An Open Letter to Crossville Skaters
There have been a lot of questions lately about the skatepark: why it's there; who I am; why do we have rules; etc. I thought that this might be a good time to address them. For those who don't care, just skip to the last paragraph and find out what's next. For everyone else who is bored or does care, here we go. I'm sorry this has to be so blunt, but attitudes and actions of skaters and volunteers over the last few weeks compels me to respond.
First, a little history. When I arrived in Crossville in April 2003, Crossville had nothing to skate. Axis skate shop had gone out of business, Knoxville's skatepark had closed down and the closest real skatepark was 6th Ave in Nashville.
My kids liked to rollerblade in the city skatepark we previously lived in, so I thought wouldn't it be great to get the city of Crossville to build one. So, we began to hold meetings almost two years ago to get the city to build a skatepark and to try and organize the skaters of Crossville/Cumberland County and those interested in pursuing this cause to do so. After about a year of meetings, some fundraising which netted about $1500 and a lot of signed petitions, I realized that the city was not going to pay any attention to skaters (they told us as much) until we obtained our 501C3 tax deductible non-profit status. About that time the folks at Cumberland Worship Center graciously offered to rent part of their parking lot to put in a temporary park until the city built a public one. In 2004, we built a pyramid with that money and paid off other administrative expenses involved with the long and arduous task of obtaining 501C3 status from the IRS.
In 2005 we received notice that we had been granted our 501C3 status. That meant that we could solicit donations from public and private entities and they could get a tax deduction. We could also apply for grants. Unfortunately, 501C3 status came with a price ($500) and a change in skatepark direction which the board members at that time agreed on. That change was this: As an organization, we could now spend no more than 3% of our time lobbying for a cause with the government. That meant that our original focus of getting the city to build a skatepark had to be scaled way, way back to keep our 501C3 charter. The new focus of the Crossville Skatepark Association became and still is to educate, inspire and encourage youth through the sports of skateboarding, BMX and rollerblading. Youth is defined by the IRS as anyone under 18. Thus, if you are over 18 and a part of the skatepark, you are a volunteer. This is an important distinction. For those 18 and older, the temporary park, our activities there and everything in between is not for you. It is for those under 18. You can skate, you can mentor, you can help, you can build, etc., but the focus is not on you.
As soon as we got the 501C3, I began to apply for grants. We received several. This money was put into new ramps for the skatepark, administration and maintenance. The reason being, how can you encourage, inspire and educate youth through these sports when you have no legal place to skate? So we built a half-pipe and are now completing a quarterpipe. But we are out of money to do any additional building or maintaining, so we'll have to go back to fundraising mode.
The majority of our future funds will go into 2 things: a fence around the skatepark and insurance for the association. Those items cost $2500 and $2500/annually respectively. We also would like to resurface the ramps with Skatelite or Ramptech. That could cost anywhere from $1200 to $2500 depending on the material. And then we have other needs like programs, events, teams, etc. we'd like to hold. All this requires money which we don't have yet.
So, why didn't we just wait until we had all the money and then build? Well if you've come out and skated what we've built more than once, then you have the answer. Baby steps.
Now, on to a few other matters less pleasant. First, I appreciate all those who have worn helmets without whining. Thanks too for everyone who has picked up trash and kept the place cleaner than it has been. I do want to address those who have not. If I've told you to wear a helmet, not smoke at the park, wear a shirt or follow any of the other rules once and you continue to ignore it, I'll ask you to leave the park. If there is a habit of doing this, I'll ask you not to come back…ever. If there is a general trend of breaking park rules, I'll close it for good and haul the ramps to the dump. Saying "I forgot or I don't have a helmet yet" will no longer be an excuse. And if you think that I'm not serious, please try me. Some have and I've thrown them out for good.
I'm going to say a few things here most skaters won't like, and that's okay.
- We have rules at the skatepark. They will be followed by everyone. If you don't want to follow them, don't show up at the park.
- I'm open to suggestions. I've even tried some of them (both good and bad). But at some point I have to make decision about materials, budgets, etc. I may not choose yours. Don't whine at me. Get over it.
- I make mistakes. You do too.
- As this is not a park built by the city, someone has to take responsibility for everything that goes on in the skatepark and Association. That person is me, Frank McClung, President of the Association. I answer to Cumberland Worship Center. I answer to the law. I answer to the school. I answer to your parents. I answer to the public. I answer to myself.
- I don't care about the skater lifestyle, whatever that means.
- I don't distinguish between "real" skaters and other skaters. Everyone is playing on the same level field.
- I won't tolerate griping, complaining, whining for long. About 1 minute is it.
Now that the nasty stuff is done, here is where we are headed:
- We're going to finish the quarter pipe with the money we have left.
- We're still working with the city for a public park in the new soccer complex.
- We're going to have a skate competition sometime.
And that's about it from my end.
Keep the hope alive,
- Frank
First, a little history. When I arrived in Crossville in April 2003, Crossville had nothing to skate. Axis skate shop had gone out of business, Knoxville's skatepark had closed down and the closest real skatepark was 6th Ave in Nashville.
My kids liked to rollerblade in the city skatepark we previously lived in, so I thought wouldn't it be great to get the city of Crossville to build one. So, we began to hold meetings almost two years ago to get the city to build a skatepark and to try and organize the skaters of Crossville/Cumberland County and those interested in pursuing this cause to do so. After about a year of meetings, some fundraising which netted about $1500 and a lot of signed petitions, I realized that the city was not going to pay any attention to skaters (they told us as much) until we obtained our 501C3 tax deductible non-profit status. About that time the folks at Cumberland Worship Center graciously offered to rent part of their parking lot to put in a temporary park until the city built a public one. In 2004, we built a pyramid with that money and paid off other administrative expenses involved with the long and arduous task of obtaining 501C3 status from the IRS.
In 2005 we received notice that we had been granted our 501C3 status. That meant that we could solicit donations from public and private entities and they could get a tax deduction. We could also apply for grants. Unfortunately, 501C3 status came with a price ($500) and a change in skatepark direction which the board members at that time agreed on. That change was this: As an organization, we could now spend no more than 3% of our time lobbying for a cause with the government. That meant that our original focus of getting the city to build a skatepark had to be scaled way, way back to keep our 501C3 charter. The new focus of the Crossville Skatepark Association became and still is to educate, inspire and encourage youth through the sports of skateboarding, BMX and rollerblading. Youth is defined by the IRS as anyone under 18. Thus, if you are over 18 and a part of the skatepark, you are a volunteer. This is an important distinction. For those 18 and older, the temporary park, our activities there and everything in between is not for you. It is for those under 18. You can skate, you can mentor, you can help, you can build, etc., but the focus is not on you.
As soon as we got the 501C3, I began to apply for grants. We received several. This money was put into new ramps for the skatepark, administration and maintenance. The reason being, how can you encourage, inspire and educate youth through these sports when you have no legal place to skate? So we built a half-pipe and are now completing a quarterpipe. But we are out of money to do any additional building or maintaining, so we'll have to go back to fundraising mode.
The majority of our future funds will go into 2 things: a fence around the skatepark and insurance for the association. Those items cost $2500 and $2500/annually respectively. We also would like to resurface the ramps with Skatelite or Ramptech. That could cost anywhere from $1200 to $2500 depending on the material. And then we have other needs like programs, events, teams, etc. we'd like to hold. All this requires money which we don't have yet.
So, why didn't we just wait until we had all the money and then build? Well if you've come out and skated what we've built more than once, then you have the answer. Baby steps.
Now, on to a few other matters less pleasant. First, I appreciate all those who have worn helmets without whining. Thanks too for everyone who has picked up trash and kept the place cleaner than it has been. I do want to address those who have not. If I've told you to wear a helmet, not smoke at the park, wear a shirt or follow any of the other rules once and you continue to ignore it, I'll ask you to leave the park. If there is a habit of doing this, I'll ask you not to come back…ever. If there is a general trend of breaking park rules, I'll close it for good and haul the ramps to the dump. Saying "I forgot or I don't have a helmet yet" will no longer be an excuse. And if you think that I'm not serious, please try me. Some have and I've thrown them out for good.
I'm going to say a few things here most skaters won't like, and that's okay.
- We have rules at the skatepark. They will be followed by everyone. If you don't want to follow them, don't show up at the park.
- I'm open to suggestions. I've even tried some of them (both good and bad). But at some point I have to make decision about materials, budgets, etc. I may not choose yours. Don't whine at me. Get over it.
- I make mistakes. You do too.
- As this is not a park built by the city, someone has to take responsibility for everything that goes on in the skatepark and Association. That person is me, Frank McClung, President of the Association. I answer to Cumberland Worship Center. I answer to the law. I answer to the school. I answer to your parents. I answer to the public. I answer to myself.
- I don't care about the skater lifestyle, whatever that means.
- I don't distinguish between "real" skaters and other skaters. Everyone is playing on the same level field.
- I won't tolerate griping, complaining, whining for long. About 1 minute is it.
Now that the nasty stuff is done, here is where we are headed:
- We're going to finish the quarter pipe with the money we have left.
- We're still working with the city for a public park in the new soccer complex.
- We're going to have a skate competition sometime.
And that's about it from my end.
Keep the hope alive,
- Frank