Newtown Needs A Skatepark

To the Editor:

Skateboarding is a great sport. It has evolved and changed over the last 30 years. Many of the youth here in Newtown, including myself, love to skate. The only problem is that we don’t have a place large enough to skate. In areas where skateboarding is banned, skaters skate anyway and police become involved in some cases. This is why we need a skatepark in Newtown.

Many people don’t think skateboarding is such a great sport. They think it is dangerous and that kids who skate are more likely to join gangs. But there are also good skaters like my friends and me who just want to have fun. We normally skate in each other’s driveways and out in the street. Our neighbors don’t think it is safe nor health-conscious because we don’t wear helmets. We also build ramps and rails out of wood and steel. But that isn’t enough.

Fairfield Hills is a great place to build a skatepark. If my friends and I want to skate in a bigger place with bigger terrain, we have to go to Brookfield or even Woodbridge. There is a place called “AXIS” (Brookfield) which has a halfpipe, a few rails, a flybox and a quarterpipe. Another place called “B-17” (Woodbridge) has a wall lined with quarterpipes, a wall ride area, a huge ramp with two boxes and two rails in the middle, and some very “vertical” terrain. Imagine if both places could be combined and created in a place like Newtown. They would attract many skaters and customers.

Most kids who skate at home, in their driveways, are only exposed to street terrain. If they want to skate vert, or practice both, they would have to pay hundreds of dollars for quality ramps or a quality miniramp for which the material alone would cost $700. Some skaters skate vert, some skate street, and many skaters, like myself, skate all terrain. In my opinion, skateboarding is the sport of our generation.

I think it would be in the best interest of the skaters of Newtown that a skatepark be built in the near future. Skateboarding has been around for over 30 years. It is the sport of many past generations. Just think, if a skatepark is built, then some of the professionals would probably come and skate it themselves. Then the skaters would have a place closer to home at which to skate.

Very truly yours,

Andrew Giannettino

18 Chestnut Hill Road, Sandy Hook       July 10, 2002