Seattle Center staff and C21 to present recommendation on SeaSk8 – TOMORROW

seask8.jpgTomorrow we will find out what the Seattle Center staff and Century 21 Committee recommendation for the SeaSk8 replacement site is, which they will present at the PELL meeting tomorrow.

The replacement for the now-demolished SeaSk8 skatepark was supposed to be constructed before they tore the old one down. Instead, Seattle Center staff led by then-interim Executive Director Robert Nellams, pulled the trigger on January 3rd and sent in the bulldozers without as much as an email or phone call to the SPAC or the Parks Department.

Mr. Nellams defended himself by reminding us that the destruction of the skatepark was imminent, and that they posted signs at the park a few days before-hand. What never seemed to resonate with him or any city staff was the reasoning behind the call to build the replacement before demolishing the old park: the destruction of the community that assembled there. Without a place to go, the kids that used that park on a daily basis would simply lose the foundation of their community, and therefore their union would dissipate. One has to wonder…was this the intention?

Fast forward 6 months and skateboarders are still locked into ongoing discussions with the Seattle Center staff, the City Council (who has been very supportive of skateboarders on this issue), and the Century 21 Committee, who has now unfortunately nudged their way into the conversation.

The C21 website says that they’re a “group of citizens tasked by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to help chart the course of Seattle Center for the next 20 years”, but if you look at the list you’ll soon realize that it reads like a list of current and future stakeholders in the future Seattle Center. Except of course, the skateboarders who have no representation.

This was totally fine with the skatepark advocates involved because it has been clearly outlined by the skateboarders and City Council many times that the skatepark replacement issue is extremely time sensitive and the replacement skatepark cannot/should not be subjected to more public process than it already has been. According to everyone involved, including the skatepark replacement in the C21 process will add a minimum of 5 years of delay to the skatepark’s construction schedule. Of course, this is totally unacceptable because it essentially robs an entire generation of kids from having a safe and accessible place to skate.

Despite the outcry from skatepark advocates, the C21 committee continues to beg the City Council to roll the skatepark into the master plan. Tomorrow in Council Chambers, they will present to City Council their final recommendation for a site location, and within this recommendation lies their intent. If they recommend a site that is currently available and ready to go, then they will not be trying to usurp SeaSk8 #3 into the master planning process and thus delay the skatepark for up to 5 years. If they recommend a site that is currently occupied by a building that must be torn down first, or is a non-starter due to poor site conditions or existing user conflicts, they are trying to delay the skatepark again.

As usual, you can speak your opinion directly to the City Council before they hear the C21’s recommendation by showing up to the meeting and signing up to speak. The meeting is at 2pm in Council Chambers at City Hall, 600 4th Avenue. The skatepark site recommendation is at the end of the meeting, so bring a pillow.

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