by Amber Roerick
Imagine feeling the adrenaline that rushes through one’s body as they nail a kickflip, heelflip, frontside or backside 180, or a pop shove-it. For those who know what those terms are, and why they cause adrenaline rushes, their excitement may increase after they hear the news from Sartell City Planner Anita Rasmussen.
About nine months ago, Sartell City Council members authorized the formation of a Skateboard Park Advisory Committee to begin raising funds for a new skateboard park in Sartell’s Pinecone Central Park. A number of plans have been drafted for the park, and the city council actually suggested it be in Pinecone Central Park, Rasmussen said.
Pinecone Central Park, which consists of about 70 acres of land, is under construction. The skateboard park would provide another amenity besides the park’s sports fields, which are now being prepared.
So far, the idea for the skateboard park has been discussed only at a few meetings. Plans for the park have been passed on to the Skateboard Park Advisory Committee, which is comprised of members who would possibly use the park and who have begun to plan strategies for fundraising.
“I believe if the right funds are collected, the skateboard park could be a great thing for the Sartell community as it has been in other cities,” Rasmussen said.
Skateboard parks have been a success in surrounding cities. For example, organizers of the St. Cloud Skate Plaza raised more than $100,000. That was in addition to a $50,000 donation from Mike Johnson of the St. Cloud Morning Optimist Club. The idea for St. Cloud’s Skate Plaza came from St. Cloud teenager and skateboard enthusiast Austin Lee, when he pitched his idea to the mayor of St. Cloud in 2006.
Funding for a skateboard park in Pinecone Central Park is in the hands of the advisory committee. If enough funds are raised and allocated, Sartell residents may soon see young and old skateboarders kickflipping and pop-shoving to their hearts’ content.