Skate park plans cleanup
Kindboards Skateshop, located in downtown Brainerd, has taken initiative in the first step towards a better skate park in Brainerd.
Owner Adam Olander approached Brainerd Parks and Recreation Director Tony Sailer with a concept to bring together skateboarders and the vandalism at Jaycee Skate Park in a positive way — with a day of cleanup.
Olander is using Facebook to organize a cleanup for the recently closed park for all interested community members beginning at noon on Friday (March 30).
Those looking to help out should meet at noon at Kindboards Skateshop, 717 Laurel St. in Brainerd. The group then plans to go to Jaycee Skate Park about 12:30 p.m. Olander said he expects the cleanup to last a couple of hours.
For more information on the cleanup, check out the Kindboards Skateshop Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002988021741&ref=ts.
Comments (15)
Add commentWhat good is a cleanup going to do
if the park is not usuable. If they really want to get involved, start a fund raiser for the purchase of land, construction, and equipment. This way only those who want to be involved will do so and leave the city out of it. That is what the Brainerd Lakes Curling Club did!!!
What good is a cleanup going to do?!
What good would it not do. This is simply the first step in our effort to help make the community understand that skateboarders do care about thier park and fix a tremendous eye sore at the same time. Fund raisers come after we establish a strong committee with a solid plan. As we are only about a week into this, I think addressing the issue that started everything is definately the first step. What do you have against us attempting to fix the problem any way?
Lakes Area Skatepark Committee
Sounds as though there is a plan in place and now you, the skateboarders and organization are working out that plan. Keep focused, and do not let the nay Sayers get you down. This is a great learning lesson for many people. Thank you for taking time out of your day to help.
skatepark
The Dispatch can go ahead and write the artical that will be printed a day or two after the clean up. I will give you the headline-------------------------------Skatepark trashed again.
Too many pessimistic
people here! I think it is great you guys are at least doing something. No, it may not open the park again. Yes, it may just get vandalized right away again. Don't let that hold you back. This is step one, and at least it shows someone cares! Maybe the next step, after you show everyone you want it, is to raise money to try and open a new park in a new area. You can't just let it get trashed and ask for a new one, you need to make a step in the right direction to show you care and you can take care of it. If I wasn't working I would help out, even though I'm not a skater, because I respect what you guys are doing.
You need to undertand the point, don't assume anything!
First of all, the negativity needs to come to an end. Stereotyping is consuming a lot of peoples opinions and it's been going on for a long time. We're used to it because we've been dealing with it our whole lives. If you want to think that your negative assumtions are going to slow us down or even stop us your completely wrong. We're Skateboarders...we don't quit. And if you think that we don't have a plan your wrong about that too. Keep in mind we're only one week into this thing. And by the way, do you even skate?! NO, YOU DON'T! And of course the park is going to get thrashed again, we never said it wouldn't, it's purely to show the city the the real skaters and supporters DO care. So please Turbo....RELAX!
" We're used to it because
" We're used to it because we've been dealing with it our whole lives"
I was with ya until you decided to be a victim. There will always be opposition to everything, that doesn't mean you're a victim. Granted I don't know who you are ... but i'm sure your life is not that hard.
I was with ya until you decided to be a victim
Nobody is being a victim, we're stating the facts.
@RichRule peasantsdrool
Sir, with all do respect, think of the differences between Brainerd Curling Club and your local skatepark. The Brainerd Curling Club is comprised of majorly adults in various professions like (but not limited to) legal and finance. While some resources were donated, the club does have a source of revenue unlike the local skatepark. Your criticism is not constructive nor does it help build and better our community. Creating a space for skaters, which is mainly comprised of our youth, takes the time and skills of many individuals. I'm sure your skills, time, knowledge, and leadership would be appreciated in order to work towards a common, postive goal instead of unconstructive banter.
Skatepark Cleanup is an awesome idea!
The skatepark needs to be cleaned up even if it is closed. The most appropriate people to do that—aside from those who vandalized it—are the skaters.
Some skaters swear by Elephant Snot graffiti removal gunk. I've never used it but it's supposed to work well. You goop the stuff on, let it sit for a while, then scrape or scrub it off. For spray paint, I like a product made by Crown called "Anti-Vandal Spray #5062". I keep a can in my car. Wear a respirator. The stuff is gnarly. If you're not careful, it'll give you a headache and that's certainly not a good thing.
Spray paint "cures" over time because it's an enamel paint. Enamel basically has little platelets in it suspended in the wet liquid. As the paint dries, the little plates flatten out and create a protective shell. This starts happening as soon as the paint starts drying, but the enamel shell becomes harder over time... and is fully cured after a few weeks. That basically means that graffiti is MUCH easier to remove within a week of it appearing than waiting to do a "once-a-year" park clean-up. This info doesn't mean much for the Jaycees Park but will be handy for your permanent facility. (Also, graffiti artists and taggers HATE it when their stuff is removed before anyone can see it. Remember, spray paint is more expensive than spray paint remover... just keep at it and eventually they'll go away.)
Anti-graffiti spray
Oh, one more thing. The Crown product is probably gnarly on the environment. Don't use it in abundance. If you have large areas of paint to remove, consider bead-blasting, (NOT sand-blasting, as it's too corrosive). And your City or Parks Department probably can't sanction the use of these products because they must conform with stricter rules than consumers.
Also, once I was cleaning up some graffiti from the inside of a bowl and had been down there for 20 minutes. I looked up and there were 5 cops standing there thinking they'd finally caught the graffiti tagger red-handed. So, you know, be prepared for that possible reaction too. Getting a letter on City letterhead naming you as a Parks Volunteer can help in situations like this.
This is great that you are
This is great that you are organizing a clean up, I just wish it was later in the day. My son feels very strongly about the skatepark and would love to help, however he is in school.
Better Artists?
Maybe we just need some better artists around here. Have ya seen some of the artwork on the trains that roll through town? Incredible...
While I should be surprised that one of my
post was deleted, knowing the moderators behind the screen have no backbone for other people's opinion, I am not. This is why they brought Mr. Hansen on board, and thank God for it. I can only hope the owners of this paper take a good look at who is working here, and one day show them the door!!
not concerned
With a volunteer force a clean up is a great start to a never ending issues. Battling gra"fithly" and the degraded equipment is frustrating. It is your park.....plan for success or be planed for......and we know that has possible options: close it, move it. fix it. Your direct involvement will show the village idots and community what you want done to this park....hope it works out for the best.....
Conspiracy
World out to get you, "RichRule?"
After the park clean-up, I'd recommend that those people involved in building a solution for Brainerd youth recreation work on a long-term vision. There are lots of directions to go from here. Here are the two ends of the spectrum.
1. Build out on the existing site. I know the location is far from optimal, but it's approved for this type of activity. This would expedite development because you can skip the whole site-assessment and selection stages. This would be the "smallest" solution.
2. Launch the effort for a new permanent skatepark. Starting from scratch is a drag, and you'll be looking at a 3-5 year process, but the end result should be exceptional. This would be the "largest" solution. This would be your flagship skatepark and probably be part of a larger community-wide network of skateparks and skate spots.
There are options between these two. You could begin looking at a number of skate spots around town while a new location for the flagship skatepark is identified. Skate spots are fun little 1,000 square foot (or smaller) single-structure attractions that can be easily incorporated into places where the community gathers.
Here's the kind of structure that makes an interesting skate spot:
http://www.lat34.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/IMG_0703.JPG