Eugene Rotary Club President's Message
2/1/2010 The Haiti Earthquake Helps Remind Us that Rotary is International
1/1/2010 A Painless Resolution: Visit Montreal, Get More Out of Rotary
12/1/2009 The Holiday Spirit: Giving Thanks, Reflecting, and Beginning Anew
11/1/2009 “I can guarantee you, it will make you feel great!”
10/1/2009 How will our Club help build the skate park we’ve been hearing about?
9/1/2009 What is this Skatepark proposal we’ve been hearing about?
Mike Fox, President 2009-2010
My Fellow Rotarians,
From time to time in the past few months, you’ve heard piecemeal from the podium some announcements regarding our Club’s involvement in a skate board park to be built by the City of Eugene. The Board of Directors approved our involvement in concept back in March. Fellow Rotarian Lee White, who came up with the idea and presented it to the Board, has been giving you little snippets from time to time in the hopes of piquing your interest and support.
Only in the last month, however, has the proposal Lee brought to us in the spring been fully fleshed out.
I’m pleased to report to you on the hard work Lee and his colleagues have done. Here’s what it’s all about.
The Skatepark Sub-Committee, working under the auspices of the Community Service Committee, recommended to the Board at its August 25 meeting that the Eugene Rotary Club join in support Skaters for Eugene Skateparks (SES) and the City of Eugene in supporting the construction of a skatepark in Washington-Jefferson Park.
The city has committed $300,000 to the project, and Skaters for Eugene Skatepark is attempting to match this amount. The project is currently in the beginning of the design stage. Dreamland of Portland, Oregon, a skatepark designer has been selected to work up the design.
The Eugene Rotary Club will not be the lead partner in this project, as it was with RiverPlay. Instead, it will assist SES, which is partnering with the City.
The Vision: A year around, safe and exciting destination skatepark to be used by the skaters, the community. and tourists for pleasure and to perfect their skating skills. To expand the richness of the Skinner Butte Park and improve the Whiteaker neighborhood.
Why?
- To provide youth and young adults ages 6 to 60 of our community with a state-of-the-art destination covered skatepark facility, promoting a year-round physical activity that is healthy, safe, affordable, and accessible. -- Skateboarding is a great option for kids who prefer an individual challenge sport over traditional team sports.
- To serve a group that is generally underserved across the country, despite the fact that skateboarding is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. -- In the U.S., there are 110,000 baseball diamonds serving approximately 16 million players while there are only 2,300 public skateparks serving roughly 13-16 million skaters.
- To promote neighborhood revitalization in the Whiteaker neighborhood and draw skateboarders away from less appropriate areas for skateboarding.
- To continue Eugene Rotary Club’s commitment to downtown park sites, RiverPlay and Skinner Butte Park.
- To establish Eugene as a skatepark destination along the I-5 corridor, bringing additional tourism activity to the community and augmenting Eugene’s reputation as a destination for sports and recreation.
- To provide youth and young adults ages 6 to 60 of our community with a state-of-the-art destination covered skatepark facility, promoting a year-round physical activity that is healthy, safe, affordable, and accessible.
Our Club has done a lot for kids in their most vulnerable early years, primarily through the Great Rotary Duck Race. This is an opportunity for us to provide a healthy outlet for kids in another way.
It’s an opportunity as well for us to help the City improve a troubled area of town. As you read in the paper last week, a troubled homeless man was murdered right about where the skatepark will be built. Should this be a problem for us as Rotarians? Absolutely not. The positive influence of skaters in the park will drive out the darkness of the loiterers and miscreants.
I don’t want to say too much about this aspect of it right now, as that will come to you from members of the Skatepark Sub-Committee who have visited skateparks elsewhere.
Suffice it to say that your Board of Directors enthusiastically endorsed this project at its most recent meeting. One Director even pledged $1,000.00 up front to kick-start the Club’s enthusiasm!
I’ve said enough for the time being. But don’t just take it from me. Wait until you hear from other Club members about how positive this will be not only for our youth, but also the City and, of course, our Club.
Next month I’ll bring you up to date on how our Club will be involved in this exciting project.