Skatepark Update: Park Board Recommends Riverside Park for Temporary Skatepark

At their meeting on Thursday evening, April 19, the Northfield Parks and Recreation Advisory Board voted to recommend Riverside Park as the location of a temporary skate park for the 2012 season.  Riverside Park is the home of a preexisting asphalt pad on which (after sealcoating) the skateboard equipment can be temporarily installed.

The vote came after a discussion in which some residents of the Village on the Cannon (VOC), which adjoins Riverside Park, voiced concerns about locating a skatepark near senior citizens housing. Some of the residents of VOC fall into the category of vulnerable adults. Skateboarding advocates said they understood these concerns, and promised to work together with residents of VOC, with The Key, and with city officials, to educate skateboarders about their responsibilities.

It was unclear at the time of the meeting whether the recommendation would have to go to the City Council for approval.

It was also decided at the meeting to form a three-member subcommittee to convene stakeholders to discuss the location of a permanent skatepark. It was expected that this process would proceed in a timely manner, with the goal of agreeing on a location before the end of the year so that progress could be made toward constructing the permanent skatepark. PRAB members David Hvistendahl and Neil Lutsky volunteered to serve on the subcommittee, with the third position to be filled shortly.

About two dozen skateboarders and their supporters were present at the meeting.

More background on the skatepark issue can be found here.