Should Council Have Redistributed Grants Slated for Skate Park? [Poll]
Vote in the poll and/or sound off in the comments.
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Upon learning it had the county's blessing Tuesday, borough council agreed to take $80,000 in county grants initially intended for the creation of a skate park at Walsh Pool and transfer those promised funds to the construction of a barrier-free playground at Berdan Grove.
The skate park, while not abandoned entirely, is firmly on hold until Fair Lawn All-Sports returns to the council with its plans for expanding the organization's footprint at the former Walsh Pool site. All-Sports' preliminary plans, which have not yet received council support, call for building a baseball and soccer field around the skate park.
While several council members said they intend to honor their earlier commitment to relocate the skate park, some residents have expressed outrage at skaters' wishes being deferred in favor of another borough project.
One Patch commenter called the council's decision, "Absolutely not fair to the kids that have been patiently waiting for this skate park," and said skateboarders were being "cheated" and "almost segregated" by the move.
Another commenter, a self-described skaterboarder, said they were annoyed by the council's decision.
"I have been waiting for [the skate park] to reopen and hearing that it won't happen and the funds are going to remodeling a park is just infuriating," the user wrote.
Advocates for the ADA playground argue that the borough's special needs community has been waiting years for a place to play in town and, without one, have been forced to travel out of town due to the borough's inadequately-equipped play structures.
Barrier-free equipment, which might include handicap-accessible swings placed alongside traditional swings or playground equipment that is eye-level with a child who is confined to a wheelchair, can accomodate families that have children with different levels of physical ability.
"[The playground] will be designed to serve ALL of Fair Lawn's youth," Patch user and ADA Committee supporter Jack O'Neil wrote. "Fair Lawn has been at the forefront of supporting citizens with disabilities, and continues to support inclusionary programs and projects."
The borough originally placed the modular skate park at a converted tennis court on 30th Street and Pellack Drive in June 2011, but the set up lasted less than a month before being disassembled as a result of resident complaints.
Last May, council voted to move forward with relocating the skate park equipment, which had been in storage, to the former Walsh Pool site. Designs for the project were drawn up, the pool was filled and the skate park looked like it would become a reality by early fall until council reversed course at Tuesday's meeting.
What do you think of the council's decision to reallocate the funds?
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gonetomahwah
7:28 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
I don't think your poll is accurate. I think the way you worded the questions implies that the skateboarding community and the ADA community are against each other. This is not true. We would like both activities for the children of the community. Please check your poll next time before you post it. Isn't the skate park just on hold until other decisions are made regarding the surrounding roads etc.?? Anyway, please don't try to make the community fight.
Zak Koeske
7:32 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
Thanks for your feedback, @gonetomahwah. My intention is not to pit the two groups of people against one another and make the community fight, but this is clearly a contentious issue where people have varying opinions. I included four options that boil down to 1) Wanting only a barrier-free playground and not a skate park 2) Wanting both, but prioritizing a barrier-free playground 3) Wanting both, but prioritizing a skate park and 4) Wanting only a skate park and not a barrier-free playground. I can certainly add other options to the poll if you'd like me to, but I felt like those provided for a reasonable range of opinions
BellairBerdan
9:37 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
We just had Brookdale playground made 90% ADA compliant, didn't we (Aug 17 2012)? Wasn't the Walsh Pool area, in addition to the skate park supposed to have an ADA playground too...as well as a splash park, community garden, kids, toddler and tot playgrounds and a sand table (Aug 24 2012)? Seems like this is less about ADA vs skateboard and more about All Sports vs the people of Fair Lawn. If they have the skateboarding equipment in storage and the town received all this grant money for it, they should at least find a place to use it.
Jenne
4:38 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
Yeah, I think it's 100% about pleasing organizations-- All Sports and the ADA Committee-- rather than individuals who might use the playground.
One of the things about the skate park equipment was that Fair Lawn was supposed to have to pay back part of the purchase price to the state-- the part that was a state grant-- if it didn't put the equipment up somewhere. So are we paying extra to the state in order to 'preserve' the land for All Sports?
While all playgrounds should have some ADA compliant areas, it does seem interesting that the recently fixed up park is supposed to be ADA compliant (admittedly I'm still trying to figure out how to safely drive there) but there's an allegation that we've been waiting years for an ADA compliant playground and there still isn't one.
Zak Koeske
4:43 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
@Jenne - The skate park grant that would have been lost was a county grant that has now been reallocated to the ADA playground, per an agreement the borough worked out with the county, so the money won't be lost.
Jenne
12:06 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I sure wish I could make it to council meetings to comment. If Fair Lawn didn't have to pay back the skate park equipment money, Fair Lawn could just negotiate with the county to drop it, why did they go ahead and bulldoze Walsh pool rather than negotiating with the county upfront? I'm sure this isn't a set-up, but it sure reads like one.
For that matter, I don't understand why the skate park couldn't have gone in at Memorial, there's plenty of underused space there.
Zak Koeske
12:20 pm on Tuesday, February 12, 2013
@Jenne - The borough had been planning to go ahead with the skate park. They had a design and a timeline for construction and they filled the pool to begin that process. Then All Sports made a presentation about their plan for the space, and not long after that, the council learned the county would honor a transfer of the grant from the skate park to the ADA playground. They were given the options of continuing with the skate park, transferring the funds from the skate park to the ADA playground or abandoning the skate park and losing the grant money. They chose to transfer the funds to the ADA playground and keep their options open on the skate park by waiting to see what All Sports had in store for the Walsh Pool area.