.png)
The Miner is publishing stories by Pend Oreille Valley residents about the Pend Oreille Valley. They can be tales, memories, overheard morsels of conversation and/or eccentric encounters but they must be true, and they must be set in Pend Oreille or Bonner County. They must be no longer than 300 words and can be emailed to [email protected] or mailed to 421 S. Spokane St. Newport, WA. 99156 by 5:30 p.m. on Fridays.
NEWPORT SKATE PARK
As you drive through Newport today, you will see a skate park and graffiti wall on the edge of the City Park. Let me tell you about it.
In the mid-1990’s Newport had a police force who had no tolerance for the local teens who loved skateboarding. They weren’t allowed to skate in town, on the side streets, in parking lots or at the school. Pretty much anywhere. The teens decided to build a skatepark here where they could skate and not be in trouble. They talked to the teachers, parents, Rural Resources and City Council.
This began several years of attending City Council meetings, hoping for permission, searching for a location and financing. Many times, things seemed insurmountable. The adults were not for it, one member said he was against it because he did not like how the teens dressed.
The Youth Coordinator at Rural Resources, Mary Sterling, discovered a Community Youth Project, a joint effort where the kids do the work (supervised), the community gets a new park, and the kids gain work experience and school credits at the same time.
Once the site between the park and rodeo grounds was approved, the kids, the community and Rural Resources went to work. The kids did excavation, placed rebar work and poured cement all summer.
Upon completion of the skatepark it was honored as the Rural Resources Youth Project of the Year. Then Governor Gary Locke came to town to meet the group and present the Newport Skate Park for its Grand Opening.
Thanks to this brave little band of skateboarders, this park is still busy and in use today, 25 years later. Loved by skateboarders, skaters, kids on bikes and little kids who like to run up the half-pipes as well as graffiti artists.
- Cathi Rawley
