Generation Gap & The Skatepark: Do we think young enough?

When I first heard about the petition for a skatepark in Storm Lake, I wanted to think "low priority," "too expensive," "punk magnet," or the ever popular, "you'll put your eye out, kid."

Whew, that was close, I nearly had turned into my parents there for a second.

Who am I kidding?

If it wasn't for the matter of multiple decades of zipped-away time, knees that no longer bend in the correct directions and so much habitual concern over grown-up responsibilities we can scarely remember what it was like to be a kid, who among us wouldn't wish to be out there too, floppy-haired, rattling all over the steps, rails and streets of Storm Lake, getting scattered by the skate cops.

As much as I would like to pretend to be mature today, there is no denying the wreckage of gleefully misspent youth strewn behind me. Several fine scars. One crushed motocross bike, a litany of parts from destroyed Schwinns, a shattered surfboard, and somewhere, under a pile of junk in the back of the garage of my memory, one very old-school skateboard.

Mind you, these were not the kind of board your kids have today. Tony Hawk was a mere zygote; X-Games and halfpipes unimaginable. The Jurassic boards were spraypainted flat slabs of maple with rattley trucks, slow and heavy as Godzilla and more unstable than Britney Spears' career, and if you happened to fall on one, you'd pick slivers out of your butt for a week.

Still, with the right kind of street on a hill, and a kindly upsloped driveway curb, you could build up speed, zip between a Firebird and a Pinto, and for a second or two, you could fly.

I don't know a kickflip from a nosegrind, but maybe that's all the kids want from Storm Lake now - a chance to fly, or something like that.

They were promised a skatepark in the original AWAYSIS plan, even stoked with a concept drawing full of bowls and rails and good stuff, only to have it taken away when the costs rose on the other AWAYSIS projects.

They spent a year building a petition for the project. The city responded with a committee, but it's been more than another year now without anything coming.

The young people wrote their own petition, created a website to promote the project, printed t-shirts, and have held concerts to try to raise some money to help the project. Everything you would ask a group of citizens to do. We adults could learn something from their effort.

Still, of course, there are naysayers. The kind of people who would compare the sport to horseshoes, or label it a passing fad - or so I'm told by people who read such stuff.

Fad? Hmmm - boards have been around for more than a full generation (the song Sidewalk Surfin' dates to 1963.) But to be safe, it isn't a bad idea to design a skatepark in such a way that it could be removed to make way for another development if it were one day no longer needed.

I was a little surprised to find my own kids' names on the petition - neither have been competitive in skating, and both will likely be gone to college by the time something gets built.

Why do they support the effort? Because, they say, Storm Lake has something for everyone except teenagers. They've lived that fact.

And they have a point. We built a near-million-dollar playground for small children, water slides for slightly bigger ones, a better golf course for us older duffers, and a new senior center for their grandparents.

It's not hard to see why the young people may felt a little betrayed.

Kids, it might seem like the powers that be have put the screws to you. But it is true, we still have a lot of paying off to do on what has been developed. Sadly, a skatepark - and a really cool nature center - were left in the dust. Not impossible, not unwanted, but needing a break to be realized.

It would be easy to get frustrated and give up, but from what little I've seen, a good skater or BMX rider never quits trying until they nail the trick, so hang in there. Seldom do things worth doing come easy.

The city has mentioned a potential location for the park - and that's a big step.

It is west of the tennis courts in Chautauqua Park, sure to be contentious. It would involve taking out trees and some green space.

Personally, I see every inch of green as precious. We built a new maintenance building at the golf course - why not take down the unsightly old shed and its parking slab and use that area? It has power, and a little parking area already.

(Another option would be the lot at the former North School - already public-owned, centrally-located, with parking, and near the police station for a watchful eye. Or get our hands on that ugly condo site, also with power and parking. Just a thought.)

Kids, just wanting something doesn't get it done. It will be up to you to do some research on places that have built such parks. Show how much tourism they bring, prove that they don't bring vandalism, check around for grants and ways local governments have avoided liability. Bring a list of kids pledging some volunteer time to help prepare such a park and maintain it.

We adults are cranky and creaky, but we're fair. Most of us will listen with an open mind when a good deal is put in front of us.

We don't need to overdo it. We don't necessarily need another million-dollar showplace. Skating isn't about being all pretty anyway. Be ready to compromise, it may have to happen in stages. I hope it has a wall for some art, a place for young local bands to come and play.

One thing we decrepid oldies realize is that the future of our communities will be handed down to you. This is a priceless experience to engage you in community action, or we could just tease you and then call your passion a fad; ignore you and hope you go away. (And if we ignore them, oh they will...go...away...)

My ancient robin's egg blue board, chipped bones and spilled blood are way behind me, but I do still remember how it feels to fly. Goodness help us, Storm Lake, if we have become too old in spirit to relate to that, then we have lost much more than our years along the way.