Park popularity has been proven, no issues there
By ERIC AVEDISSIAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – A local educator approached city council on March 12 and trumpeted the success of the city’s skateboard park and asked that the facility be given lighting.
Steve Beseris, an Ocean City Intermediate School librarian, said the skateboard park is popular with local youths.
Residents, parents and skateboarders approached council in 2014 and asked that a skateboard park be constructed. A skate park committee was formed and funding secured.
In 2015 the city built a skateboard park for $732,000 in between Fifth and Sixth streets and Asbury and West avenues near the fire station.
“Being in it quite a bit I’ve seen the success in it for the kids and the teens and even in the adults in our community. It’s been a great thing,” Beseris said. “But between working in the school system and being in that park, I’ve seen a lot of individual success stories.”
He said youths have taken on leadership roles because of that park.
Beseris said installing lighting in the skateboard park would allow skateboarders to use the park during the winter when it gets darker in the late afternoon.
“I feel like the infrastructure is there and clearly the interest is there. You can go by on the coldest, windiest, most dreadful day to be outside and there’s always a pack of core kids who are there during the day. Days I would never want to be outside and they’re just going all day long,” Beseris said. “During the winter, the 18- to 30-year-olds have jobs and can’t skate during winter when it gets dark early.”
The skateboard park provides a place for youth to go without causing mischief, he said.
“I know skating is not the savior of everything but if some of these people had something to do, especially in winter when it just gets cold and people gets closed in, it changes it up because there’s a social component to showing up to the skate park and there’s so much camaraderie as well,” Beseris said. “I feel like as a community we do so much right and I think it would just be one more thing we’re doing right to engage that portion of the population.”
Councilman Michael DeVlieger said he’s seen benefits from the skateboard park on youth and their parents.
“I’ve had a kid come up with tears in his eyes and thank me in council for creating the park and giving him the opportunity to become a leader and become accepted amongst his friends,” DeVlieger said. “He went when the park first opened and he really found his groove and he had a following and he became a leader and is off at college now and a success story.”
DeVlieger said he spent many Saturday mornings at the skate park watching the skaters.
“It’s a beautiful thing but just as that young man’s grown up there are other kids too and they might not be on that college track. They might be working,” DeVlieger said. “I don’t know if anyone is asking us to extend the hours. I think it’s just to keep the hours consistent by having the lights in the winter. I think there’s value in that. It’s so well used when it’s open.”
According to Ocean City’s website, the skateboard park is open Mondays to Fridays from noon to dusk. Weekend hours are 9 a.m. to dusk, weather permitting. The park is closed during inclement weather.
Councilwoman Karen Bergman agreed with lighting the skatepark.
“If we could do anything I’m encouraged. I’d have a place for young people to go and keep them occupied even in the early evening that would be a plus for us as a community,” Bergman said.
Councilman Keith Hartzell said he lives a block away from the skateboard park and also supported lights for the park during winter evenings.
“I’m just overwhelmed with the participation there and I think that a lot of people who were initially against it are for it. What we’ve done here in this town for kids is unprecedented with all of the things and all of the activities,” Hartzell said, adding initially there was pushback from some residents on lights at the skateboard park. “I think the kids and the participants there deserve to be rewarded with the lights.”
He said city had previous concerns with injuries, the park’s location and parking, but ultimately the skatepark has “worked out above expectations.”
“The participation level of the folks using it, the orderliness of it, the lack of problems with it and then all the promises that were made by the committee as far as not exasperating parking, not having issues, not having problems – all of that was delivered,” Hartzell said.
Hartzell noted that there should be more activities for youths to keep them away from temptations such as drug use.
“It’s just one more jewel we have for kids. This epidemic we have with overdosing is just tragic and the only way I know to keep kids off of things and safe is to keep them busy,” Hartzell said.
DeVlieger echoed Hartzell’s concerns with providing healthy activities for children and teens.
“Obviously we have all this virus topics going around and things closing and all that sort of thing,” DeVlieger said, referencing the coronavirus pandemic. “I think it’s important that we keep kids busy. Everything seems like it’s getting closed down…. While we can’t maybe congregate in big groups I think every family is going to have to take it upon themselves to make sure their kids are busy because bad things happen if they don’t. Kids are going to be kids and they’re going to find activities if we don’t find them for them.”
DeVlieger said if the coronavirus continues spreading and activities are cancelled and facilities closed, parents need to find activities for their children to “keep them busy.”
“We’ve got a lot of challenges in the coming weeks as a nation. Just think about how we can keep our families active and occupied. I’m concerned we’re going to go a little stir crazy keeping everybody back from doing things,” DeVlieger said.
