Skateboarders, Jackson work on compromise park design

Fair or not, skateboarders have a rebellious stigma about them. Maybe it's the long hair or baggy clothes or that they're constantly skating in places they're not supposed to be.

But in Jackson, one thing is certain: Rebellious or not, these guys aren't the wait-and-see-what-happens type.

About 15 skateboarders have taken a lead on the city's plans for a skate park in Jackson. They've been meeting every Tuesday for about a month, working with city officials on compromises for a design that just about every skater can enjoy.

About two months ago, two Jackson Optimist clubs pledged $30,000 apiece for a park that would include steel modular pieces.

Several skateboarders who attended the meeting were disappointed in the design, saying it was similar to a Cape Girardeau skateboard park that "nobody likes."

At the time, the skateboarders said they preferred a concrete park like the one in Farmington.

Well, the skaters have come around a little bit.

"I think it's coming along pretty good," said Lucas Biene, a 25-year-old competitive in-line skater, who has been to skate parks all over the country. "We're working on another design right now."

Biene said the skateboarders have come to an agreement that modular equipment will work, but a better design -- and slightly different equipment -- will allow for a more challenging course.

"The concrete is nicer, but budgetwise, if we want this in the next year or two, this is what we have to work with," Biene said.

He said the design proposed by the skaters will include some wider ramps that will allow more horizontal room for tricks and an arrangement that will put the equipment closer together for more combination tricks. The skaters have requested a "fun box" ramp, which has a little bit of everything from stairs to ramps to embankments.

He said the design will also suit beginning skaters.

"We're getting closer," said Jackson park director Shane West Anderson. "We're paring down the design and fine-tuning. We're using the $60,000 as a base and developing fund raising if any costs go up and above that."

bmiller@semissourian.com

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