Courtesy: The Statesman Examiner


Colville skateboard park is relegated to history

Wednesday, 02 February 2011

Park dismantled and turned into futsal court

City of Colville crews began the process of dismantling the Jeff Weeman Memorial Skate­board Park Monday morning, per the request of the Colville School District.

A letter was sent to Colville City Hall from Colville High School Principal Kevin Knight, dated Jan. 12. In the letter, Knight says, “After meeting with the (city) recreation de­partment and Barbara and Dave Weeman, we plan on removing the skate park and implementing a futsal court.”

Futsal is a variant of soccer that is played on a smaller playing surface and mainly played indoors.

Knight added that the court will take less money to main­tain and be the sole responsi­bility of the school district, which will be in charge of maintenance and insurance.

The skateboard park is lo­cated adjacent to Colville Junior High School and across Hawthorne Avenue from Colville City Park.
The facility was constructed in September 1998 at the be­hest of Barb Weeman and the Jeff Weeman Foundation. Weeman, the City of Colville and the Colville School Dis­trict worked together to con­struct and install a skate park on school district property, with the city in charge of maintenance and materials, not to exceed $1,500 annu­ally.

Unsafe with no funding source

“It’s gotten to the point that it (skateboard park) is just deteriorating and could prove a liability to the school dis­trict,” Knight says. “It’s mostly made out off wood, which is peeling and becoming struc­turally weak. It’s unsafe and there’s no appropriate funding source to keep it up.”

According to Nichols and Dave Rarrick of the districtd Maintenance Department, in­cidences off vandalism have increased at the skateboard park over the years, most no­tably graffiti.
The proponents of the new plan figure it’s a good, healthy alternative to the skate park.
“It’s a good way to get youth involved in soccer and provide the community with another positive activity,” says Rarrick of the park’s changes. “We have to show appreciation to Barb Weeman for helping cre­ate a skate park in the first place and now being so open to the changes.”

The skateboard park is around 200 square feet, with two large ramps and several small ones, along with some metal rails for skateboarding. The space will be renovated into a futsal court by 17-year-old CHS student Caden McCombs, who is transform­ing the space for his senior project. The park will remain uncovered with strategic court dimensions painted on its surface. The park could also be used for a roller hockey rink.

Colville Mayor Dick Nichols says the park will also retain the name Jeff Weeman Memo­rial Park.

Mayor says skate-park could return in some form at old park tennis courts
“With our parks department absorbed into the street de­partment, the skate board park is an expense right now that is hard for the city to maintain,” says Nichols. “The city is not opposed to re-es­tablishing a skateboard park in the future at a different site, but it appears that the current situation is not feasi­ble for the city or the school district.”

Nichols added that the skateboard ramps have been relocated to one of the three tennis courts in Yep Kanum (city) Park. He says it’s possi­ble that the tennis court could be transformed into a new city skate park, if city council ap­proves funding to repair and maintain the ramps at next Tuesday’s city council meeting at City Hall at 7 p.m.

“The funds have to be ap­proved first and then we will go from there,’ says Nichols.


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com