The city of Tamarac was nice enough to finally add a new obstacle to the near 13 year old skatepark. However in their attempt to bring life back to the park, they removed its soul. The black double sided benches have been a staple of the skatepark since it’s creation in 2010. It is by far the best and funnest thing to skate in the entire Broward county area. The new obstacle they replaced the benches with is a mockery and almost insulting to the skaters who have been coming here supporting the park for years. The process that the city went to survey the local park goers was disorganized and in no way could record accurate information. The process was local city workers would come into the park on random days and random times of the day to ask whoever was at the park at that time what they think needed to be added, or in this case replaced. Obviously this process is backwards, how could anyone accurately state what they felt needed to be changed in the park if they aren’t even given a time or date to voice their opinion? Surely they could’ve at least left a flyer saying when they will be coming to record answers again or have someone post about it on the park’s social media so locals would be able to spread the word. Not surprisingly, local Tamarac skaters have been outraged by this change and have voiced their dissatisfaction through Instagram. We aren’t asking for the city to spend more money on a park they obviously don’t care enough about, we just want the old benches back. I personally have been skating tamarac since I was 14 and this change upsets me a lot to say the least. If the city doesn’t reinstall the benches I fear that the skatepark will become a husk of its former self and instead of providing joy to the local tamarac and surrounding Broward county residents, it will just be a sad memory. Please consider all the people who sign this petition as concerned citizens and want their local skatepark to continue being a fun safe space to relax, exercise, and make friends.