Supervision wheels

up at App Skatepark
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga County skate park has new rules and supervision to ensure the facility remains safe.

Beginning Friday, the site will be supervised and have limited hours, and skaters must sign a waiver acknowledging they understand and agree to abide by the rules. Skaters under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign the waiver.

Watauga County Parks and Recreation director Stephen Poulos said the rules were the result of studying the facility and finding out what other skate parks were doing to create a better recreation experience.

"The (county) commissioners wanted to make sure it's a safe place to skate and anybody driving out there could see a lot of people weren't wearing their helmets," he said.

There have been a few broken bones suffered at the park, which Poulos said was typical for the sport, and the commissioners had earlier voted to construct a fence around the park facility, which is located in the recreation complex in Boone.

Skaters must wear approved helmets, knee and elbow pads and may receive a citation or have park privileges revoked if they fail to comply. Skaters can't use the parking lot, and profanity, fighting and other disruptive behavior is prohibited.

"I think it will be a positive move for the skate park and the county and make it a safer place to skate," Poulos said. "We make sure the kids are being watched. We're not trying to slam down on them or anything but they need to know they have to wear pads and helmets because it's the law."

Food, drinks, glass containers, tobacco, alcohol, drugs and chewing gum are prohibited inside the skate park, and graffiti or other property defacement could result in legal action to recoup repair costs. The signed waiver releases Watauga County from any medical or legal claims.

Buzz Berry, chairman of the Appalachian Skatepark Council, which raised money for the park, said the county hadn't consulted the council on the new rules.

"We don't like it," Berry said. "We created that place to be a safe place for these kids to skate. When daylight savings time kicks in again, the park will only be open about two hours a day. Two hours a day is ridiculous."

In the summer, the skate park will be open from 10 a.m. to dusk Monday through Saturday and from 1 p.m. to dusk on Sunday, with security supervisors to determine the definition of "dusk." While school is in session, the park will be open from 3 p.m. to dusk Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to dusk on Saturday and from 1 p.m. to dusk on Sunday.

Berry said adults and university students use the park during the day and they will no longer have access before 3 p.m. "They're limiting this very healthy activity,” he said. “They haven't involved us. We're the guys who took out the loan for the park and we're still paying for it, and they haven't asked us a thing about it."

Berry said they can't have liquids during recreation and face dehydration while participating in the sport. "You don't ask that of tennis courts or baseball fields," Berry said. "Talk about safety issues."

Berry said all pads were required and the council had "always pushed that," and, "We absolutely think a helmet is mandatory out there."

Violators faced a fine, but Berry said no tickets had been written, which might have served as a deterrent.

"These kids and adults who are using this facility are great people, and they're just wanting to enjoy their sport," Berry said. "Every activity just has a bad side to it, but there's so much positive that happens out there, from very healthy exercise to friendships that are made. I don't fully understand or know why they want to restrain use of that facility."

Berry said with "street-style" skating, knee pads can interfere with safety because they limit movement. Pads are designed for big ramps and half pipes, he said. "We want it to be safe, but we also want to make sure this facility is available to people, too," Berry said, noting skaters had previously been receiving tickets for public skating and now have limited access to a safe place to skate.

He also said participants in other sports had suffered injuries at similar rates and skaters might now be forced back onto public streets, sidewalks and parking lots where they will be at risk.

The facility was opened in June 2006 after a fundraising and public-relations effort by the Appalachian Skatepark Council. The commissioners had addressed safety and liability concerns during several meetings over the past two years because of repeated cases of skaters' not wearing helmets.

In 2007, the skate park council asked the county to pay off $54,000 worth of loans and equipment, but it was opposed by the county recreation commission because skaters had not followed safety rules. The county will spend an estimated $40,000 a year for the security supervision.