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Parks & Rec Business
| Editor’s Note: Occasionally, we run across questions posed by Parks & Recreation professionals regarding policies used by others. We suspect our readers may have some of the same questions, so we are supplying the answers. Here’s one example: QUESTION Hello all, In April 07 we opened our first skate plaza in Delhi Park. The plaza is open with no fence. I’d like to have an understanding of the pros and cons to fencing in the skate plaza and if it is fenced do you charge an admission fee and is it staffed for supervision. Thanks, Sandra K. Monahan, Director Delhi Township Parks & Recreation RESPONSES We just built a skateboard park last spring and we did not fence it. We developed rules and posted them and actually, had very little issues for the initial season. We did have a monitor and chased off kids at night, but the park is located right in our park where staff are present. We have an ice arena. It was used more than our new outdoor basketball court. We charged a $5 ID card that is good from April until October when we close the park. Good luck, Pam Quinn, Director Shaker Heights Community Life Dept. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Glad to see you have opened the skate park! How is everything going? We also opened our skate park without a fence. What I heard from others before we opened is that you want the facility to have a park-like feel to it and putting the fence up sometimes gives a caged feel to the area. We have experienced some vandalism and when it is necessary to close the park it is difficult to do without a fence. Our maintenance staff has pushed heavily to have fencing installed, but I still fight it (although I am starting to warm to the idea). As far as admission fees—I think that is truly a management decision. We look at our park as we do any other park. We do not charge fees or staff it. Our signage basically says skate at your own risk. I would be interested in responses from others if you decided to compile them. Thanks and I hope all is going well for you! See you soon. Kim Conrad, CPRP, Director City of Grove City Parks and Recreation Department --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ours is fenced. We do not charge a fee, nor supervise it (liability reasons). The only con I can think of for the fencing is that the skaters tend to run into it and bow it out. I suggest a heavy gage wire if you are going to fence it in. The only reason we have the fence is because we used skate wave equipment which is very easy to move. We didn’t want it to walk off! Missy Hatch Middlefield Recreation Department We have a fenced skate park (two renovated tennis courts). I highly recommend fencing. It has enabled us to control the hours, and greatly reduced injury and vandalism. We have our park maintenance open it every morning, and we pay a ‘Gatekeeper’ to close it every night. The Gatekeeper also locks our Community Park, which is gated. We do not have a supervisor on site, due to the liability issue. It is my understanding once you charge and provide a supervisor, your liability rises. Gail S. Brahier, Director Oxford Parks and Recreation ----------------------------------------------------- We opened our small skate park in the fall of 2003. It was an open asphalt area that we decided to fence in before we opened the skate park. The fencing gives us the opportunity to close the skate park at our discretion. We did this because we knew we would need to close the park for other events in close proximity due to the noise the skate park creates. Our skate park is right before our athletic stadium and beside our shuffleboard courts and band shell. Therefore, we anticipated that we would need to close the skate park for our summer Sunday evening Band Concert Series, state and city shuffleboard tournaments, and high school stadium events, such as Friday night football games. In our rules we state the skate park can be closed at the discretion of the parks and recreation department as deemed necessary. We do not charge a fee or supervise the facility with a staff member. The reason for this is that our legal counsel informed us that if we charge entrance admission and staff the facility we are assuming more liability for what occurs there. Therefore we have treated it just like any other playground area in our city parks, no fee and unsupervised. Our posted rules at the skate park state this is a use at your own risk unsupervised facility. You may want to consult with your law director on this topic. Please contact me if you desire more details on how our skate park has progressed over the past 4 years. Thanks! Tracey Martin Greenville, Ohio -------------------------------------------------------------- Unless it is a huge regional attraction, I don’t think charging a fee will be in your best interest. Kids will just find the nearest free facility. In our skate park, we have several recommendations for operation and don’t really call them rules. Once you call them rules and you try to enforce them, your liability immunity ceases to exist. Talk to your attorney and check Senate Bill 24 signed by (Ohio’s) governor on July 27, 2001. Enforced rules means that there is an implied safety factor that you may not provide. Good luck. Chuck Malta Wooster Parks and Recreation Manager --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check with your city law director. Our small skate park is fenced but not manned. We lock it after hours. It's skate at your own risk with several signs posted stating that. From my understanding, if it's manned then you're more liable. But again, check with the law director and the city's insurance company. Jeannie Brewer Recreation Director Marion, Ohio ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We ended up taking our fence down because the kids would run their bikes and bodies into the fence. We were fixing or repairing the fence on a daily basis. It finally got to the point where the fence was unsightly and damaged to the point of no repair. The insurance company wasn’t happy, but it looks a lot better and we don’t have any more problems than we used to. I recommend no fence. Good Luck. Frank Gusthoff Elyria, Ohio ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- We have a fence with an open gate to define the skate park so people would not accidentally fall into the bowls. We chose to go with no supervision or fees and posted rules to define the appropriate use. Jeffrey Soiu, Recreation Supervisor Worthington Parks & Recreation Dept |
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