skatepark after a couple of months. 

FEBRUARY 3rd, 2006

Alright, good stuff here.  The "bikes in the Goodyear Skatepark" issue is officially on the Goodyear City Council Meeting agenda for Monday, February 13th at 6 pm.  The council members will be able to ask us any questions they have and we will be able to respond since we're on the agenda.  Once again, we need all riders, parents and supporters to come out for the meeting.  I can't emphasize enough the need to have parents there.  Council members respond best to those that are of voting age.  Don't let your parents skip out on helping you kids get a legal place to ride them bikes!

Here's an article from the West Valley View that came out a few days ago:

JANUARY 21st, 2006

Check this article from the West Valley View:

As you may have guessed, the 3BC will again be going to Goodyear City Council on January 23rd at the Justice Facility (686 South Litchfield Rd.) at 6 pm.  The council is going to be discussing the issue of bikes in the skatepark, and I think we'll be able to answer many of their questions.

DECEMBER 23rd, 2005

The 3BC is going to Goodyear City Council on January 9th, 2006 at 6 PM.  The City Council meeting will be held at the Justice Facility, located at 986 South Litchfield Road.  We need everyone from the West Side to be there, and if any East Siders can make it, that'd be just peachy.  Max Krause and I will be speaking, and there will probably be time for at least one more speaker as well.  Goodyear has their meetings set up so that public comment takes place at the beginning of the meeting, so we'll be able to get in and get right out.  Be sure to be there by 6 PM, because if you arrive late, you'll miss the important part.

OCTOBER 31st, 2005