Skate Park Probably Not in Strongsville's Future

A few years back, a group of kids -- with their parents -- gathered signatures on petitions and launched a fundraising drive to get a skate park built here.

The effort fizzled. And it has never been revived.

"We've visited that idea a number of times in the last 10 or 15 years," Council President Mike Daymut said. "We even came up with a plan to put it on property near the rec center."

But in these economic times, the city is struggling to maintain what it has, Daymut said, and isn't looking to build a skate facility.

"At the moment, I don't think it would be a priority," he said.

The issue came up recently when Strongsville Patch published a story about the to replace others that will eventually be dismantled for an .

One Patch reader responded that the city needs a skate park, not another pool. 

"Strongsville teens travel to Brunswick, North Royalton, North Olmsted and Lakewood to have fun," Ralph Technow wrote.

He also noted that when teens ride in parking lots, they are chased away.

Another reader argued, though, that skate parks attract "punks."

Councilman at large Joe DeMio said he would support a skate park -- if money was available -- as long as it was in a high-profile location.

"If we had the funding, I'd like a place where kids could skate and be safe," DeMio said. "But whether it is successful and safe depends on the location. You can't put it in a place where people can't see it."

Daymut said that in a recreation survey done about a decade ago, residents said they wanted an outdoor pool more than a skate park.

He also liability insurance on a skate park could be expensive.

Still, he did not rule it out if residents were able to raise money for the facility.

Brunswick dismantled its skate park not long ago because the wooden equipment, originally used in an indoor facility, was deteriorating and no longer safe.