We found out last night at the City Council Meeting that there will be a presentation made by Parks and Rec Director Brian Mancini to City Council on the use of the ARPA funds which is where the money for the skate park derives. As a part of this larger presentation, we are told that Mr. Mancini will lay out 4 options for moving the skate park project forward. From all we can tell, these 4 options are effectively 2 options. Option 1 being to stay with American Ramp Company or Option 2, to finally get competitive quotes from contractors other than American Ramp Company. We feel we have already made clear that we would choose the last option.

We were also contacted by City Manager Ande Banks who respectfully asked to meet with the skate community after the aforementioned meeting and get an idea for how community engagement should look moving forward. We feel as if much of the work we have done to engage Parks and Rec and City Council will prove to be incredibly helpful in being that community engagement the City needs to have with our community, thus leaving us again with what we have suggested all along; again, breach the contract with American Ramp Company and get competitive quotes for a new skate park.

Skateboarding fuses culture, art, athletics and community together like nothing else. To those that truly understand this, they know how important a skatepark can be. Currently, there continues to be no skatepark in Harrisonburg for skaters to share community. The problem remains the same nearly 4 months after the Westover Skate Park was abruptly bulldozed, likewise, the solution also remains the same. We have sent one or more members of the skate community to every Parks and Rec and City Council meeting to reiterate our points and contend with retorts against our reasoning or process. We know we are in the right and we believe that ultimately the members of City Council and the Parks and Rec advisory board agree with us that when building a facility for a community you should absolutely get their input as well as competitive quotes for the job but what we can hardly believe is why that's not what was done from the beginning of the process of spending the ARPA funds on Westover Skate Park. 

All we want is for Parks and Rec and the City to do what was the right thing in the beginning: get competitive quotes for a new skatepark and with community input, which we have given them a heavy and unanimous dose of over the last several months, then decide on which option fits best with our budget and needs in mind. Instead the City remains in a contract with American Ramp Company whom the skate community has been unanimous in their disappointment and distrust due to the kinds of parks they build in addition to the repairs they repeatedly made haphazardly to what was the Westover Skate Park. 

We are hopeful that through our repeated efforts we will push our perspective into acceptance and adoption by the City. Put simply we know what is best for the skate community because we are the skate community. Jesse Hammer of Wonder Skate Shop has operated a skate camp for many years on top of the regions only skate shop and one that is known among the national skateboarding community. Jesse has skated since childhood and traveled the world skateboarding endless parks, diy spots and the streets. In short Jesse has the trust of his community and has proven his dedication to it. We are asking that the City respect this and respect his role as a leader of his community. 

We don't need a long drawn out process to know what the City's next move should be, the City needs to take the steps we have recommended because we don't believe that breaching the current contract will be cost prohibitive and they have yet to suggest it would be either so why wait any longer. After this contract is done away with, we will finally back to square one and in a position to finally get some competitive quotes and work towards the goal of having a skate park again.