LIBERTY Township skateboarders look forward to daily grind at park

The skatepark will take up 5,400 square feet of Church Hill Park and skaters won't have to pay to use it.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- The township administration and skateboarders have gotten their heads together to plan a park.
June Smallwood, parks and projects coordinator, said the skateboarding facility will be built in Church Hill Park off Belmont Avenue by Vertical Skateparks Inc. of Youngstown.
Jay Brundege, Vertical president, said it will be the first such outdoor facility in Trumbull County. The best part is, it will be free.
Hubbard has an indoor skateboard facility where customers pay.
Brundege said he has constructed similar parks in Jefferson County and in Salem in Columbiana County.
Smallwood said the first phase will be built in about a month, and the township is applying for a state grant to complete the second phase next year.
Smallwood said skateboarders have been moving park picnic tables and skateboarding atop them in Church Hill Park.
Local skateboarders were put in touch with Brundege to design a facility.
Funding: Liberty Township Park Improvement Committee has donated $5,000 and trustees have given $5,000 toward the facility. Vertical Skateparks is donating $5,000 labor.
Township administrator Darlene St. George has submitted an application for a $32,589 Nature Works grant administered by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Of the total, St. George said, portions will be used at Church Hill Park for erosion control, landscaping and to buy bleachers and benches.
Another portion will be used to build the second phase of the skateboard park. Smallwood said the facility will cost a total of about $40,000.
The park will cover 5,400 square feet with various types of ramps and rails.
Liberty skateboarders Paul Serroka, 18; Matt Peshek, 17; Ashley Hoff, 15; and Sunny Smallwood, 15, June Smallwood's daughter, say they are looking forward to the facility.
Serroka and Peshek are accomplished in the skill, and Hoff and Sunny Smallwood have been skateboarding for only a year.
Reactions: The girls said they skate mostly in their neighborhoods and don't hear complaints, but Peshek said his experience has been that "people get angry and threaten to call the police."
Skateboarding is not as easy at it looks because only professionals are shown on promotional videos distributed by skateboard manufacturers.
The sport does have its downside.
For example, Serroka has sprained his ankle about 15 times.
Skateboarders also have their own language.
A gap is clearing a barrier. Grinding is sliding on the board rather than its wheels.
The four teens realize that skateboarders from outside Liberty will want to use the skatepark.
They say they're willing to share.
yovich@vindy.com