Skateboarders work for their own playground

Fair Haven restaurant Raven and Peach donates to park plans

Shannon Kelly

The Hub

FAIR HAVEN — Like grown-ups planning the layout of their dream house, a group of skateboarders leaned in close over paper cut-outs of concrete ramps laid out before them.

Moving around the boxes, pyramids, rails and half-pipes — each a different concrete form designed for skaters to do tricks off of — the group of mostly middle schoolers discussed the pros and cons of the placement of each.

"No way!" interjects one skater eyeing a ramp he likes. "These are ‘phat.’ "

The skaters were gathered for their second meeting at the Youth Center to discuss the concrete skate park they are hoping the borough will approve for the basketball court behind the center.

Under the leadership of residents Rob Wallman and Joe Perrotto, director of recreation, the skaters have divided their efforts into three committees, design, fund raising and Borough Council presentation.

The skaters say they hope to convince the council that their idea is a good one. To do so they are going to have to prove to the borough that there is a need, that it is a safe venture and that it will benefit the town. The skateboarders will present their ideas to the council April 8.

To help them prepare, Borough Administrator Bruce Hilling stopped by to prep the council committee on civics and procedure. Hilling will draft a resolution for the group that if approved would be the town’s blessing to study the issue. That vote will take place April 24. All together Hilling said he imagines the study and approval process would take about 60 days.

Amy Pieroni met with the skateboarders and in-line skaters at their Monday meeting to advise the youths about liability issues. Pieroni, of the Danskin Agency, is the risk management consultant for the borough. She is also a member of the Municipal Excess Liability (MEL) Executive Safety Committee. MEL provides the excess liability insurance to all the members of the Monmouth County’s joint insurance fund of which Fair Haven and surrounding municipalities are a part.

According to Pieroni there are about seven or eight public skate parks in the state already, two in Ocean County (none yet in Monmouth). The joint insurance fund has not been charging municipalities a premium for the skate parks but instead is taking a "wait and see" approach toward the risk involved, she said. Pieroni said she knows of only one insurance claim so far from skate parks in New Jersey.

"You guys are in a good position at this point," she said.

The Monmouth County’s joint insurance fund safety director, who is also safety director for MEL, reviews plans for skate parks and advises on any changes that should be made and then gives approval to towns, she said.

Meanwhile, the fund-raising committee is brainstorming ideas to get businesses and individuals to help out their cause. The project, which Wallman estimates will cost about $30,000, got a significant boost this week when the Raven and the Peach restaurant in Fair Haven presented a $1,000 check to the group, which they greeted with resounding applause.

Restaurant representative Jennifer Herminda told The Hub that the Raven’s owner, Richard Bahadurian, contributed to the park project because he is concerned with the children’s safety as they skate all over town.

"It’s better to have them all in one spot," she said.

Though the skaters are known for taking their skateboards into the parking lots of private businesses, Herminda said she doesn’t think they have been a problem at the restaurant.

"Hopefully [the gift] will encourage other businesses," she said.

Helping the skaters to design the park was Tom Gilmour of Red Bank who works for Soul Sauce, the skate and apparel shop in Red Bank.

One of the designers of the Casino Skate park in Asbury Park and a YMCA park in Montana, Gilmour passed along his expertise to the skateboarders.

Sketching out a rough plan he drew in different structures designed for different tricks.

"And you’re going to need something to maintain speed over here," he said showing a group of boys how traffic would flow around the rectangular park, roughly 80 feet wide and 120 feet long.

Interjecting their own ideas and favorite pieces of equipment (pyramids for most of the group), the skaters discussed different layouts to enable them to move from one trick into another.

"This is what separates the good skate parks from the bad skate parks," Gilmour said, "speed and traffic flow."