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| SkullandBonesSkateboards.com Forum Index » SKATEBOARD/PARK ADVOCACY » Stamford, CT APPROVED |
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| BillyBonebrake |
 Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 3:22 pm |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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2/8 update - Hello Grindline.
I made the city planner VERY nervous today when she read this. Now she thinks Stamford skaters will be crowded out by moms from Brooklyn who will be flooding the city with carloads of kids. But after the intial hoopla, this skatepark will see the majority of its usage by locals. Which is typical. But vert dogs from all over the northeast will be putting this place on their "must skate" lists. So, in reality, the bowl will get used once in a while. Which is probably what I should have told the reporter in the first place. Live and learn ...
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Last edited by BillyBonebrake on Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| jraboin |
| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:30 am |
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Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 171
Location: shelton
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| BillyBonebrake |
| Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 3:53 pm |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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| June if all goes according to plan. Then again the board of finance could nuke it. Thats the immediate (and final) challenge. |
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| joebruiser |
| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:50 am |
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Joined: 15 Mar 2005
Posts: 1808
Location: SKOOK PA
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"it came down to price" Ruszkowski said
but they threw out the low bid huh |
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| BillyBonebrake |
| Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:03 pm |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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It was the street area at Milford that turned them off. But that has more to do with Milford's budget than BG's performance. As a favor, BG put down some street features with the city public works dept following - installing uneven, large-aggregate asphalt - a sabotage job, literally. Throughout the project, this PW Director was unapologetic about why the skatepark was doomed from the beginning and that the rotten local skaters didn't deserve it. He was, and is, an asshole named Bruce Kolowitz. When it was completed he misled the Mayor in order to get a 10' high, $40,000 fence around it. His parting shot to the local skaters.
If the Stamford folks knew what to look for and what questions to ask they would have come away with a different conclusion. Breaking Ground had $95K to work with and put 99% of it into the bowl area. From that standpoint its up there with ANY 4,000 square foot skatepark.
Hopefully it will be free this spring. I'm currently getting insurance quotes at the request of the new Rec. Director. I've gotten the approval of the Parks, Beaches and Rec. Commission. Things are looking up for Milford and skaters who make it to Stamford should also hit Milford & Wethersfield. Breaking Ground has plenty of experience and you'll agree when skating either of these places.
Milford |
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| grotonskater |
| Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 6:07 pm |
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Joined: 25 Sep 2006
Posts: 643
Location: in your wives/daughters' room...
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| breaking ground made groton, too. all but the original bowl & pyramid. amazing work. |
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HECKLE SQUAD |
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| BillyBonebrake |
| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:14 am |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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Committee endorses park for 'gnarly little skaters'
By Donna Porstner
Staff Writer
January 24, 2007
STAMFORD - Cheered on by more than a dozen skateboarders and their parents, the Board of Representatives' Parks and Recreation Committee last night endorsed plans to build an arena in Scalzi Park.
The committee voted to recommend the full board approve a $309,850 contract with Grindline Skateparks when it meets Feb. 5.
The city plans to hire the Seattle company to design and build a concrete bowl and other obstacles for skateboarders and inline skaters on the Washington Boulevard side of Scalzi Park next to the hockey rink.
City Rep. Richard Lyons, D-1, said it is about time for the city build the skate park that has been debated for more than a decade. He's sat through numerous public hearings at which residents clamored for one, Lyons said.
"I think that this group - you gnarly little skaters - have waited long enough for a place to do your stuff," Lyons said.
But he warned the children and young adults in the room to respect it. If the skate park stays in good condition, his board will be more apt to approve an expansion or another park in the future, Lyons said.
"Just remember that it's yours and it costs in excess of $300,000," Lyons said.
City representatives said they support a skating arena, but some are concerned about how it will be supervised and whether it will be overrun with out-of-towners. The 10,000-square-foot skate park, which could open in July, would be free and open to the public.
"If we are building this for Stamford youth, I don't want them to be sitting on the sidelines watching people from New York and other towns," said city Rep. John Zelinsky, D-11.
City officials said they do not anticipate an inordinate number of nonresidents and do not plan to limit out-of-towners.
"If gangs from New York are coming in and are squeezing out our kids, we can address that at a later point, but that's not the plan," said Thomas Cassone, director of legal affairs.
The committee co-chairman, city Rep. Joseph Coppola, R-15, asked parks and recreation employees to step up oversight of Scalzi Park if the skate park is built.
"You will have people patrolling the park?" Coppola asked.
"Absolutely," replied Parks Superintendent Mickey Docimo, who said he will request money for additional parks police and park rangers in next year's budget.
Members of the Board of Finance, which also must approve the deal, have delayed voting on the contract because they have questions about liability.
Risk manager Anne Marie Mones said she checked with five other towns in the state that have skate parks - Bethel, Greenwich, Guilford, Norwalk and New Haven -Êand New Haven was the only one that had claims against it for an injury. New Haven was not liable and did not incur any costs because the facility had signs warning users to skate at their own risk, Mones said.
Insurance premiums are not expected to rise with a skate park, but Mones said the city could purchase additional insurance if officials are worried about claims and lawsuits. Greenwich, for example, buys an extra $1 million of coverage at a cost of $6,000 a year.Ê
"It's something we would explore," Mones said after the meeting.
Skaters who went to the meeting at the Stamford Government Center last night to watch the vote, such as 12-year-old Matt Anderson, were pleased. Matt, a seventh-grader at Rippowam Middle School in Stamford who has been skateboarding since he was 5, said he usually has to go to Norwalk to practice.
Skater Tim Racho, 27, of Stamford, encouraged city representatives to visit the skate parks in Norwalk and Greenwich and see how they are run.
"It's not something that has to be policed," Racho told the committee. "You'd be surprised how great people treat each other."
Trevor O'Neill, 16, a junior at Westhill High School in Stamford, said skaters get a bad rap.
"People associate people who do this type of activity with menaces and hooligans and, really, they are just people, too," he said. |
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| BillyBonebrake |
| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:36 pm |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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| Approved tonight by the narrowest margin. $310K. Hello Grindline. |
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| BillyBonebrake |
| Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2007 7:36 pm |
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ORDER OF THE SKULL
Joined: 09 Jul 2003
Posts: 7513
Location: The Institute
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| oops double post trying to make it to 5300. |
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