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Some neighbors don't want park They fear smoking, drugs, foul language By BUFFY POLLOCK CENTRAL POINT - If you build it, they will come - and that's exactly what some neighbors of Central Point Elementary School are afraid of. They fear a skate park proposed for a site near their properties would attract dozens of teenage skaters accompanied by smoking, drugs, alcohol and foul language. "And lots of noise," said Bush Street resident Mary Palmer. "We are adamantly against that thing being built so close to our schools and our homes." Benefit scheduled A skate board competition to benefit the proposed Central Point skate park is planned for 1 p.m. Sept. 15 at the PremierWest parking lot across from the Skate Asylum in Central Point. Skaters will be divided into three groups: 12 and under; ages 13 to 18; and 19 and older. Sponsors are Alien Workshop, Globe Shoes and Toy Machine. Entry fee is $5. The proposed site is 3.7 acres next to the school, which is bordered by Bush and Second streets. The property, recently appraised at $579,500, will become available once maintenance buildings and sports facilities are relocated as part of a $29.8 million bond project to build and renovate schools in the district. "The school district sure didn't say, when we approved the bond to fix up the schools, that they were going to sell old property to build a skate park in our neighborhood," Palmer said. "We've got quite a few seniors on our block, kindergarteners walk to school ... younger kids would get harassed by older kids, homes would be vandalized, (there would be) parking problems. There's just a lot of us on this block that don't want to see this thing happen." Eighty-year-old Helen Wollersheim, who lives in the neighborhood, agreed. "We all wrote and told them (City Council members) how we felt. Boys older than 12 have no business unsupervised on the grounds of an elementary school. We don't want this area to become a slum again. "All us neighbors have spent thousands of dollars fixing this place up, and now they want to put something like this in. And you can't get away from the drugs with those teenagers," she said. But skate park supporter Mack Lewis said the only thing anyone needed to get away from was prejudice against the younger generation. Lewis, who helped organize a committee in February to find a site for the skate park, argued that skaters have been getting a bad rap for too long. "The bad rap," he said, "is to be had by the community for labeling skaters. "My question to these neighbors who don't want a skate park is, 'You don't want kids, or are you worried about legitimate reasons like noise and parking?' "Because I can handle legitimate concerns," said Lewis, the father of two skaters. Lewis said the skate park will be positioned to have minimal noise impact on the community. Parking won't be a problem because the site will include its own parking lot, he said. "But if these people just don't want kids in their neighborhood, well, then, that's just wrong. ... "Kids, particularly teenagers, are really low on the totem pole. Which is even more reason they need a place to be," Lewis said. He added it was unfair to associate skaters with drugs. "A kid on a skateboard can't be intoxicated because riding a board takes skill. These are kids doing something that requires them to stay clean. And it's not just teenagers. It's little kids, too. Anyone who's gone to the Medford skate park and watched has a totally different opinion about skate parks. "They're all helping each other, and I haven't heard of any complaints. No one seems to have had any problems." But Palmer insisted the Medford facility at Bear Creek Park is a completely different situation. "Of course no one complains about Medford's skate park," she said. "It's by a cemetery and a fire department and a park, not in someone's neighborhood." One neighbor, however, sided with the skaters. "I think it would be great. Kids are over there anyway. I mean, come on, it's a school," said South Fifth Street resident Dena Bucher. "They need something. Years ago, they could play ball in the gym, but they can't even do that anymore. They have to be somewhere, and with a skate park, at least people would know where their kids are." City Administrator Jim Bennett said city and school staff will continue negotiations over a purchase price for the land. If an agreement is reached, Bennett said, the property could be used not only for a skate park, but for city maintenance facilities and, eventually, a community center. Bennett said animosity toward the project was unfortunate. "It's really too bad. I'm sure there are always going to be people out there that are going to feel that way. Sometimes they change their mind, you never know." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.