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Continued call for skatepark in Chimborazo Playground
07/09/2010 10:30 AM by John M
Via RVA Magazine – episode 2 of Build Us a Skatepark:
Close to 400 people showed up at Go Skate Day sponsored by Dominion Skateboards among others at Chimborazo Park. Chimbo is quickly becoming a ‘field of dreams’ for skateboarders and supporters of the sport to take action on their own.
Not a bad idea. Would be cool to take advantage of some of that unused land between the basketball courts and the gardens… then someone can put up a new market at 29th and Broad and sell lil’ hugs to the skaters, and beer to me. 🙂
I’m all for a skatepark. Kids need a place to hang out and I would love for them to have that. However I don’t think Chimbo is the right place for it. Gillie’s Creek already has the BMX track and it’s so much bigger. That seems like a better place for it, to me.
Chimbo is the perfect place for it as long as its properly incorporated into the rest of the park and its other recreational features (basketball, tennis, etc). I frequent Chimbo often and feel a good sense of community being among so many activities coexisting at one time.
Skaters definitely need to be included in the planning/construction process…
Love the idea.
I wonder why nobody’s trying to do this on southside, too? There are abandoned tennis courts next to the Westover Hills Elementary School/Westover Community Center that are fenced and lighted. It’d probably be good to have one on each side of the river.
It never even occurred to me that there were that many kids on skateboards around here until I saw a whole herd of them near Forest Hill and Semmes.
Jennifer C. #6, you might want to ask the editor of the Hills and Heights blog to start a similar thread and then post that same thought/posting there. If you scroll down on the right side of this blog, there is a link to Hills and Heights blog.
I don’t really have a dog (or is the saying have a horse in this?!LOL) in this as I live some blocks away, but I DO know some people who live really close to Chimbo Playground, and they object to the noise from skateboarding, while they do support the idea of a skateboard park somewhere else. I can easily visualize it down by Gillie’s Creek, which is in line with #2’s posting. Matter of fact, I think that’s a brilliant idea. It really fits in with the other stuff they have down there.
Last I heard the idea was to have a little skate park in this park, and a larger one nearby somewhere. I think actually it was near the BMX track, or between there and the frisbee golf area. The skaters are aware that the desire for local skate opportunities is greater than the little area in the Chimbo park can supply, but the two things near each other plus street skating just ‘around’ would make a sort of east end skate-friendly neighborhood.
it seems that many of the kids that come to this park to skateboard also drive here or catch a ride with somebody. I don’t recognize any of these kids that actually live in the immediate neighborhood. wouldn’t it make more sense to locate the skatepark closer to where kids live. after all, there are not many children that live in the blocks that surround chimbo park.
I would like to see a skate park at Chimbo.
Will it come down to what the city thinks? I mean, it is their property.
I guess part of the reason I thought Gillie’s Creek would be better is, besides that it’s bigger and the BMX track is there, it’s also dirt and grass. Right now the ramps are on asphalt…which hurts. The city would never build a playground on asphalt, and would have to improve the Chimbo site for safety reasons. At Gillie’s Creek it’s build-ready.
I fully support the idea of a skate park at Chimbo!
I think Gillie’s is a better idea.
laura… I can think of 10 children who live within 2 blocks of Chimbo playground, and that isn’t crossing Broad St. Also what would who include as immediate neighborhood? Only the children of the SOB’s?
Gilles seems the better choice with its current concentration of alternative sports (including horseshoes). Skateboarding can become a real noise nuisance if you live to close to it, especially as some skateboarders like to skateboard late at night or even early Sunday mornings. Skateboarding may not be a crime, but it can be a real pain in the ass.
#14 So happy you got to 10…it is absolutely a FACT…there aren’t many children who live in the blocks surrounding chimo playground….I live here…I know who else lives here. There are playgrounds throughout the city…add the skatepark to a playground that a large concentration of children can benefit from close to their home.
All for it. Gillies creek would work for a concrete park.but why not at Chimborazo.?noise? What noise? The sound of children playing. Cmon now
Kids including my husband and his friends would LOVE this in Chimbo and it would bring more people to the area as a destination spot.
Chimbo is a safer park for unsupervised kids ages 9 – 15 to walk to. Also safer for kids not in a group.
I live here, too, and my kids are currently using the park. I have been here 15 years and I have seen this park really blossom in the past 2 to 3 years. It is now a safe place and close to home. It is now a multi-use area that attracts many age groups from the neighborhood.
And, it’s in a safe area. I really wouldn’t want kids to travel to another area to play. Also, many kids in the Church Hill are do not have transportation to travel to the Fan or other areas to skate.
Our tween and teen kids need a safe place with positive activities. We no longer have a rec center in this area and I am so glad that the young folks that frequent the park are there and take an interest.