Board of Aldermen Page 15
August 9, 2016
ON THE QUESTION
Alderman Lopez
There are a lot of skateboarders in Ward 4 and it’s been referred to a couple of times tonight as an inner
city sport. | would like to emphasize that it is a sport but it’s not just an inner city sport. There are
competitions all over the world and it should be treated as a sport. | was very interested during public
comment where it was pointed out that this could be a jewel for our city. We do have to do things to
continue to attract and retain the young people that we have in our city today. It’s important to have
facilities, activities and sports that support what they are interested in. | am in favor of placing it at the
proposed location given that Renaissance needs to start building and we do need to make sure that we
do take care of the exiting skateboard population. | do have a question for Alderman Deane. One of the
sites adjacent to the current site was described as ideal in the public comment and | was just wondering
what the disqualifying criteria was because one of the other comments | heard during the Infrastructure
Committee meeting was that one of the major priorities was is the property of more value to the city if
used differently. | have the opinion that if we are going to do this and we are going to make sure that we
support the skateboarding population, we should give them the best site possible and treat them as
though they are an economic opportunity.
Alderman Deane
At the time then Director Galligani, Jack Tulley and other members of BIDA talked about the possibility of
that land being developed down the road. It’s off of a large parcel and they felt it would be very
marketable and they were looking at an increase in tax revenue and development in that area. There are
some other geotechnical issues over there too. They took a lot of asbestos out of there. | don’t know if
there are covenants on it due to the contamination or whether it’s being monitored but | can find that out.
Alderman Lopez
My question was just if the site was vetted and it sounds like it was. It’s my opinion that we should make
sure that we commit fully to this. | also think that we need to make sure that the community that they are
moving into receives them positively. Perhaps we should look at creating an Advisory Board for the
skate park that includes a representative from that neighborhood or maybe that Alderman.
Alderman Siegel
With all due respect to my colleague, Alderman LeBrun, he was not on the Board in the previous term
when this was discussed and in fact there was a proposal originally to put this at the starting area where
the Broad Street Parkway is and that was widely discussed and publicized and widely objected to at the
time. The feedback from the public was taken into the account and back to the drawing board everybody
went. As the liaison to the Board of Public Works I’ve been at many of the public meetings where that
has been discussed publicly and this has always been above board. As we heard from Alderman Deane
tonight, Mrs. Johnson appeared to have been kept well in the loop; | would say more than other citizens.
| don’t see a transparency issue here and nor did | ever. | have also witnessed the discussion about the
various site issues and this is clearly the best site. As far as the objection, | think there is this underlying
prejudice that somehow if people are younger and they are on a skateboard that represents trouble and |
am a little confused because it seems to me that people on a skateboard who are skateboarding
represents exactly what is not trouble but something constructive and healthy and social that is away
from electronic devices and other distractions. | would be happy to put on a suit and tie and get ona
skateboard and I’m not young. That should make everybody happy unless | am a demographic that is
somehow is offensive.
