Hawaii County has taken another step toward building a skate park in Hilo, but members of the skating community remain skeptical.
Last month, the Parks and Recreation Department hosted a meeting with Grindline, the largest skate park design and construction firm in the country, to brainstorm different ideas for a park and to get input from the skate community.
About 70 people attended the meeting, which began contentiously because the Hilo Skateplaza Coalition has been actively trying to get a public skate park built in Hilo since 2008.
While Grindline is working on designing a skate park for Hilo and developing a price for the park, the county has requested an environmental assessment of the land for the proposed project, which is located across Manono Street from the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The cost to build the skate park hasn’t yet been determined, but at about $75 a square foot, a 15,000-square-foot facility would cost $1.125 million.
“Right now, we are waiting for the design consultants before there can be a set price for how much this will cost,” Maurice Messina, Parks and Rec director, said last week. “We are working with county funds to complete the environmental assessment, and community groups should be fundraising at the same time.”
During the meeting last month, Messina told the crowd that the public would need to raise an unspecified amount of funds to get the skate park built. The amount of funds needed will be determined by the final cost estimate provided by Grindline.
County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy believes that asking the community to fundraise for the park is misleading and misguided.
“There is no policy or rule that requires the public to raise this money. If that were the case, every sport would have to raise money for their own parks,” Lee Loy told the Tribune-Herald last week. “There is funding available right now. That is not a barrier as to why we can’t get started.”
Lee Loy said she has been talking with a couple people from the skate community about different sponsorships, grants and partnerships that could help expedite funding.
“It comes down to the administration needing to execute the project. For some reason, it seems this one community (skaters) has been singled out,” Lee Loy said. “There is funding, private and public partnerships available, and a passionate group.
“There is nothing in the way other than the will and the intention to (build) this skate park,” she added.
According to Lee Loy, former Councilman Dennis Onishi put aside $50,000 meant for the skate park, but the new administration might be unaware of the funds.
Lee Loy also is pushing for the use of some of the county’s “fair share” funding — money from impact fees — to help pay for the cost of the park.
While the county makes some headway in the long-awaited project, many of Hilo’s skate community are waiting to see action before getting their hopes up.
Tyler Tsubraya has been skateboarding in Hilo since 2000 and has been a witness to the many attempts to build a public skate park in his hometown.
“To be honest, I don’t care for the political build up anymore. Hopefully, it gets done, but I want to see it happening,” Tsubraya said. “All of these other towns have skate shops, skate parks, and we have nothing here, and there are more skaters now than there ever have been.”
Tsubraya wants to see a central location where young skaters can work on their skills, showcase their talents and be part of something that will help them stay out of trouble.
“All of us are products of our environment, so if you don’t give people a place to do what they love to do, people will rebel, make illegal builds, or trespass to skate,” Tsubraya said. “Skating is a main outlet for so many low-income kids who can’t do team sports. Sometimes, it’s the only positive thing in someone’s life, and they don’t even have a place to do it.”
Jessica Tolar was part of the Hilo Skateplaza Coalition for years, but has since taken to the sidelines while still supporting those fighting for a park.
“The county put this on us and gave us unattainable goals from the start,” Tolar said. “No one else has ever had to fundraise to get a park. We are losing faith in this, because we’ve been over this time and time again.”
Tolar believes a park would help put the skating community of Hilo on the map and give young skaters more opportunities to grow and be recognized for their talent.
“We are at a disadvantage to everyone on the mainland, because these kids can’t get exposure for their talents,” Tolar said. “We’re all passionate about this, because these kids deserve a park where they can have chance to be contenders in a worldwide game.”
According to Lee Loy, the project is intended to be a multipurpose, family-friendly community space for skaters and nonskaters alike.
“We have every reason to dream big and do what we can to pursue this project and get it done,” Lee Loy said. “This is not just a skate park, it’s a community center that will benefit everyone.”
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com