February 25, 2003
Dear Mr. Ryan:
This letter is in response to your request on how the City of Las Vegas has successfully managed skateparks in the Las Vegas valley. The City offers the versatility of bikes, boards, blades, scooters, and so forth. The following is a summary of several reasons why I feel we have been successful, and why I encourage other skatepark facilities to operate in the same manner.
The City of Las Vegas currently has ten skateparks that are all multi-use facilities, along with eight other skateparks in the Las Vegas valley and surrounding communities with both public and private facilities. When we opened our first skatepark, the City was in favor of limiting the park usage to only skateboarders. I encouraged them to reconsider and allow on a trial basis, sharing the park for other activities to see if it would be successful. At first we divided the skatepark in half, one for bikes, one for boards, but the participants did not adhere to the rules and were using the park together. There was an apparent rivalry between bikers, skaters, and inliners; soon this rivalry ended and the participants learned to share the facility.
Separating the usage of skateparks teaches these individuals to discriminate between one another, and does not promote unity. Many skateparks in other cities choose to separate the individual groups, and I feel this only escalates the ongoing rivalries in Extreme Sports by justifying this feeling of differences between one another. The Las Vegas valley is proof that this unification is possible. At first, this might cause problems because the users have been taught that this co-usage cannot work, but in time the users will realize that it can, and does work, and will teach them to respect the individual choices of Extreme Sports.
Some other good reasons to consider multi-use skateparks are.
Ø The valuable time and expenses that your Park Marshals and Police are spending, patrolling these parks to enforce rules.
Ø If you designate a park for only one use, this takes away a recreational opportunity that the youth could experience in their neighborhood. Not every child is able to travel to the appropriate location designated for their sport.
Ø Allowing bikers to use the park, will eventually lead to chips in the concrete/riding surface due to the bike pegs. It is still cheaper to fix these chips on a periodic basis than it would to construct a separate park for the bikers. Also, several other skatepark operators in other cities claim that their parks were designed for skateboard use only. Skateparks should be universal, and open to skaters, bikers, and in-line skate users. Many visitors to these parks are enthusiasts, and typically bike and skate on their visits to the parks. Here in Las Vegas, we even have wheel chair users who ride and enjoy our skateparks.
In closing, I’d like to say that we do not have any reported incidents or claims filed against the City of Las Vegas involving this versatile issue. Should you have any questions or comments, please contact me at (702) 229-2296.
Sincerely,
Joe Wichert
Recreation Leader
Extreme Sports
JW:ssw\skateparks success
This letter is available on Las Vegas Parks and Recreation letterhead to anyone that would like a copy. Just e-mail me at beardedlady@psychicflyingmonkey.com