Skateboard ramp may get lasting home in city's Rheingarten Park

Spring Fest organizer Victor Werbin will present a proposal to the White Salmon City Council on the evening of June 6. The concept calls for the half-pipe to be moved from where it currently rests in the old tennis courts at the edge of the Whitson Elementary School playground to an unspecified location within Rheingarten Park.

"If the city is willing to back something for the park, that's easier to do, there are not as many roadblocks as with the old tennis courts, which is on school property," Werbin said. "My feeling is, if that seems to be the consensus, then it's just a matter of choosing the best spot and getting the site flattened out."

Holen said he believed it was a sound idea.

"It would take council action, but I believe the City Council would encourage it," Holen said. "It's a good recreational activity, and I personally support it. Especially since the bogeyman of liability has been sort of put to rest. But it will take an effort by a citizen's group to do it. I see no reason it can't go forward if there is a good effort on the part of kids and their parents."

Werbin added that it would be good to put a roof over the half-pipe eventually so skateboarders could use it during the rainy times.

"The roof can be phased in," he said.

The half-pipe's surface is steel, housed in a wooded frame. It was built by Brian Dennis of Bingen's Insitu Group, and was largely paid for by donations from the Spring Festival Committee and SDS Lumber Co.

"Spring Fest has already put $1,200 into it, and SDS has thrown in about $300 worth of lumber," Werbin explained. "So it's paid for. Once we got it built, we realized what an asset it was."

Werbin added, however, that the wood needs a good outdoor, weather-resistant paint to keep it from deteriorating.

"That's the type of detail work I'd like to see the kids participate in," Werbin said.

According to Holen, the idea is still "in the talk stage."

Currently, the skateboarding equipment is in the tennis courts, and can stay there through the end of the school year.

"But it needs to be moved before school starts in the fall," Holen explained. "The plan is to find a different location. It seems to me that in Rheingarten Park there is plenty of space for a skateboard ramp. The park is underutilized, and that would be an excellent place for it."

Holen said he believes something can be worked out fairly quickly. He pointed out that a member of the White Salmon City Council, Penny White Morris, is one of the organizers behind the skateboarding plan.

"I hope it can be done this summer," Holen said. "It depends on how well he (Werbin) can drum up support in the skateboard community."

Werbin said he was optimistic the project can finally be pulled together in a manner that gives skateboarders a permanent recreational site.

"I think most of what I've been hearing in the community is fairly positive," he said. "Skateboarding is not real loud and obtrusive. We just need to find a spot that works for everybody."