Warren seeks skate-park locale

The mayor said Warren will have the advantage of learning from other communities’ mistakes.

WARREN — Mayor Michael O’Brien is looking for a third and fourth possible location for a skateboard park for the city now that a site in Perkins Park has been rejected.

O’Brien said he learned Monday that a site just south of city hall and a short distance north of the Warren Amphitheater and the new VIP Inclusive Playground has been rejected because groundwater has been detected a short distance below the surface.

That means the location would not be suitable because of the amount of weight that the site would have to hold for concrete and skate-park equipment, he said.

The site formerly contained exercise equipment.

O’Brien said he has a couple of other locations in mind and will be checking into those during the course of this week.

The park was originally intended for vacant land on Mahoning Avenue near Packard Park that formerly housed Turner Middle School, but people living near the site complained to a city council committee, and O’Brien went looking for another site.

The park will be placed on a concrete slab 40 feet by 80 feet. It will contain quarter pipes, a grind rail and a miniramp. These are pieces of equipment on which to ride a skateboard. Around it would be an 8-foot-wide oval track for roller or inline skaters and a fence to keep people out when the park closes.

The city obtained a $75,000 federal grant in 2004 to pay for it.

O’Brien said the park will move skateboarders away from the World War II Monument near Courthouse Square, the downtown sidewalks, the steps in front of St. Mary’s Catholic Church and St. Demetrious Hellenic Orthodox Church, and the Amphitheater — places where they are not allowed to skateboard.

Both the former police chief and the acting police chief have recommended that the skate park be located in an open area where police officers could monitor the activities of the skateboarders.

They warned that putting the park in a remote location, away from observation would lead to vandalism and other problems.

A three-year-old skate park in Struthers was closed Aug. 9 because of profanity and other problems experienced by neighbors living nearby. Officials have asked the Mill Creek MetroParks board to consider allowing the city to move the park to Yellow Creek Park.

O’Brien said he realizes there’s potential for problems when Warren opens its skateboard park, but one of the advantages of being “one of the last” communities to open one is that Warren will learn from other communities’ mistakes.

runyan@vindy.com