A fight at a skatepark in Tualatin that left four injured will end up being yet another thorn in the side of the movement to construct new skateparks across the state.
The fight, in which one person was stabbed, happened last night around 7 p.m. and has prompted the all-too-familiar stereotyping of skateboarders.
“Just more proof that skateparks attract the wrong crowd. Fill the darn thing in and make it a basketball court or another playground,” commented one reader on The Oregonian’s website despite the fact that none of the fighters have been identified as skaters.
While business owners complain about the destructive, dangerous and noisy presence of skateboarders on their property, residents fight skatepark construction in their neighborhoods. ‘Not in my backyard,’ they say, citing skaters’ tendencies toward substance abuse and general delinquency.
Still, the past decade has seen Oregon and the greater northwest become an internationally-renowned destination for skaters due to its abundance of world-class skateparks.
The most recent wave of new construction began in November 2002 when Portland voters approved a parks levy which, among other things, provided for two new skateparks at Pier and Glenhaven Parks in north and northeast Portland. The Portland Parks Foundation helped secure funding for a skate spot in the new Holly Farm Park in southwest Portland. Thanks to special funding approved by City Council in 2006, a new skatepark opened July 2008 in Gabriel Park in southwest Portland and a skate area is almost completed in Ed Benedict Park in southeast Portland.
Now, with plans to build another, much larger skatepark in the city’s Old Town near the west ramp of the Steel Bridge, skaters will likely see increased opposition to the construction and/or increased police presence when the project is finished. It’s also likely that the entire project will be postponed indefinitely due to the nationwide economic crisis and the city's financial woes.
The fight, in which one person was stabbed, happened last night around 7 p.m. and has prompted the all-too-familiar stereotyping of skateboarders.
“Just more proof that skateparks attract the wrong crowd. Fill the darn thing in and make it a basketball court or another playground,” commented one reader on The Oregonian’s website despite the fact that none of the fighters have been identified as skaters.
While business owners complain about the destructive, dangerous and noisy presence of skateboarders on their property, residents fight skatepark construction in their neighborhoods. ‘Not in my backyard,’ they say, citing skaters’ tendencies toward substance abuse and general delinquency.
Still, the past decade has seen Oregon and the greater northwest become an internationally-renowned destination for skaters due to its abundance of world-class skateparks.
The most recent wave of new construction began in November 2002 when Portland voters approved a parks levy which, among other things, provided for two new skateparks at Pier and Glenhaven Parks in north and northeast Portland. The Portland Parks Foundation helped secure funding for a skate spot in the new Holly Farm Park in southwest Portland. Thanks to special funding approved by City Council in 2006, a new skatepark opened July 2008 in Gabriel Park in southwest Portland and a skate area is almost completed in Ed Benedict Park in southeast Portland.
Now, with plans to build another, much larger skatepark in the city’s Old Town near the west ramp of the Steel Bridge, skaters will likely see increased opposition to the construction and/or increased police presence when the project is finished. It’s also likely that the entire project will be postponed indefinitely due to the nationwide economic crisis and the city's financial woes.
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