TyronePA e-cafe - Tyrone Pennsylvania Community Forum

Did anyone ever think of asking the kids for their input ? A skate park is for them, shouldn't they have a say in what they want. Seems like we have a hockey rink by the pool that gets very little use. Maybe we should talk to the kids first, then decide.

The youth are invited to every meeting. I post flyers in the middle school and high school and have both schools announce the meeting on the morning of that day. They don't care so much about where the park is. They are just tired of being chased off of every sidewalk and parking lot in town and not having a place to go.

Approximately how many kids are there?

80cobra wrote:Did anyone ever think of asking the kids for their input ? A skate park is for them, shouldn't they have a say in what they want. Seems like we have a hockey rink by the pool that gets very little use. Maybe we should talk to the kids first, then decide.

150thBucktailCo.I wrote:Approximately how many kids are there?

I agree cobra.... Aside from the parents, ask the kids... you need their input, not just hear-say from a few !!! Just asking their input would give a good indication as weather or not this is a good idea. If the kids want this bad enough, they (not just a few) will show up at this meeting and they should be interested enough and willing to go out there and do fund raisers, such as... wash cars, sell cookies, etc. to help obtain the necessary funds for the building of this skate/bike park. If you only have a few kids sitting back wanting this to happen, while in the meantime, making no effort to help... forget it, it will be a waste of money.
As Bucktail asked above.... approximately how many kids are you talking about here ?? That is a definite need to know before doing anything. Will it be a big site/little site... indoors all season/outside good weather.... few kids/lotsa' kids ???
Beck mentioned in a post above about the "Big Yank" area... that would be perfect and would draw a lot of kids there!!! What could be in the way for obtaining that building and/or area ??
If a bike/skate park idea is worthwhile somewhere, anywhere, and if the kids are willing to help in seeing it thru, go for it.
Another thing... What if this idea falls through ??? I think most of the above should be known, considered, planned and worked out, in order to get an approximate $$$$ figure before accepting, obtaining, and/or asking, for any donations.
Best wishes and Good Luck in you endeavors in helping/doing for our kids !! I hope you are able to see this through to the max and that you are able to have a "top-notch" skate/bike park.

My personal feeling is that for many years this idea has been talked about in this town. It seems like the idea has gotten old to some of the skaters and bikers because they were excited when this was brought up four or five years ago and then the issue was dropped. So as I have personally spoken to some teens that I see skating and biking, they have said "I will believe it when I see it". I agree that they need to be there and help. I also agree that they need to see that there are some adults that are going to help with the project till the end. To answer you question, there has been meetings with 20+ teens and there have been meetings with 2-3 teens.. They keep hearing the same thing. We need to find a place first. For the last six months that has been the comment at the meeting. I have been involved for six months and we are only $300+ dollars ahead of where we were on a possible $20,000 project.


The question should be how many adults not how many teens.....We have a group of about 8 adults that come to every meeting. It wouldn't matter if there were 200 teens that wanted a skate park. They could not due it without the help of the adults in the community.

When my son was a teenager they were promised a skate park, He graduated in 2000! I also think that once a skate park is opened you will have kids from all different towns coming to skate, thats the way skate parks operate! For that reason I don't think you can really say is there an interest. Its like that movie "build it and they will come"..

Last weeks meeting was postponed to this Wednesday February 27th at 6:30 at the Joshua House. I will post any progress after the meeting sometime. Dont forget about the Fundraiser March 15th tentatively at the Joshua House from 2pm-4pm. Several venders will be there including Leo Sophia, Pampered Chef, Tastefully simple, and Gold Caynon Candles. For more info call me at 684-6083

We are still in need of a place to put the skate/bike park. We will be having a fund raiser on March 15, 2008 from 2-4pm. Several venders will be there including Pampered Chef, Leo Sophia, Tastefully Simple, Gold Canyon Candles, Towne Craft. We are checking on a possible location. The owner was asked and will be getting back to us.

I would like to thank those vendors that came out and set up for the Skate and bike park open house today. It did not go well at all. Two couples showed up and one couple was a friend of one of the vendors. I am very disappointed. I am disappointed that some local businesses refused to post the flyer I personally delivered. Some of those businesses are very quick to call the police on the youth if they are skateboarding on there property. Disappointed that people did not even stop in. Disappointed when you send out 250 mailings for donations and only receive $15,$25,$25, and a $200 donation. Don't get me wrong I am very thankful that some money was donated. There are alot of complaints but the complainers don't want to do anything to help. I understand the youth's frustration when nothing has been done but talking about a skate park for years. Now we are trying to do something and the businesses don't seem to want to support the project. :banghead: We are now looking for someone to sponsor a skate team to come to Tyrone on July 19th during the hoops fest. We are planning to have some local bands play and have a skateboard competition for the local kids. So if someone is willing to put up the $1500 or even part of it, it would be greatly appreciated. Pampered Chef is still taking orders till Friday if anyone would want to order something and the proceeds would go towards the skatepark. Let me know, 684-6083

It occurs to me that unless we get some kids involved in this idea it is not going to go anywhere. You as an adult are trying to build something kids aren't even supporting. Every skater should have shown up and their parents to this event. Why as an adult would I put my money toward something for kids that they don't even support. Get back to us when the kids show some interest.

Like I have mentioned before the youth in the community have been promised a skate park for many years. In the past, the few that were helping quit trying to pursue the project. As a youth I would no longer believe continued talk until I saw something in motion. I don't blame the youth for that. I blame the adults. I also look at the adults in town that complain about the skaters and bikers but aren't willing to assist in this project. There are lots of kids in town that skateboard and ride bikes if you look around. I know some that travel to State College to skateboard at a skate park. Why would the youth stand by something when all that the adults do is talk about a skate park? The youth are not the ones with the means to get the project completed the adults are. If you build it they will come!! There are many youth in this community that have single parent homes and low income. They can't get their parents to support their educations let alone a skate park.

I`ve read the comments regarding the proposed skatepark. My sons and I are active in the skateboard community here in florida. We spend alot of our free time skating the parks that florida and georgia have to offer. There is ALOT of time and money spent in the upkeep of a park.
Somebody posted a comment stating that "if you build it they will come". They are correct. With the world Knowing that Woodward is right over the mountain and the word of mouth in the skateboarding community, they will come. If I can give any advice DO NOT BUILD A PREFABBED PARK!! There are alot of companys out there that will come and slap up a junky park that the kids will outgrow very fast. If it cant be an inside park make sure that its concrete. Meaning bowls, snake runs, and some vert. Good luck!!
MERT

Alright, after reading every single on of the entries for this discussion, I am just going to lay it all out there for everyone.

My family and I moved to Tyrone in September of last year and we live on Columbia Avenue which is adjacent to the Big Yank building. We can literally hit it with a stone out our back door. Long story short, my neighbor Tina and I had been talking about the renovating the building and I have been in contact with the realtor that owns the property. I believe someone mentioned that the buidling could be purchased for $400K, well they were wrong, the buidling is on the market for $590K. BIG DIFFERENCE! That is still a huge amount of money, but I am determined to turn the warehouse into a Community Center for all ages. The center would include an indoor skateboarding/BMX park, a rock climbing wall, and possibly a bowling alley or other recreational activities, with a snack and food area. I also tossed around the idea of having one of those indoor playgrounds for the little ones that they have at like Slinky's or the little McDonald's ones. Having this facility available for the children and teens of our neighborhood would help keep them off the streets and sidewalks. It would also bring the community closer together by giving the residents somewhere close to spend their time and mothers would have somewhere to take or send their children knowing that they'll be safe. Not to mention the employment opportunities the center would create. After speaking with my accountant, I have decided that it would be best to make it a non-profit organization which will make it more appealing to the grantor or donators. This project is going to be costly and as just one individual I am not able to complete this project on my own without help. In fact, I would be relying completely on donations and grants. I feel very strongly about this issue and I would like to make a difference in our community. I am just in the early stages of planning, but I was curious if to see if you had any suggestions for me.

I have emailed Jim Kilmartin, the Tyrone Borough and I'm anxiously awaiting responses from both. I am just so excited to see that there have been quite a few people mentioning the Big Yank building, I thought maybe I was the only one that thought it's 95,000 square feet would PERFECT for something like this! I am thinking about applying for a grant for community improvement, but I am going to need much, much, more help, including additional grants, donations, etc. If any one has any information for me, I would really appreciate hearing from you. If you want to contact me directly, my email is colleen.sward@bajcons.com. Thanks so much!

WOW! That sounds like an extremely ambitious project, Colleen! I hope it all works out well for you...there are so many great ideas , and I am certainly pulling for you to make it a reality, as are all the people on the board! Best of luck to you! :thumb:

GREAT IDEAS Colleen !!! I do hope they ALL work out.. this is exactly what this town is looking for and needs. Best wishes and GOOD LUCK to you. :thumb: