An Update: Saturday, April 17th, 2010
On Thursday, April 8th, there was a meeting at The Earth House here in Indianapolis, regarding Indianapolis' Skatepark(s). I took a few mental notes of what went down, to keep everyone up to speed. Here goes:
- First of all: The Earth House ain't exactly "easy" to find. You've been warned on that one. It's inside the church on the southeast corner of New York and East Streets, not far from downtown. The entrance to The Earth House is from an alley, behind the church (accessible from New York St.). It's a nice place, though. Very comfortable, very welcoming. Very boss place to have a meeting. Thanks to whoever runs The Earth House, for having us. You rule.
- There were about 20 people at the meeting. Mostly, older skaters from Indianapolis, and surrounding areas. Oddly, nobody was there to represent either of Indy's "core" skate shops. Weird…
- The meeting was organized by Sarah Gore, from The Project School… a charter school, and a nonprofit organization. Nice gal, she is. She'd done her homework, and I like that. She even had the Peter Whitely/Skaters For Public Skateparks "Skatepark Development Guide" on her, at the meeting. Boss!
- The goal of this group is (almost exclusively) to get a brand-new skatepark built in Indianapolis. The basic ideas are to locate it in King's Park, at 21st. St. and The Monon Trail… that it would be a free, public concrete skatepark… that it would be approx. 5000 to 7500 square feet (about 1/3 to 1/2 the size of Major Taylor)… and that, the primary funding would come from the Tony Hawk Foundation.
- I asked Sarah specifically after the meeting, how much of our/her efforts are aimed at saving Major Taylor? Her answer was that, about 90% of their efforts were geared toward building a new park, and maybe 10% would be aimed at saving Major Taylor. I found this to be kinda curious, as it'd be way more cost-effective to save the [bigger] skatepark that we've already built and paid for… but, what do I know…?
The plan, at this point, is to meet on a regular basis (about once a month), and keep moving forward on this "new" skatepark. The next meeting hasn't been announced yet, but I'd encourage everyone to show up for it. Until then, the "Support The Skatepark Day" is on Saturday, April 24th (the rain date is on Sunday, the 25th), and Sarah will more than likely be there (I hope she is, at least!). Hit her up, ask some [good, smart] questions, and by all means, get involved! It's your skatepark, man. Be a part of it.
A week or so later, I ran into "The Guy that looks after Major Taylor" (Eric Bose). We all know Eric, aka, "The Guy", because he's always there, re-painting the transitions, taking care of the place, or giving skateboard clinics to little kids. Yeah: That Guy. Anyway, Eric actually knew the 411 on what's up with Major Taylor! Thank God that someone does…
The word is that, yes, Major Taylor is definitely going to be sold off. Currently, there are two prospective buyers for it: Marian College (Who's wacko president is publicly on record as saying that "God spoke [to him], and told [him] to destroy the skatepark"… wtf?!)… and, a not-for-profit organization called The 913 Group. Now, the 913 Group is dedicated to keeping Major Taylor open, as 913's mission is kid-mentoring, and other youth-outreach types of stuff. Which would be an awesome sort of group to get our beloved skatepark, as they'd actually appreciate it, fund it (gasp!), and maybe even expand it someday.
At this point, we can only hope and pray that the "right" dudes get it. Eric will probably show up on the 24th for the "Support Major Taylor" shindig. I'll tell ya one thing: That Guy deserves a hefty pat on the back, for all he's done for Major Taylor.
Maybe we all outta show some appreciation for his hard work over the years, and offer buy him lunch or something. It's the very least anyone could do for the dude.
In the meantime, we'll try to stay on top of events as they transpire. Wish us luck.
