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Communities and skatepark advocates everywhere face the same crossroads at some point in the development cycle:
"Do we want the skatepark to be cheap, fast, or good?" You may choose two.
Skateboarding advocates obviously lean towards making the skatepark good, because nobody wants a crappy skatepark (right?), and quickly...like, it should have been built yesterday.
Parks planners tend towards making the skatepark good so it can become a community landmark and inexpensive so the whole effort is at or under-budget.
Parks administrators and city politicians generally opt for having the skatepark be cheap to provide more money for other causes and fast so that it fits into the budgetary cycle.
How can these three interests reconcile their approaches? And what is a skateboarding advocate (good and fast) supposed to do about the standing partnership between the parks planner and the parks bureaucrat (cheap and fast)?
The correct answer is that the new skatepark should be made quickly and of the highest quality possible.
Sure, you must be thinking that you've come to a skatepark advocacy website for information about skatepark development...of course the answer is "fast and good." However, this conclusion is apparent when one considers the factors and results of diverging opinions. Start with the goals themselves; cheap, fast, and good.
WHAT IS CHEAP?
The "cheap" metric is all about money. How much will the skatepark cost to create? To understand the cost of the skatepark it's important to consider what those costs are. While the land beneath the park has financial value, most skateparks are constructed on land already appropriated for public recreation and so there's little cash expense for land acquisition. The cost of design and construction is the largest expense and the one most people are aware of. Parks budget planners and maintenance staff understand that long-term maintenance is a significant consideration for the park's budget. The total cost of the skateparks should be considered for the life of the park (15 years or more in some cases). This is the TOTAL cost of ownership and includes (but is not limited to) the initial cost of creation and the cost of maintenance for the life of the facility.
If you ask any young skateboarding activist who has been engaged in fundraising efforts...washing cars, selling t-shirts, and writing letters...if he or she wants to spend more money than necessary on the new facility. Their answer, of course, will be no. Everyone involved wants the best value for their dollar, especially the persons responsible for earning those funds. Why put more money into the park than is necessary?
Cost-savings in skatepark constructions takes several forms. Most typical are the catalog skateparks that one can construct using common, pre-designed, pre-fabricated structures that can be arranged in a space in some fashion. These have attractive price tags associated with them and the playful way they can be mixed-and-matched appeals to many people who are intimidated or don't understand custom skatepark design. Why would one willingly pay for design services when all that's required is some positioning of elements? This kind of logic is not flawed but it lacks a firm vision for what skateparks CAN be. It's like considering a new building for a company headquarters...why design something from scratch when it's just a collection of walls, doors and windows? The skatepark will be a special place and well-known to the whole community and it should reflect that stature.
Skatepark advocates everywhere face this challenge to their vision. It's the most common crisis in skatepark development that visionary advocates face, especially in areas where there is a lack of quality skateparks in the area to use as a positive example of that vision.
Inexpensive skateparks can also manifest in design and construction by employing underqualified service providers. It's not uncommon to have a great design built by an underqualified builder. Similarly, but less common, underdeveloped designs are built by highly skilled builders. If the builders are familiar with design-build situations, this usually results in a better park than what was designed. However, in some cases the overqualified, overzealous builder has undermined the skateboarding community interests by "improving" upon desired elements of the design during construction.
In cases where there are threats to "good" by the forces of "cheap" during design and construction, it's imperative that the community activists (skateboarders in particular) remain vigilant to design and construction developments. Frequent design dialog and construction site visits are the two best ways to ensure that the skateboarding community's priorities are being met.
The final consideration is the skatepark site. Locations with lots of in-place support will require less maintenance than remote parks with few amenities. Sites with lots of linkage, pedestrian activity, and on-site amenities will have lower instances of vandalism, trash, and poor behavior. This can spell the difference between a facility that the Parks Department is proud of and an eyesore than nobody likes, (not even the skaters).
When considering how to cut costs in the skatepark development, look at these factors:
• Long-term maintenance
• Materials (wood, steel, concrete)
• Quality of design
• Quality of construction
• Site factors
WHAT IS FAST?
There are lots of reasons to build a skatepark quickly. First, and most important, is that the skatepark is needed right now. The need exists and is not going to go away by itself. If anything it's just going to increase. While that need exists, skaters will continue to be drawn to the ledges downtown, parking garages, and other places that try the public's patience and contribute to ill will between business managers and the skaters. While one might presume that this frustration helps build support for a skatepark, it usually just leads to steeper fines and sharper opinions about the quality of the local skateboarding community. The skateboarders won't go away on their own; they must be drawn to the appropriate places to recreate. They are not bad kids, they merely don't have a good place to skate. That's one of the new skatepark's goals.
Another reason is that skateparks simply aren't getting any cheaper. Nothing is, in fact. For every year that passes, the price of the skatepark goes up. Getting that next phase completed right away makes good financial sense. Now would simply be the best time to invest.
Finally, the need for the skatepark is growing every year. The longer the project languishes, the less applicable it becomes to your community's need. New skaters are introduced to the activity in your community every year and experienced skaters require terrain that challenges their level of skill. Without the skatepark they either become disenfranchised or must recreate in an unsanctioned (and often unsafe) environment. The dynamic, ever-growing skateboarding community will not wait for the skatepark; they will adapt to the environment available to them.
The skatepark creation process is long. Most of the time is spent engaged in advocacy and fundraising. When fundraising is done, the planning, design and construction process can also take up to a year, sometimes even more.
To reduce time in advocacy, it can be efficient for advocates to meet with their City and Parks leaders first, as a small coalition, to discuss their plans and solicit advice on the best approach to getting the park (or parks) created. At this stage the advocate is not testifying to the power and value of skateparks but rather simply gathering advice on the best approach to seeing a capital improvement through to completion...just like any pocket park, street improvement, or other community assett. This "pre-advocacy" investigation may reveal unique local processes that can shorten the advocacy cycle.
Reducing time in fundraising is practically a career for some people. The most efficient fundraising efforts have deep volunteer rosters and aim big. There are lots of ways to raise funds. Some methods have added benefits of raising awareness and interest in the skatepark (and skateboarders), like t-shirt sales and door-to-door drives. These programs require activity that the average skateboarder can actually do. Other methods just go for the money, like grants. This type of fundraising requires great organizational skills and some ability technical writing ability...so most of the skateboarding community simply won't be physicall engaged in any grant application efforts. It's best when these qualities combine so that the skateboarding community is active in a project that has the potential of raising a significant amount of money.
One more important component to raising money efficiently is setting targets. The fundraising group should not just have a total target but also smaller amounts to aim for on a program-by-program basis, or set for a certain amount of time, or both. For example, if it's the community's task to raise $50,000 by the end of the year, perhaps $5,000 of that could be raised with a silent auction. If the auction is done twice this year, that's $10,000. Two grants can take care of $20,000. Perhaps a Skate-a-thon could raise $5,000. And so on. Each program has a target, then after all the preparation is made, those targets can be broken down even further for a weekly goal or even an individual goal so that each person raising funds has an individual target for the week. This will motivate the volunteers and that enthusiasm will spread to the people they encounter.
Reducing time in planning, design and construction is generally out of the advocate's hands. Different factors can influence this time. Site conditions or location, such as being near a wetlands or having peculiar soil conditions, can complicate and lengthen this time. Local agency norms will also have in impact. Small communities are typically better at "getting it done" than larger burgs. Furthermore, skateparks are small capital improvements for all but the smallest of towns and frequently aren't treated with the urgency that larger, higher-profile projects generally receive. Any new facility involving a building structure, such community centers and sports complexes, will usually take priority for available resources (personnel, mostly).
While considering ways to make the skatepark more quickly, look at the following:
• An advocacy plan
• Fundraising that engages the community
• Fundraising goals
• Keep the skatepark on the priority list
WHAT IS GOOD?
Good is what it's all about. Nobody wants "not good" yet the nation is littered with empty skateparks. These are the well-intentioned results of hard work by the community and city leaders but they're empty because...well, because they suck. The spaces don't attract the skateparks for any number of reasons. The most common reasons for failed skateparks are:
1. Lack of linkage and/or anti-social locations
When the park is set in some remote location away from the rest of the community, the facility becomes overrun with activities that require secrecy. Eventually this nonsense displaces the skaters.
2. Poor design and/or construction
Parks designed and/or built by unqualified contractors consistently result in facilities that fail to attract and retain skateboarders.
3. Small facility for the large need
Small skateparks are great but only when the entire local need is adequately provided for. Otherwise they become crowded, dangerous, and frustrating for the users and the larger community.
4. Skateparks lacking "place"
Many skateparks are intended to serve only one purpose: To provide a place to skate. Skateparks perform many functions however and when these other needs aren't met, the skaters won't build a sense of ownership with the park.
The first step in creating a successful skatepark is defining what that success looks like. Creating a "good" skatepark isn't difficult or expensive or even time-consuming, it simply requires understanding what value the skatepark will bring to the community and aiming for it. These values are vital to the long-term success of the facility. At the end of the day communities and civic leaders need to stop and consider their skatepark intentions: If the skatepark isn't planned to be successful, what is it destined to become?
Skatepark advocates are all too familiar with well-meaning Parks Departments making "executive decisions" about the location, size, design, material, or service provider against the skateboarding community's advice. That's not to say that the skateboarding community must "call all the shots," but what may seem like an insignificant decision by a well-intentioned public employee can swiftly lead to the ultimate failure of the facility that everyone worked so hard to create. While this may seem like a dramatic depiction, it's all too common and everyone responsible for the creation of the nation's best skateparks are battle-scarred from fighting off the bad decisions.
Good skateparks all have several factors in common:
• Significant community leadership at all stages in development
• An adherence to the vision
• Adequate size
• Compelling design and sustainable material
• Socially inclusive site
• That "something special"
YOU GOT IT!
There's no "special circumstances" in any community that can provide an adequate excuse for building another unsuccessful skatepark. Prioritize Good, then Fast, then Cheap. You won't be disappointed.
Have some thoughts on what qualities you prioritize in skateparks? Share them in our Vision forum.
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