PITTSBURGH — Frustrated by strewn garbage and vandalism, Manor officials have locked the gate to the skate park at Lower Manor Park and are deciding what to do next with an area primarily funded by a state grant.
(This article was written by Chris Foreman, a staff writer for Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.)
The popularity of the 7-year-old skate park, which was closed to the public early this month, has declined in recent years, according to some borough officials who say they even question how many of the users actually live in Manor.
What began as a “wonderful” project is marred by some young people who ride their bikes around the skate park or smoke cigarettes, Council President Dawn Lynn said. Council will have to consider the liabilities involved in keeping the park open, she said.
“It's more of a headache and heartache now for what it's turned into,” Lynn said.
Meanwhile, Councilman Jim Morgan said he wants to ensure the skate park is a safe place that is “used for its intended purpose.”
If council were to close the skate park permanently, the borough would need permission from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to alter the site, agency press secretary Christina Novak said. The department gave Manor a $40,000 grant for the project in 2006 through its Community Conservation Partnerships program.
Municipalities occasionally show an interest in converting a grant-funded site for other recreation uses, Novak said.
“We certainly work with communities on that,” she said.
Activity at the skate park has been under scrutiny this summer. The borough's insurance carrier requires borough employees to complete a weekly inspection, while Penn-Trafford Area Recreation Commission director Cheryl Kemerer has done her own every other week.
Kemerer, who managed the state grant for Manor, acknowledged some problems at the park but said she didn't think they were too bad.
The skate park isn't as heavily used as when it opened, but young people still use it, she said.
“Almost every time I went down, people were using it unless the weather wasn't great,” Kemerer said.
But Manor manager Joe Lapia said he thinks borough officials need to take a serious look at what to do with the skate park. A couple of years ago, the insurance company suggested that employees collect signed waivers from users, he said.
On a weekly basis, Lapia said, it is littered with garbage.
Recently, the road crew twice had to repair a fence that had been kicked out.
Sometimes, borough officials would lock the site for a day or over a weekend, but that doesn't seem to inspire better care of the park, Lapia said.
“The more we're inspecting it, the crazier you're seeing things over there,” he said.
(Chris Foreman is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-871-2363 or cforeman@tribweb.com.)
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