SKATEBOARD CRAZE PROMPTS OUTCRY FOR SUITABLE PARKS

ANNA, Ill. -- They're out virtually every sunny Saturday afternoon -- skateboarders, skidding along curbs and speeding down inclines at top speed.

Where there are no skateboard parks, boarders devise their own hazards.

Skateboard parks have been constructed throughout the nation as the craze has climbed to epidemic proportions, resulting in more than 200 professional boarders.

Metropolis, Ill., a town of about 7,500 along the Ohio River, has a successful park. Now Anna is looking to follow suit.

Keith Cotton, an Anna photographer, presented a detailed proposal regarding the development of a skatepark. He told the city council that pledges have been secured for about $12,000 of the cost.

City attorney Wes Wilkins is reviewing the liability issues, and Mayor Steve Hartline said the proposal would be reviewed and a response given quickly.

Cotton said a regional skatepark would provide a legal and safe area for the rapidly growing number of skaters participate in "these popular, individual recreational activities." He told the council that local enthusiasts now had to travel to Metropolis or Mt. Vernon, Ill., or to some metropolitan area to enjoy a professionally designed park.

Cost of the Anna project could range from $25,00 to $60,000, depending on the size of the park and ramps -- called "obstacles" by enthusiasts -- provided.

The Metropolis Skateboard Park, located in one of the city's parks, was constructed about a year ago at a cost of $30,000. The cost of the city's park insurance did not increase, and that's often a concern for cities considering a skateboard park.

"We have only small obstacles," said Shanon Crockett, Metropolis Parks and Recreation Department director. "But it gets lots of use."

People from a wide area -- Paducah, Ky., Vienna, Ill., and Anna -- use the skateboard facility.

"It's in use from the time school dismisses until dark," said Crockett. "And on weekends it's packed. People have to wait their turn."

Users are not all youngsters. "Adults use it too," Crockett said, adding that her department already is looking at a second skateboard park.

Cape Girardeau may not be far behind those cities to the east.

"There has been talk of a skateboard park here for years," said Dan Muser, director of parks and recreation for Cape Girardeau. "It's something we have in our long-range plans."

Muser commented on the Columbia (Mo.) Cosmopolitan Skateboard Park, constructed at cost of about $64,000 by the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department and completed about two years ago. Part of the funding $39,000 came from the Public Improvement Fund. The city's Cosmopolitan Luncheon Club provided $25,000.

Skateboarding is not a new activity.

People have been nailing skates to boards since the 1940s. Many of the early boards were toy scooters whose handlebars had been removed. Other homemade skateboards were steel-wheeled roller skates nailed onto a piece of wood. The first commercially produced skateboards appeared in the early 1960s, when Makaha Skateboards established a successful business.