Congratulations to the mayor and council in Pasadena and all who made the wise decisions on the skate park. The city of Pasadena chose less-expensive equipment and placed it in a park, giving themselves time to evaluate usage and spending only $37,000 for equipment and fencing despite being a city five times our size.
Citizens urged our city to do the same. Instead our council voted 4-1 to spend $110,000 for the most expensive portable equipment and $200,000 for site preparation, fencing, etc., in addition to $47,000 spent earlier for plans and $57,000 for first-year operating expenses. They placed it at the bottom of a steep winding road with blind curves that crosses a horse trail.
They spent an additional $102,000 to resurface the park road, giving it priority over many residential streets. This was not included by critics as a cost. Of this road money, $15,000 was for "stamping" Stoney Drive so kids would not skate there and they bought huge signs prohibiting skating on that street. As we predicted, none of this worked. Nor have kids stopped skating on lovely park benches in Garfield Park nor in the business district, where merchants’ complaints helped fuel the skate park frenzy.
Critics were chastised for delaying the project, yet San Gabriel and Alhambra have been planning a skate park for two years and when funding was lost, they postponed it while seeking new money. They did not allow whining kids to force irresponsible fiscal choices.
So far, one woman’s startled horse fell on top of her near the skate park. Fortunately, neither was hurt. In the first month paramedics have been called for skater injuries four times. Citizens report seeing only eight or ten skaters using this "state of the art" park at a given time. Before officials allocate grant money and taxes, they should visit South Pasadena. Park on Arroyo Drive and walk down Stoney to see how challenging but dangerous this would be to a skateboarder. Look at the size of the park and see how many kids are there.
Our council should have used our money toward a youth center where both girls and boys could enjoy a variety of activities, including a scaled-down skate park.
Beatrice J. Simpson
South Pasadena