Islanders adorned rubber boots with lace, jewels, plastic bugs and more on Saturday, when they gathered at Books by the Way to “bling” several pairs of rain boots.
Before the group had finished decorating, there was a pair of boots decked out in pink sparkles and feathers, one with duct tape, pompons and heart-shaped gems and another set with a decidedly garden-y feel, covered in plastic grasshoppers and beetles.
The Islanders were blinging boots in preparation for a fundraiser event on April 9, when the boots will be modeled and the winners auctioned off to support the creation of an outdoor skate park at the Burton Adventure Recreation Center (BARC), on S.W. 228th Street just south of Judd Creek. The park currently includes a simple three-jump BMX bike track, a nine-hole Frisbee golf course and an indoor skate park.
Vashon Park District commissioned detailed design plans last year from Grindline Skate Parks, a Seattle company that has designed many skate parks, for an outdoor skate park that would complement the current small indoor skate park, which many feel the Island skate community has outgrown.
“I think that would be really cool,” said rollerblader Molly Dillon, 11, about the construction of an outdoor skate park. Glue gun in hand, she took a break from affixing baubles to a pair of black-and-red rubber boots to discuss the future of BARC. “So I think it will be fun to have a rubber boot fashion show, and the money is going to the skate park.”
“It’s a good park,” concurred biker Oliver Daniels-Pavich, 11. “But it needs a little work.”
With designs in hand, the park district has begun seeking grant funds to help build the outdoor skate park. It received a $5,000 “challenge grant” from the Lucky Seven Foundation — meaning that for every dollar Islanders give to the cause, Lucky Seven will give a dollar, too, up to $5,000. The all-ages rubber boot fashion show and karaoke night at the Red Bike April 9 is the kickoff to what supporters of the skate park hope will be a fruitful fundraising run.
“It is going to be quite a fun, fabulous, wacky Island event,” said parent and BARC steward Shelley Dillon of the April 9 fundraiser.
“I’m sure there will be much hilariousness about the entire evening. … This is a big deal. The inside skate park is great, but it’s so tiny, and they need an outside area.”
Skateboarders, rollerbladers and rollerskaters as young as age 2 use the indoor skate park, said its supervisor, Steve Schrock. At least five people stop by the skate park each day that it is open, he said, but he recalls one recent day when 40 people filled the small skate park, a converted elementary school gym with ramps and rails for skating and couches for relaxing. The creation of an outdoor skate park could draw even more Island skateboarders and rollerbladers to the site, officials said.
“Skating is an alternative to drugs and alcohol,” Schrock said. “Having a good alternative to that is a valuable thing. Also, another positive of skating or skateboarding is that you’re learning a skill.”
He said skaters seem excited about the possibility of an outdoor skate park being constructed.
The skate park designs Vashon Park District ordered show the park being developed in phases, according to how much money can be raised from grants and the community. Phase 1, the least expensive of four phases, costs about $88,000 and would fund the construction of a 2,600-square-foot skateable concrete rectangle, steps, rails and other skateable features. As more money for the project comes in, additional skate features could be added, such as a concrete basin and a large flat paved loop with ramps at some of its edges.
The park district has already spent nearly $30,000 commissioning designs for the skate park and applying for county building permits, said Susan McCabe, the park district’s program coordinator. But now that the park is nearly “shovel-ready,” groups that award funds may be more likely to give money to the Vashon skate park endeavor, she said.
Grantwriter Allison Shirk, who secured the Lucky Seven challenge grant for the skate park, has also applied for a $25,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation and plans to apply for a $25,000 grant from the Seattle Foundation.
“I really love the idea of it being an alternative recreation park,” Shirk said. “There’s so much potential up there that it’s exciting to think about. … I am very committed to this project, and I would really like to see it succeed. I have kids who I think could use it, and I think it is needed on the Island.”
With funds already secured and with materials already on hand, the park district plans to install picnic tables and barbecue pits and improve the bike ramps at BARC this summer, said McCabe. Staff will use stone and wood materials from structures the park district has torn down, such as fences, to improve on the BMX skate park.
Though the park doesn’t appear to be polished, it’s come a long way in the past two years. The Frisbee golf course was once all but swallowed up by Scotch broom, which park staff and volunteers worked to remove in 2008. And skaters, parents and park employees are looking forward to taking the rustic park to the next level by creating an outdoor skate park there.
“This is a community project, and it needs community support behind it,” McCabe said. “It will go to the level that the community supports it. Now we need to decide what our fundraising goal is.”
