Now skaters can skate without skirting the law

Allen: Student initiative helped youths' grades, got city park built
 

11:39 PM CDT on Friday, June 3, 2005

By ANNETTE NEVINS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Ben Tubb, 16, was having trouble passing some of his subjects last year as a ninth-grader.

 

VERNON BRYANT/DMN

Josh Hurley from Eisenbergs Skatepark in Plano practices at The Edge @ Allen Station Park before the opening today.

He was more familiar with his skateboard than his textbooks as he concentrated on "grinding the rails" or "doing ollies" in the parking lot of a vacant supermarket across from school, at times being chased off by police.

That is, until Kelli Schreffler, the principal at Lowery Freshman Center in Allen, decided to help Ben and his friends start the Lowery Center Skate Club for skateboarders and inline skaters.

 

VERNON BRYANT/DMN

About 50 ninth-graders, many of whom preferred spending their after-school hours skating homemade wooden ramps or the concrete steps of office buildings to organized clubs or activities, were soon signing up for their school's skate club.

They held fundraisers to charter a school bus once every couple of weeks to Eisenbergs Skatepark in Plano. The group grew in popularity, even performing for about 5,000 students at a recent state convention of student councils.

Ben began to bring up his grades. He had to if he wanted to skate. A school rule required members of all campus clubs to make a 70 or higher to take field trips.

Now a 10th-grader at Allen High School, Ben is among a group of students who helped the city of Allen design what officials are calling the state's largest outdoor concrete skate park, not far from his school. The Edge @ Allen Station Park is set to open today in Allen.

City officials said the 37,915-square-foot concrete skate park, part of a $6 million, 12-acre recreation complex funded by the city, is the largest outdoor facility of its kind in the state and fifth in the nation.

The skate park will include street fixtures such as stairs with handrails, boxes, ledges, a variety of bowls ranging from 6 to 9 ½ feet deep, steel coping for grinding and bank slope areas.

"It's an amazing place, a dream come true," Ben said. "We finally have a place to skate without being chased off. And it's free."

In addition to a skate park, the complex will feature two roller-hockey rinks, a BMX track and a youth center complete with video games and computers on the south end of Allen Station Park off St. Mary's Street.

"Extreme sports are growing in popularity, and we're getting phone calls daily about our new facility, even from Mexico," said Tim Dentler, director of Allen's Parks and Recreation Department.

No admission will be charged for the skate park, rinks and bike track, which are open to all ages. But an annual membership fee will be required for the youth center.

Grand opening attractions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today will include extreme sports demonstrations and giveaways.

Vandalism at the park threatened to delay its opening. On May 15, Allen police discovered graffiti at the skate park. Several ramps were painted yellow and red.

The park has been cleaned up, and fencing and police patrols have been added, Mr. Dentler said. Security cameras are being considered, he added.

At the suggestion of students, Mr. Dentler said, a graffiti wall is also being considered.

Ben also will be part of an advisory board to help monitor the park in the wake of the recent vandalism. He said he and other students are working on a plan to wear specially marked T-shirts while skating at the park to identify themselves as someone to come to for help or to report trouble.

"Getting the kids to buy into this project and take pride in it by designing it and now policing it will make it all that much more successful," said Lori Smeby, assistant director of Allen's Parks and Recreation Department.

The new addition to Allen Station Park emphasizes the city's different types of recreation: organized sports and skateboarding, skating and stunt-biking.

Ms. Smeby said city officials decided to make the park free because they didn't want kids to have an excuse to skate elsewhere on private property.

She said there would not be any paid officials monitoring the park. The skateboarders, skaters and bikers will be there at their own risk.

Ben said he and his friends have come a long way from skating the steps at City Hall to finding themselves meeting with city officials in council chambers.

"Before, I was always too lazy to get involved; I didn't like anyone telling me what to do," he said. "I found I can get things done if I get involved."

Ben said he is thinking about running for student council next year.

A year after forming the skate club, Ms. Schreffler now has a skateboard mounted on the wall of her office to remind herself how important it is for kids to find a niche at school.

"It's been amazing to see how the skate group has turned some lives around," she said. "Kids who were never involved in anything at school are finally finding a place to plug in, not only in their school but in their community."

Skateboarder Cody Galofaro, 17, said the skaters group at Lowery Freshman Center helped him make friends and build self-esteem.

"A lot of people stereotype us and think we're bad people," he said. "We just like to skate."

Annette Nevins is a Plano-based freelance writer.