Skate board parks will remain open

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 9:29 a.m.

Saying they did not want to punish a lot of law-abiding young skateboarders because of the criminal activities of a few bad apples, Las Vegas City Council members took no action Wednesday to shut down skate parks.

Instead, the council voted unanimously to simply accept a report from the Skate Park Safety Coalition that says there is violence, drug use, curfew violations and vandalism at some of the 10 city skate parks.

"We are not about the business of closing skate parks," said Barbara Jackson, the city's Leisure Services Department director and a member of the coalition. "We want to provide a safe environment."

The council said it will work with the coalition and law enforcement officials to weed out troublemakers and improve conditions at the parks for the skateboarders, in-line skaters and BMX bike riders who properly use the facilities.

Some people attending the meeting felt the council should have taken a tougher stand.

Businesswomen Mary Hayes and Rita Abramson of the Seton Academy, a day-care center adjacent to Garehime Heights Park, which has a skate facility, painted a picture of a serious public safety problem at that site.

They told the council of an incident in which four teenage skateboarders beat a parent with a skateboard so badly that the man had to go to a hospital, and others in which older kids routinely stole skateboards from smaller children. They also said vandalism and drug use was evident.

"It's just a mess," said Hayes, who has operated day-care centers for more than 40 years. "Help us out."

She said that because there are so many other large skating facilities in the area, the Garehime facility would not be missed if it were shut down.

Councilman Larry Brown called the incidents of crime and violence "a sad commentary."

"We struggle with balancing a few bad apples ... with the fact that these parks with a skate element serve a lot of good people," Brown said.

He said the council could re-examine the Garehime facility, but that it would be better to correct problems there so that the children who initially wanted that facility could enjoy it as it was intended.

"We don't want the good element to be punished by the small group," Brown said.

Earlier this week city officials said they did not want to permanently close any of the skating facilities.

Skate Park Safety Coalition members said the report was intended as a wake-up call to parents and youths to help Metro Police and city marshals identify and arrest violators.