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Police meet with residents to work out ongoing problems at Jensen Grove |
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Friday, 25 July 2008 |
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By Richard Toynton BLACKFOOT — The Tuesday evening meeting between police and users of the Blackfoot Skate Park started off somewhat contentiously, but after some argument and discussion, police and bicyclists decided to sit down together to plan how to construct a bicycle park.
 Morning News - Richard Toynton
Blackfoot Police Department Chief Dave Moore listens to the concerns of a boy after 7 p.m. Thursday at Jensen Grove. Keeping the Blackfoot Skate Park and Jensen Grove vandalism-free was the purpose of the meeting between police, park builders, park users, and parents.
More than 40 skate park users consisting of about 32 skateboarders, eight boys on bicycles and about six parents attended the meeting that Blackfoot Police Department Chief Dave Moore organized in an effort put a stop to the recurring vandalism at the skate park and Jensen Grove area.
“The skate park just didn’t fall out of the sky,” Moore said to the boys and girls gathered at the blue gazebo. “The vandalism out here has to stop.”
The park cost $60,000 to build, and efforts to complete it were undertaken by children, their parents, police and City of Blackfoot staff back in 1997 and following years, Moore said.
After the skate park and surrounding areas were vandalized in late June, Moore closed the park for two days. The park closure inspired children wanting to use the park to report the vandals to police, and then Moore met with City of Blackfoot staff to discuss the installation of three security cameras throughout Jensen Grove, including one camera pointed at the skate park.
The cameras are now operational, and Moore said Tuesday that they will help police to identify park users who choose to deface the park and its surrounding facilities.
Moore said he will not allow bicycles to be on the skate park, describing them as a safety liability that the city is not willing to risk. “Only in-line skaters and skateboarders,” he said.
“That’s like saying you don’t accept the liability of kids who break their arms,” a boy yelled in reply. Moore said, “We want to remove anything unsafe from the park.”
He added, “You bikers ought to do what the skaters did 10 years ago,” referring to the cooperation between the Blackfoot Youth Council, police and city staff, which resulted in large-scale fundraising efforts that raised money for the now heavily used skate park.
“It’s harder to raise money now than it was 10 years ago,” a skateboarder yelled.
Bob Marcinko—a man who helped to get the park built by efforts started in 1997, said, “Back then there were less skaters than there are bikers now,” pointing to eight boys on bicycles. “It didn’t happen overnight.”
Bicyclists expressed their frustration in not being allowed to use the skate park facility, to which Marcinko replied, “Earlier this year in Colorado, a skateboarder was killed when a handlebar went into his chest.
“Young kids and families use this park. The city has no money—it can barely afford to keep that park clean,” he said.
Moore said the construction of a bicycle park is possible and the city has land that can be used for such a park.
After discussing possible options briefly, five meeting participants agreed to sit down with Moore and Bingham County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Mark Cowley at a later date to brainstorm fundraising ideas for a bicycle park in Blackfoot.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 July 2008 )
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