Spanish Fork, Utah Skate Park

Since the Payson skatepark was so lame we decided to check out the Spanish Fork park as we headed back towards SLC.

It’s around 400 South and 600 East. It’s by the high school I think. Some sort of school. It looks like it’s actually on school property, out in the back of a big field by the street, and across the street from a park. You want skatepark photos? Go to Concrete Disciples.

Well, first of all, the Spanish Fork park was different, but not much better. Second, it was closed. But I didn’t need to skate it to write a review about it.

The bowls looked lumpy, and the coping was set too far back, so the surface of the bowls stuck out farther than the coping. The spine looked to be about 8 inches wide, and there was one of those four or five inch diameter pipes that cities think look like handrails going down into the park. Oh, and it’s about 20 feet long. That’s great for the pros, but I bet there are very few kids who have been able to slide that thing.

Anyway, it looked very small and pretty lame. Despite the fact it was closed I don’t think I’ll ever go back to try it out. Not worth the drive. Drive up I-15 a little bit and go check out the Springville skatepark.

Why was the park closed? Due to vandalism in the public bathrooms across the street. There weren’t any more details, but the first question that comes to mind is “Was it vandalized by skateboarders, and if so, how do you know?” The bathrooms in public parks in Salt Lake City are full of gay guys getting it on in front of little kids who walk in on them, but I don’t see those parks being shut down. It seems like public attitude towards skateboarders is that at the first sign of anything negative, whether proven or not, just shut everything down and don’t let them skate. This has the following negative consequences for the city:

1. Loss of revenue for local businesses. If I had stayed to skate at the park, I might have gone to a local restaurant afterwards to get some food, or at least a drink at the local gas station, and maybe I would have filled up my tank there too since it was empty. Instead, I just left.

2. The kids will go back to skating on private property since they can’t skate in the park.

3. It breeds negative feelings, since rather than working with the kids and dealing with the situation, they’re just cracking down. You’ve got a hundred kids who skate this park and never do anything wrong, and then you have one or two kids, maybe not even kids who use the park, who vandalize a nearby restroom, and then the park gets closed. The kids to vandalized the restroom don’t care, and the kids who use the park now see the city as their enemy who is unfairly punishing them for something they didn’t do nor do they have control over it.

Public restrooms get vandalized all the time, but I’ve never seen them shut down the park around it, unless it’s a skatepark.