Why does Newburyport even bother to have a hundred thousand dollar skatepark if they just keep it closed half the time?
Newburyport Public Skatepark is a beautiful, free, outdoor concrete skateboard park. It was built by some of the best in the business and has obstacles and lines for everyone from the beginningest beginner to the most advanced pros. It makes spending time in Newburyport, MA worthwhile. When I'm here I prefer to spend my afternoons at the skatepark and my evenings with family and friends. It puts my chi in a good position. Alot of other people I know too--the park (and skateboarding in general) provides the services that those of us who can't afford a therapist rely on. It's where we go to blow off steam. Arthur's usually pissed but look at how happy he is in this photo taken at Newburyport:
That's some sick shit right there, and he has the right to do that everyday. But the city officials/people in charge of maintaining the skatepark and its rules are clueless as to what this park actually is, and built it on school property with a locked fence, only to be open when school is NOT in session. I understand this logic. Given the city's history with Cashman Park Skatepark and their interactions and perceptions of skateboarding drawn from there, they wanted to pull in the reigns a bit when building this park. They didn't want padless lurkers, stoned wayfarers, and wanderlust wayfucker mucking up the city's new investment. I get it. Skateboarders are a rowdy bunch and you don't want to give them seemingly unnecessary freedoms. (God forbid skateboarders are allowed to feel comfortable at a skateboarding facility--amidst the sea of jock practicng and pta jetsetting).
Putting a skatepark at a school is abit like putting a bar next to church. Sure, the school's presence will stop us from drinking beer (will it?) and we'll all wear helmets and skate when the gates are unlocked, but we WILL rub off on your children. If you don't want t your children to become individuals and possibly dirtbags, don't let them skate. This is a culture built on individual freedom and breaking of social norms. Why you want the stalwarts of this lifestyle on top of cheerleading practice and bakesale planning is beyond me.
Today when I went to the park at 3PM when school's out, it was locked. I was infuriated. If you're going to lock this shit up and post times when it is available for use, please adhere to these times. I was at the park one time when it was closed and I was bummed, but not as bummed as the guy who showed up fro Houston, TX to skate. He was in Boston on business and saw NBPT SK8PRK on the internet and it made his wheels itch. Yay! That's what it's for! But when he showed up to ride, the park was gated and locked, presumably because some Turkey Hill would be jock city-designated "skate attendant" decided it was better for him to go home and play videogames rather than open the park.
You put the park at school, the kids treat it like a class--that's ditchable. They're spoiled. They grew up with this concrete park in their schoolyard since 2000 when my friends and the skaters before us were thrilled to have the chance to skate a yellow-painted curb, let alone orgasmic concrete transitional nirvana.
I realize skateboarding has become "safe" "cool"--gentrified. But can't we at least follow the stupid rules we set up for skateboarding--i.e. open the park when you say you will--when theyre should be no rules at all. football practice belongs at school. bakesales are to be monitored. Skateboarding is not.
Class Dismissed.
