The Case for Covered Public Skateparks

Why aren’t public skateparks covered to prevent wear and tear from sun and rain and to provide kids with something to do when it’s raining, snowing, or too hot outside? Other public facilities are covered or enclosed in expensive, air-conditioned building, why not skateparks?

Case in point, the South Jordan, Utah public skatepark.

If you click through to that page, you’ll see in the second photo a gray building with pillars. This is the SJ public swimming pool. It’s housed inside a two-story, expensive building, which I’m guessing has a climate controlled environment, a changing room with showers, lots of plate glass, lights for swimming after it gets dark, and who knows what else.

It’s not that I’m not grateful for the skatepark. Just about any skatepark is better than no skatepark, even if it’s designed and/or built incorrectly.

But if a public swimming pool has inside an air conditioned building with lights and all sorts of amenities, is it too much to ask that we just put up a roof over the skatepark? Sure, AC and/or heat would be great, but I’d be happy with just something to keep off the snow, ice, and rain, and to shade me from the sun during the summer. I’m not sure what the cost of a large metal roof structure would be, but I’m guessing it might be around $50K. No small sum, to be sure, but how about leaving out a $50K bowl, leaving the area as flat concrete with a few marble benches, and spending the savings on a roof?

You might say that the swimming pool justifies the costs because more people use the pool than the skatepark. But you’d be wrong. Frankly, I don’t know what gets used more, but I know that’s not how they justify the costs. They justify the costs by charging money.

Which begs the question, would it be so bad if public skateparks charged a slight fee? This is where skaters would probably be divided between those who have money and those who don’t. For those who have some income, the idea of a skatepark being less crowded, covered, and monitored to keep out bladers, bikers, and kids on scooters seems worth $10-25 per month. Add an enclosed structure with AC and it sounds even better.

What if some public parks were free, per the status quo (at least in Utah), and others charged and provided a higher level of service in exchange? Everyone gets a choice, everybody wins.

Just some thoughts. Oh, and how about an enclosed, air-conditioned Skate Plaza? Now that would be nice.