A group of local action sports enthusiasts are generating momentum towards renovating and revamping the skatepark at Blue Jacket Park, modernizing ramps and jumps to bring them up-to-date with other skateparks in similar communities.
The Bellefontaine Skate Park Movement group on Facebook has garnered hundreds of followers and an online petition is circulating to call local leaders’ attention to the need for reinvestment and rehabilitation of the local skatepark.
Those efforts are beginning to gain traction.
Advocates to rebuild the skatepark have attended consecutive monthly meetings of the Bellefontaine Parks Board and have reported productive conversations with parks administrators and board members.
Action skateboarders and bikers are distributing information booklets outlining skateparks in neighboring communities, as well as the proposed size, potential builders and possible funding mechanisms for the project.
The group reports the parks board has added the skatepark to its forthcoming master plan for community parks updates, and that Parks Superintendent Kris Myers recently visited a newly renovated skate park in the city of Newark.
“This is a massive step for us because it shows a huge amount of support for this movement,” read a recent post from the Bellefontaine Skate Park Movement group regarding the park superintendent’s tour of the Newark skatepark.
The existing skatepark was constructed over 10 years ago in collaboration with the Bellefontaine Rotary Club and contributions from local businesses and civic orgnaizations. Current renovation advocates grew up as action sports enthusiasts and their social media posts detail coming of age in Bellefontaine without a designated place to skate and bike without fear of being chased away for trespassing on private lots.
They express gratitude that the existing skatepark was constructed at all, but note that after years of consistent use metal ramps are becoming worn out, supporters are bent and some hardware is missing.
The platform for the current park has an asphalt pad and pre-constructed metal ramps. Over the years, ramps, rails and the asphalt pad have fallen apart and deteriorated, creating a safety hazard for users.
“Our goals for this project would be to utilize the current area we have, and reconstruct a new park in its location,” according to the online petition. “We are looking for a more permanent solution, specifically concrete.”
“This park has long surpassed its life and it is now time for our community to look forward to rebuilding a new and improved skatepark; something more permanent, something with style; something that matches the growing city of Bellefontaine,” reads a Jan. 26 letter submitted to Bellefontaine Mayor Ben Stahler.
Skatepark advocates continue to express optimism that their sustained efforts will yield results, emphasizing patience in the process as the proposal works its way through the parks board and as the petition continues to amass signatures; after all, they are familiar with this process — it’s not unlike the process undergone to get the skatepark in the first place.