austin skate notes

It’s not every day you get to see a hero walk by, but come November 4th, 2007, we’ll have our chance. If you go to Waterloo Park on that day and look out for a guy with a beard, glasses, and one sleeve of tattoos, you stand a 25% chance that he’s Graham Williams– the bringer of a heroic amount of punk rock for a meager ticket price. That’s when and where the Fun Fun Fun music festival will feature an amazing lineup that better reflects my record collection than ACL. Angry Samoans, CH3, Poison Idea, Neurosis, Youth Brigade. The rumor I heard was that tickets will be $54 for both days and they might go on sale this weekend. Here is the full lineup in all it’s glory….

Fun Fun Fun 2007

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After months of inclement weather, Oklahoma’s third public, concrete skatepark has opened to much fanfare. The crowds are dense at the park, requiring early morning sessions to skate the street course without risk of collisions. There’s also a six-foot deep bowl adjacent to the street course.

Like Round Rock’s popular Wag-a-Bag convenience store, Broken Arrow’s skatepark enjoys a 24-hour soft-drink supplier called Kum-and-Go just down the street. I don’t know what else to say except that if you’re anywhere in the state of Oklahoma, it’s worth a visit.

Here are some photos I shot the other day at the Broken Arrow Skatepark. 

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The turnout at the skatepark closure meeting this morning was substantial. Every TV station I could think of was there. Oh, and there were a lot of skateboarders as well. A few brought the attitude that the city needs to shut the hell up, pick up the trash, and open the skatepark. But most had a positive, we’re-here-to-help, perspective.

Parks and Recreation Director, Rick Atkins, led the meeting with a presentation outlining the city’s plans for addressing some of the pain points.

• More trash cans are on the way
• The pavillion behind the bowl will be demolished
• A playscape for children will be built next to the skatepark to attract families to the area
• A gate will be installed in the south fence
• Increased police presence
• City law banning cigarettes and alcohol consumption at skatepark
• Water fountains to be installed

Some clarifications were made by RR city staffers. The recreation center bathrooms are available to skaters, but they need to leave their skateboards at the front desk where they’ll be watched so they don’t get stolen. The 11:00 PM light shut-off is on the to-do list for getting a warning flasher added.

While it sucks that that the city sent out such a negative press release emphasizing the 115 police calls to the skatepark, it is up to the skateboarders to rescue this situation. We’re going to have to police our own scene and make sure people who act the fool don’t screw it up for the rest of us. We’re also going to have to pick up trash that careless people have left behind. If each of us grabbed two water bottles off the grass on our way out, this would be a non-issue.

Round Rock will keep the park closed for the week since it’s closure on Saturday. Already 9 people have been arrested for tresspassing. Barge at your own peril. 

News 8 Austin has a story about the meeting and a poll asking if the city is over-reacting. Check the comments on the poll. Here’s their actual coverage of the meeting (thanks to Scott for posting the video).

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Local media has widely broadcast news that the City of Round Rock has temporarily closed the public skatepark for a week in response to negative behaviours exhibited by skateboarders at the popular facility. Stories have provided examples such as littering, graffiti, drug usage, and climbing on the fences. Sadly, this negative publicity does not bode well for skaters getting more skateparks built with taxpayer money in the area.

But there’s a way to turn it all around. A meeting is scheduled for 10:30 AM Tuesday (8-21-2007) morning at the Clay Madsen Recreation Center. I’m betting that if skaters can commit to the city to exercise better stewardship of the skatepark that PARD Director Rick Atkins will reopen the skatepark. They’re going to want to hear promises from skateboarders to not only pick up their own trash, but other people’s bottles and cups scattered about the park. Even if the trash cans are full, which they usually are, then a trash pile adjacent to the can saves city employees the hassle of walking around picking trash up themselves. It demonstrates an effort by skaters to keep the place clean and puts the onus on the city to provide more trash cans.

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