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Tuesday, October 20, 2009 9:57 PM CDT
OUR VIEW: New skate park adds to quality of life
By the JG/T-C Editorial Board
editorial@jg-tc.com
The City of Mattoon has expanded its recreational opportunities with the opening of the new Roundhouse Skate Park.
Located at the corner of Logan Street and Shelby Avenue, the facility has concrete ramps and other surfaces for skateboarders and BMX bikers. The complex is on land that is part of the former site of the New York Central Railroad roundhouse and repair buildings.
The Roundhouse complex already is home to youth baseball and softball fields, a Junior Football League field and T-ball fields.
Grant money from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, along with city funds, were used to complete the skate park. Those funds also will go toward other improvements at the roundhouse complex — new soccer fields, parking improvements and a perimeter walking path around the entire athletic facility.
Mattoon has long been known for having top-notch baseball and softball facilities. Later, new facilities for other youth sports, such as soccer and football, were added.
Still, for the last few years, local skateboarders were forced to scout the city for the best places to ride.
Customers in the midtown area know that skateboarders were regulars on sidewalks in front of businesses.
The former Young Radiator plant and Immaculate Conception Catholic Church were among other favorite locations to skate.
Now, skateboarders and bikers can be proud to have their own place to play — one with concrete stairs, rails, ramps, launchers and grind edges on smooth concrete.
City planners took their time to research exactly the kind of skate park they wanted.
They reviewed parks from around the nation, and invited youth skateboarders to participate on the committee making the decisions.
The result is a top-class park of which the city can be proud. The new site has drawn not only local skateboarders, but many from out of town, as well.
Mattoon officials should be applauded for recognizing the need for such a facility, for securing the funding to build it, and for showing local youth that they realize the need for a skateboard park is as essential to the quality of life in Mattoon as the city’s many other parks and athletic facilities.
— JG/T-C Editorial Board
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devilishangel61401 wrote on Oct 21, 2009 1:02 PM: