Officials discussing future of skate park

What to do with borough-provided equipment at the site is a concern

SOUDERTON >> The skateboard park at Indian Valley Boys & Girls Club hasn’t had much use in the past few years, Borough Manager Mike Coll said at the Aug. 12 Souderton Borough Council work session.

“Their feeling is that the skateboard park just seems to be dying off,” he said.

The Boys & Girls Club would now like to put something else, such as an outdoor basketball court or play area, in the space where the skateboard park is, he said.

Since the borough provided the equipment for the skateboard park, the question now is does the borough want to sell the equipment or move it to another location, he said.

Skateboarders at the park must be Boys & Girls Club members and can only get into the park by going through the club building, council members said. That could account for the park not having a lot of use, they said.

People who skateboard are generally older than the Boys & Girls Club members, council member Jeff Gross said.

Council President Brian Goshow said there’s a stigma that skate parks attract bad kids, but that didn’t seem to be the case in the skate parks he’s been to with his son.

Gross and Coll said the skateboard park could be moved to behind the borough office building.

Goshow said he agrees that would be a good place for it. There are some other things to consider before making a decision, though, he said.

“That skate park is not new,” he said.

“It was very, very good equipment,” he said, “and it’s in good shape, but it’s

not new. It has some years on it.”

It would be costly to replace the equipment, he said.

There’s also a change in what the park users want to do there, he said.

“It’s not just skateboards anymore,” Goshow said. “It’s bikes, scooters, skateboards and roller blades.”

One of the things that has be determined is how much of the current equipment can be salvaged to be moved, the board said.

“I think maybe I’ll have our landscape architects go down and take a look at it and see what their thoughts are,” Coll said.

BOB RAINES — MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE Skateboarder Damon Wesley shoots into the air as he comes off a ramp in a contest held at the Indian Valley Boys & Girls Club Carnival.