Tips for Getting a Skate Park Built in your Community
Go to the local schools and ask if you can have kidsò€™ complete surveys. Thatò€™s a great way to find out if your community need for a skate park. Most administrators will be very accepting of this. Since you want the kids to be honest, donò€™t have them put their names on the surveys. Then you can compile the data to find out how many kids would love to have the use of one. Break it down into age groups and even males and females to show that there is a good basis for getting one in place that will benefit kids.A good idea is to talk to your local parks and recreation coordinators. Ask if you can have a meeting with them to discuss your idea for a skate park. Chances at they may have been asked about it before. Let them know what some of the benefits for it will be. For example it can prevent kids from sitting around as they will get plenty of exercise while skateboarding. Talk about how it will prevent many of them from engaging in other forms of activities that can be harmful to them such as drinking and smoking.
Itò€™s better to get other parents involved in the cause as well. This can be done by hosting community meetings. Hang up fliers and to try to host the meeting at a very convenient time. If you can offer childcare for parents with younger kids at the same facility, that will help you to get more numbers. Have some details on the agenda to discuss such as why there is a need for a skate park in your area.
Open the meeting up to discuss to find out where parents think it should be located. This is a key factor in getting them to back it. The cost is going to be a concern that everyone has from the start. It may not be in the budget for your community to cover the cost. However, you can offer fundraising activities and even apply for grants or low interest loans to help with the cost.
Try to keep the cost of it low too by contacting construction companies in your area. Many of them will want to do all they can to help get the idea of a skate park for the locally youth in place. They may offer to only charge for the materials and to donate the labor for building it. They may be able to offer you a lower price so try to stay local when possible.
It is going to take plenty of work and plenty of convincing to get a skate park in your community. Some people will be opposed to the idea so be ready for their complains. For example they may feel it is simply too dangerous of an activity for kids to take part in. Let them know there will be guidelines in place for proper safety equipment to be used at the skate park.
With plenty of planning and dedication this can be accomplished. Let the kids get in on the action too. They will be very proud of their role in obtaining a skate park for the community. There are many designs that can be offered so make sure that voting takes place in the community to select one of them.