By Liam Worcheck Whether it be the media or the image that is etched into the public’s minds by delinquents, skateboarders do not have the best social status. This would lead many to believe that a skatepark would only attract trouble. However, some interesting evidence shows that this may not be true. When the Bethlehem Plaza was opened, calls to the police station about skateboarders went down by 80%. I assume this is because young skateboarders without cars were given an easily accessible, safe, and adequate place to skateboard. When you think about it, that isn’t too much to ask judging by the amount of other sport facilities in this county, is it? While there are too many basketball courts or football fields for me to fathom just around my neighborhood, I can count the number of skateparks in the entire county on one hand. The skateboarding community in and around West Reading deserve a real skatepark. Back in 2010, an ambitious JD Turner opened up the local skateshop Holistic. Both then and now only 3 skateparks exist in the county. His goal was to have this changed by 2024. Now more than ever, skateboarders need a real concrete skatepark. Some may see it as a place of trouble, but we see it as an escape. It all started back when the Bethlehem Plaza was being built. Stonecliffe was falling apart and the skateboarding community didn’t have a ray of hope. Being one of the few skate parks that existed in the county, and probably the largest, Stonecliffe was becoming overwhelmed since it was simply not large enough or built up to standards of a modern skatepark. JD was inspired by the construction of the Bethlehem Plaza and took action. He knew what the skateboarding community needed then and need now. They need a home. The first step is to convince The Borough of West Reading to give us the green light. It sounds easy, I know, but it might just be the hardest part. After several attempts at presenting a suitable place for a park and hoping for a positive answer, JD was denied. The members of the council simply don’t like the idea. Most of the council are against skateboarding as a whole. However, JD stated that he knows three new members that will be running for a spot in the council in a few months. This could provide him the opportunity he needs to hopefully convince the council that skateboarders in Berks County need a deserve a proper skatepark. All of this talk about how a skatepark is necessary and could benefit the community is great, but the real question is, where can we get the money? Well that is a little more complicated than you may think. First off, the whole reason that the park needs to be in West Reading is because it is a lower income area than say, West Lawn. This is because in order to get a large enough donation from groups like the Tony Hawk Foundation, the park needs to be in a low income area. A place like West Lawn would only receive a crippling $1,000 while if the park was in an area like West Reading we could potentially receive upwards of $25,000. This would make a huge difference in the funding. After what the city chips in, the rest is up to the community. When it comes to fundraising, there isn’t really any trick to it. JD’s plan is to start as a private organization and raise money through simple fundraising for a few months. After that he can apply to get the organization turned into a 501c3 Nonprofit Organization. When an organization receives a 501c3 licence, this means they are granted permission to get tax free donations from companies. Once the money is raised, the only thing left to do is find a proper skatepark builder and get tips from the community on what they would like to see in the park. Inequality has and always will be a part of society. Sometimes it is difficult to fix and other times it is easy to leave in the past. The point is that we try. It isn’t very hard to shrug off others based on their appearance or because of your own personal bias, but to be honest, we should all give others a chance. It is an injustice to the skateboarding community in and around West Reading that we still do not have a genuine skatepark, and this issue is one that can be solved with the help of the community.
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