Maybe if the city had as many eager volunteers as the YMCA skate park, Rome could have been built in a day, too.
By JANE MADDEN WELCH
Published March 16, 2004
[Times photo: Kathleen Flynn]
Christian Chavez, 14, middle, of Palm Harbor, lunges into the air in an attempt to grab a skateboard thrown to the crowd by Bob Levoy, a representative of Westside Skateshop in Tarpon Springs, as the new skate park at the Palm Harbor YMCA opened Saturday.
PALM HARBOR - Brian Kridler got up at 4:35 a.m. Saturday.
He was so eager to start on a new skate park at the future site of the Palm Harbor YMCA that he couldn't sleep.
Organizers had worked on the plans for months.
Construction would take just one day.
So Kridler, director of new YMCA development for the YMCA of the Suncoast, was ready when volunteers began arriving at 8 a.m.
The park, for skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bikers, was being built next to the Palm Harbor YMCA, which is itself under construction, on 16th Street. The YMCA received a $70,000 grant to build the park from KaBoom, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization, and American Eagle Outfitters Foundation.
Foundation director Nicole McGalla also arrived early.
"There is so much enthusiasm here," she said, looking at more than 150 people who turned out for the project. One hundred and sixteen of the volunteers were American Eagle employees from Florida and south Georgia.
"This is the third skate park we've built," McGalla said. The first one was in Washington D.C., in September. The second was in Boston.
"We did that one in October, and it was freezing," McGalla said. "We are very happy to be in Florida."
The foundation's goal is to complete 15 parks nationwide in five years. Working with national skate park program ESKAL8, project planners seek out community partners to help design and create the parks.
"No two parks will be exactly alike, since each individual community has input on how the park will be set up," said Palm Harbor YMCA board member Fred Marquis. Marquis, the former county administrator for Pinellas County, volunteered as the captain of a team that assembled ramps.
A pyramid, benches, rails, stairs and curved ramps known as quarter-pipes, were custom-designed for the 10,000-square-foot, asphalt-surfaced park in Palm Harbor. Nearly 100 people of all ages brainstormed ideas for the design at a meeting in January.
"It was the best turnout we've seen," said McGalla. "It was really nice to see girls represented, too."
Fourteen-year-old Kristie Earley of Palm Harbor was one of the girls who participated in the design meeting. She wanted a slant ramp. She got it.
"This is pretty cool," said Kristie, a student at Palm Harbor Middle School. "I'll use it a lot."
After working seven straight hours, the landscape team had laid all of the available sod, evened the surrounding dirt and hung signs.
"I'm exhausted," said team captain Joe Polce, an American Eagle Outfitters store manager from Jacksonville. "But it's definitely worth it. It's an awesome thing for this community."
Vickie Glorioso lives down the street from the YMCA. Her son Kyle, 14, is an active skateboarder.
"I'm just thrilled to have a place where the kids can channel all that skateboard energy," Glorioso said. "To have someplace that's safe, not skating the street in front of cars, is great."
Anyone using the park is required to wear knee and elbow pads and a helmet. Wrist guards are also required for in-line skaters.
"The park will be supervised, and we are adamant about the kids wearing full pads," Kridler said.
By 3:30 p.m., the work was done, and it was time to celebrate with food, drinks, prizes and music from Clearwater band Chubby Tuff. A group of advanced skateboarders, sponsored by Westside Skateshop of Tarpon Springs, did a demonstration on the new equipment.
Then, the park opened to the public.
Paul Holt and Leo Espinoza, both 10, came from Holiday for the opening. Leo won a new deck, the part of the skateboard you stand on, during the prize giveaway. They were eager to give the new facility a try.
"I might try to kick-flip the pyramid," Paul said. "It's the coolest."
Asked where they usually skateboarded, both boys said "the streets."
The skate park is just one of the features of the new YMCA. The expansion plans call for two swimming pools, exercise studios, a wellness center, climbing wall and gymnasium to be built in three phases.
Free use of the skate park is included for anyone with a full membership in the YMCA. Or you can pay a daily fee of $5 or a $25 yearly fee for unlimited use of the park on days when it's open.
Because of the construction of the YMCA itself, the skate park will be open only on Sundays until the Y is built.
"It's still an active construction site, and we are wary of any risk to the kids," Kridler said.
