Skate park idea gaining some favor

But outside funding seen as necessary.

By: David Campbell
   The Princeton Recreation Department is seeking to balance community interests and financial constraints as it explores the feasibility of constructing a skateboard park for Princeton youth.
   The need for such a facility to keep kids safe and relieve damage from skateboarding to property in downtown Princeton and on the Princeton University campus was reaffirmed at the first meeting of a newly formed exploratory committee held about two weeks ago, said Joint Recreation Board Chairman Mike Finkelstein.
   At that meeting, Pam Hersh, the university’s director of community and state relations, reported around $100,000 in damage from wear-and-tear to campus steps and railings over the past few years, Mr. Finkelstein said.
   The recreation board chairman said sports like skateboarding, BMX bicycling and snowboarding have grown by more than 330 percent over the last decade, while conventional sports have seen a decline in growth in the same period.
   "The people at the meeting reflected that throughout the town and university, certainly the merchants and the university would love to see this problem go away," Mr. Finkelstein said. "Kids don’t have an official or appropriate place to go."
   The Recreation Department is seeking to earmark $250,000 in capital funds this year to build a roughly 10,000-square-foot open-air, fenced-in facility at one of Princeton’s recreational sites or parks. There are successful skate parks in Hightstown, Franklin, Hillsborough and Hamilton townships.
   The funding request is subject to review by Princeton Borough and Princeton Township in upcoming budget talks for joint agencies and departments.
   Joseph O’Neill, Princeton Borough Council liaison to the recreation board, told the board Thursday that the state’s 1-percent municipal budgeting cap means that the capital outlay for a skateboard park was unlikely this year.
   "I think to get something like this done within a year would probably be optimistic to begin with," Mr. Finkelstein said. But he noted that the borough and township mayors have been favorably disposed to exploring the skateboard park idea.
   On Thursday, Recreation Director Jack Roberts said that the skate park aside, the Recreation Department had several other important capital requests before the governing bodies and said the governments cannot be called upon to fund a park by themselves.
   Mr. Roberts said active promotion of the idea is needed to raise awareness as well as possible outside funding to make the skateboard park idea a reality.
   Mr. Finkelstein said the task now before the exploratory committee is to poll the community on whether such a facility would be appropriate and, if so, what kind of facility it envisions.
   Committee members are expected to approach neighbors and officials in areas of the township where such a park might be built, such as Hilltop Park near Princeton Community Village or recreational areas of the John Witherspoon Middle School, Mr. Finkelstein said.
   Though less likely, lands near the National Guard Armory and Sewer Operating Committee properties off River Road have also been cited for consideration, he said, noting that talk of locations at this point is "putting the cart before the horse."