Skate park changes: discusses supervision with city

Published 12:00 am Monday, March 25, 2002

As the skate park in Albert Lea enters its second summer season, plans are under way for new equipment and changes in how the park is managed.

Monday, March 25, 2002

As the skate park in Albert Lea enters its second summer season, plans are under way for new equipment and changes in how the park is managed.

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There will be new equipment, for one thing, although members of the association haven’t made any decisions about the exact type of equipment yet. Purchasing new equipment has been one of the main goals of the fund-raising the Skate Park Association does all year, said Paul Evenson, co-director of the association.

One of the changes will allow BMX bikers to use the park on specially designated days. According to Evenson, the park will use an alternate day schedule so that bikes and skateboards won’t be using the park on the same days. Bikers would have to obey the same rules and pay the same fees as skate boarders. Helmets are mandatory for both groups, according to park rules.

Another change will be in how the park is supervised, although plans are not yet set for how this would work. The experience of last summer made it pretty clear to Evenson and others in the association that just relying on volunteer supervision wasn’t going to work.

Currently, the association is negotiating with the city to work out a way to hire staff for this summer through the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. The reason for asking the city to take responsibility for providing supervision is that the association does not want to have to get involved in interviewing and hiring, said Evenson. The association would provide funding for the paid supervisors, using the entrance fees. They would also be willing to commit money they’ve collected through fund-raising for supervision as well, although they are hoping to set aside as much of that as possible for the purchase of new equipment.

Despite an initial setback, when the council voted to deny a request to supply paid supervisors, Evenson is optimistic that something can be worked out. The park will probably need two supervisors, so that one person isn’t stuck there all day, every day, said Evenson.

If the discussions with the city are successful, the issue may come before the council again at its meeting on April 8.

The association plans on opening in the park on weekends in May, as weather permits, said Evenson. Volunteers will cover those first weekends, and probably again when the park is open weekends in September, he added.

Daily entrance fees will remain the same as last year, as well as the hours of operation each day.