By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Kevin Buchli reaches the apex of a jump, the sort of
stunt that skaters will be able to perform
on ramps at the new Kapahulu Skatepark.
Skateboarders are ready to roll
By Burl Burlingame
with a park of their own—
all they need is $15,000
Star-BulletinPretty soon, under the freeway at the corner of Kapahulu and Harding, kids will be able to launch themselves into space. It's the site of the upcoming Kapahulu Skatepark, a dream of Honolulu skateboarders to have a place of their own to roll. More skateparks may be coming to your community in the future. In the meantime, this one has cleared the biggest hurdle of all -- bureaucracy.
"Because of the location, the city, the state and the federal government all got involved, and then the Diamond Head Neighborhood Board," said Kapahulu Skatepark point man Kevin Buchli. "I'd heard they were a tough board, but I guess they were impressed by our proposal, because they approved it unanimously. Last week we got our last approvals."
Buchli credits East Honolulu parks supervisor Toni Robinson with helping see the project through the bureaucracy.
Now, the skateboarders need money. A fund-raising concert Saturday is a start, and they'll be knocking on the doors of potential corporate sponsors. "We'll raise what we can and get started," said Buchli. "Except for a couple of obstacles, the pieces are all made out of wood and are portable. We need about $15,000, and there's no funds coming from the government. We'll get a dollar from every concert ticket and also sell raffle tickets for prizes that have been donated."
Buchli, a film student at the University of Hawaii, has been skateboarding for 15 years. "It's like surfing, you know, a way to express yourself. I've been doing it so long that I've been dealing with the bad reputation skateboarders have since I was a kid."
He became involved with the skatepark project about a year ago, after a meeting in Kailua to explore the possibility of setting up a skatepark there -- "nothing fancy, just a launch ramp or two -- but we saw the possibility of putting a state-of-the-art facility in. The city got involved and we formed a non-profit organization (the Hawaii Skatepark Association) to manage such a facility. Our business plan was approved by the city."
By George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
All lined up with no place to skate are, from left, Andy Henrie,
Josh Shuman, Richard Santi and Kevin Buchli. Behind them
is the area that will become Kapahulu Skatepark.
Some land was found in Kapahulu, state-owned land underneath the freeway.Also on board is the Central YMCA, which will jointly back the project with the HSA.
Operations and maintenance costs will be borne by membership fees -- estimated at $30 a year -- and use fees -- $2 a day for members and $10 for non-members.
Kapahulu Skatepark will only be open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, with the first couple of hours set aside for instruction. "Until we put in lights, there's no way we can stay open at night. But lights are expensive," Buchli said.
"Nowadays kids skate in school and in public parks. The average kid spends two or three hours skating. A skate park would satisfy that need. The Aala Park facility was designed for roller skating. The only facility that is state-of-the-art in the islands is on Hickam (Air Force Base) and you have to be military to use it."
Patty Nagao, spokeswoman for the city Department of Parks and Recreation, gives credit to Mayor Jeremy Harris, apparently a skateboarding buff, for taking seriously the lack of skating facilities. Harris formed a skating task force, said Nagao.
"Skateboarding is one of the most popular recreation activities there is," she said. "It's not a fad. There's a great demand for this, both for boarders and in-line skaters. We want to construct permanent skateparks in several neighborhoods, and the mayor wanted us to examine the feasibilities.
"We're still in the process of research. There are design considerations -- you don't just put up some ramps. You want it multi-use as much as possible, plus bathrooms, drinking fountains, shade trees and other facilities. So you're talking two or three acres for each site."
"It's good that the city is getting input from real skaters on the design considerations and not having some government worker design skateparks out of his own imagination," said Mike Bremner, a flight instructor and skateboarder.
"I'm really jazzed about it," said Bremner. "It's something that's been in the works for a quite a while. Definitely. It's needed. You've got basketball and tennis courts everywhere, but no skateparks."
Bremner began skateboarding in the early '80s and likes the way the sport stresses individual rather than team effort. "You do it all on your own," said Bremner. "It's very aggressive -- the whole thing is a real thrill. But it's no more dangerous than many sports."
Skateboarder Robbie Gaskell, a television technician, said he likes the "creativity" of skateboarding. "Definitely. There are no real rules. It's an individual thing, and the exercise is great. There's a real camaraderie among skateboarders."
A skatepark will "keep kids off the streets, where they might be doing less-productive activities," said Gaskell. "Skateboarding kept me on the right track as a kid, instead of getting into trouble. Definitely."
Fund-raising concert
Featuring: Suicidal Tendencies, Generic and Unit 101. Plus Volcom pro skaters Chet Thomas, Jaya Bonderov, Kale Sandridge
