Skateboard Park

julieg@herald-mail.com SHARPSBURG - It appears there won't be a skateboard park in the Sharpsburg-Boonsboro area anytime soon, but Boonsboro's mayor said Monday night it could happen in the future. Sharpsburg resident Steve Harris has been before the Sharpsburg Town Council twice in recent months with a group of youths in an effort to drum up support for a skateboard park. He has said skateboarders think they are being discriminated against because there are no facilities for them.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Over the objections of the owner of a private skateboard park, the Chambersburg Borough Council on Monday night awarded a contract to build one of its own at Chambersburg Municipal Pool. Valley Quarries Inc. of Chambersburg submitted the lowest of the two bids received at $55,344 for the skateboard park and a basketball court. Recreation Superintendent Herb Dolaway said two weeks ago that the facility could be ready by July.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - After complaints from nearby residents about possible noise and other problems from the facility, Charles Town City Council members agreed Tuesday night to move a proposed skateboard park. City officials considered building the skateboard park in Evitt's Run Park at the intersection of Water and West Liberty streets, but some residents said they did not like having such a facility that close to their homes and feared it might lead to a resurgence of drug problems that plagued the park in the 1990s.

Fairgrounds Park covers about 70 acres northeast of downtown Hagerstown. Entrances to the park are off North Cleveland and North Cannon avenues. Two pavilions for family picnics and other events can be rented for $50 by city residents and for $70 by nonresidents. The park has softball and soccer fields; a Little League baseball field; a BMX-style, off-road bicycle racetrack; an in-line skating rink; a skateboard park; a playground; basketball courts; and a one-mile loop trail for walking, running and biking.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Jerry Zeigler, the Washington Township code enforcement officer, informed supervisors Monday night that he met with 15 to 20 people on Aug. 16 about the next step in the township's plans to build a skate park at Pine Hill Regional Recreation Area on Mentzer Gap Road. Other than a few minor adjustments to the conceptual plan, the design for the skate park is near completion, Zeigler wrote in a letter to Washington Township Supervisors. Zeigler said in the letter he expects to have the final plan from ARTIFEX, the California-based park designers, within a week or two, at which time he will send it to the skaters, have the supervisors review and approve the design and then have ARTIFEX do cost estimates on the bids.

julieg@herald-mail.com SHARPSBURG - Sharpsburg resident Steve Harris returned to the Town Council on Monday night to again make a pitch for a skateboard park, but town officials think the project may be too big for Sharpsburg. Many skateboarders think they are being discriminated against because there are no facilities for them, Harris said. At April's Town Council meeting, Harris urged the mayor and council to consider building a skateboard park. Town officials told him and the five boys with him to return after they researched the idea.

City officials asked to read Lehrer novel Kathleen O'Connell, assistant director of Washington County Free Library, presented the Hagerstown City Council and mayor Tuesday with copies of the novel "No Certain Rest" by Jim Lehrer, host of a news program on PBS. She asked city officials to join others in the county in reading the murder mystery set at the Battle of Antietam, as part of Washington County Reading Day, June 7. ...

Fairgrounds Park covers 68 acres northeast of downtown Hagerstown. Entrances to the park are off North Cleveland and North Cannon avenues. New to the park this year are a rental pavilion and basketball courts. The pavilion, which can be used for family picnics and other events, can be rented for $45 by city residents and for $65 by noncity residents. The park has softball and soccer fields; a Little League baseball field; a BMX-style, off-road bicycle racetrack; an in-line skating rink; a skateboard park; a playground; and a one-mile loop trail for walking, running and biking.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The municipal pool at Chambersburg's Memorial Park could have a couple of new attractions this summer, including a skateboard park about a mile away from a privately owned skateboard facility. During Monday's Chambersburg Borough Council meeting, Recreation Superintendent Herb Dolaway said a paved skateboard park measuring 100 feet by 100 feet could be open by July. Bids on the project are due May 18 and will be reviewed by the council at its May 23 meeting.

Councilman wants feedback on skate park proposal HANCOCK -- Hancock Councilman Nigel Dardar said Wednesday he would like to hear feedback from area residents about the idea of turning the tennis courts behind the library in Widmeyer Park into a skateboard park. Dardar said he was impressed by a skate park he saw in Anne Arundel County that looked to have been converted from a former tennis court. He said he would be interested in hearing how many people use the Widmeyer Park tennis courts for tennis.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The Washington Township Police Department was investigating vandalism at the Pine Hill Recreation Area at 12684 Mentzer Gap Road and the Dunlap Family Skatepark that occurred between Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. and Thursday at 5:41 a.m. "A couple of people, we believe, entered the park and went crazy with spray paint," Police Chief Barry Keller said Friday. Surfaces and obstacles in the skateboard park were spray painted, as were signs, a storage building and other surfaces in the recreation area, Keller said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- The Bon Jovi song "Wanted Dead or Alive" blasts from a black Ford Mustang. Skateboard riders mouth the song's lyrics as the pounding sound of skateboards hitting ramps echoes across the park Sunday afternoon. Since March, the Charles Town Skate Park off North West Street has been a refuge for skateboard riders. Before the park was built, skateboard riders took to the streets, loading docks or anyplace else they could find to ride, police and riders said.

HAGERSTOWN -- Officials from Washington County towns shot down a proposal Tuesday to implement a uniform skateboarding ordinance proposed by the Washington County Sheriff's Department as a way to simplify enforcement for deputies. With different rules and penalties for skateboarding in each of Washington County's towns, deputies have difficulty responding to complaints and often are reluctant to attempt enforcement, Maj. Sam Billotti of the Washington County Sheriff's Department told town officials at a meeting Wednesday.

Between catching air on the half-pipe and practicing grinds on the rail, a group of local skaters and BMX riders gave their wheels a rest Sunday to listen to Pastor Todd Stroud talk about God. Stroud began his message by offering one of the guys a Mountain Dew. Then, he asked a question that elicited looks of disgust: Would you still want it if I spit in it? Why not? It's just that one little drop in a whole can of otherwise good soda ... Soon, the New Hope Alliance Church pastor turned the offer into a metaphor for sin and forgiveness, and five of the skaters and bikers expressed interest in starting Bible study classes.

A skateboarder practices a trick on the half-pipe at the skateboard park at Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown in this May photo. The park also has softball and soccer fields, a BMX-style, off-road bicycle racetrack, an in-line skating rink and a one-mile loop trail. Members of the Federal Little League All-Stars celebrate during the Maryland District 1 11-12 All-Star Tournament in this July photo. Federal won the district title and advanced to the Maryland state tournament.

Home of the City of Hagerstown's annual Fourth of July celebration, Fairgrounds Park covers about 70 acres northeast of downtown. Entrances to the park are off North Cleveland and North Cannon avenues. Two pavilions for family picnics and other events can be rented for $50 by city residents and for $70 by others. The park has softball and soccer fields; a Little League baseball field; a BMX-style, off-road bicycle racetrack; an in-line skating rink; a skateboard park; a playground; basketball courts; and a one-mile loop trail for walking, rollerblading, running and biking.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Jerry Zeigler, the Washington Township code enforcement officer, informed supervisors Monday night that he met with 15 to 20 people on Aug. 16 about the next step in the township's plans to build a skate park at Pine Hill Regional Recreation Area on Mentzer Gap Road. Other than a few minor adjustments to the conceptual plan, the design for the skate park is near completion, Zeigler wrote in a letter to Washington Township Supervisors. Zeigler said in the letter he expects to have the final plan from ARTIFEX, the California-based park designers, within a week or two, at which time he will send it to the skaters, have the supervisors review and approve the design and then have ARTIFEX do cost estimates on the bids.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - After complaints from nearby residents about possible noise and other problems from the facility, Charles Town City Council members agreed Tuesday night to move a proposed skateboard park. City officials considered building the skateboard park in Evitt's Run Park at the intersection of Water and West Liberty streets, but some residents said they did not like having such a facility that close to their homes and feared it might lead to a resurgence of drug problems that plagued the park in the 1990s.