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A concrete idea
By JOHN BALZ, Times Staff Writer TAMPA PALMS -- Twelve-year-old Paul Proto and Sally go everywhere together. They perform front-side ollies outside the movie theaters, midair maneuvers at the country club, and glide through the grocery store parking lot. Paul, a red-haired sixth-grader at Lawton Chiles Elementary School, is one of New Tampa's small but passionate community of skaters without a place to call their own. Sally is Paul's skateboard. "We like to skate at Publix and stuff but (the managers) call the cops all the time and they'll kick us out," Paul said as he took a break from skateboarding along the Bruce B. Downs Boulevard bike path. William Lucas, 7, is another New Tampa skater. William gets his mother, Aimee, to drive him to a private skate park near Brandon. Tired of the 45-minute journey, Aimee Lucas has started a "personal crusade" to bring a free skate park to north Tampa, possibly as part of the 40-acre park next to the new Freedom High and Liberty Middle schools. "Skating has come full circle as a recognized sport with the X Games, and I thought, okay, I should do something," said Lucas of Tampa Palms. (The X Games are an annual event that feature skateboarders, inline skaters and bikers performing stunts at a massive concrete skate park.) Lucas hopes to persuade county officials to build an outdoor concrete park. She has formed a nonprofit group called Skate New Tampa Inc. to raise money from private corporations. Skate parks can cost between $250,000 and several million dollars depending on their size. If Lucas can't persuade local officials to pay for a skate park, she may ask Publix -- the company that Paul says kicks him out of its parking lot -- for money. Although Lucas' idea is still in the formative stage, Jim Norman, county commissioner for District 2, said it is promising. "It's a new age in terms of what kids enjoy, and our county parks and recreation folks need to keep up with the trends," he said. "We don't do dodge ball anymore, we do skating." Currently, skateboarding is illegal in the city of Tampa although there is a small bowl at Paul Harvey Park that skaters use. Lucas takes her son to Skatepark of Tampa. Hillsborough County operated a skate park on Highway 92 in east Brandon, according to County Parks and Recreation Director Ed Radice. It closed after volunteers stopped showing up and the kids didn't wear the proper safety equipment. Lucas wants the skaters to be required to wear helmets, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. In the meantime Paul and Sally will go wherever they can. Asked if he feels like he was being chased from one parking lot to the next, Paul responded: "All the time." -- John Balz can be reached at (813) 269-5313 or at balz@sptimes.com. -- For more information or to donate money for a skate park, contact Aimee Lucas at (813) 979-7032.
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From the Times |
