The purpose of this petition is to garner support for funding of construction of a full sized indoor skatepark facility in Atlantic City, NJ that would be accessible and enjoyable for both skateboarding and freestyle BMX riding. Until very recently, and often unfortunately spurred by a tragedy, even an outdoor skatepark was inaccessible to many residents of Atlantic and Cape May counties without having to drive to thirty minutes to over an hour each direction. Over the last ten years several small outdoor skateparks were constructed in municipalites such as Ocean City, Galloway Township, Mays Landing, Mullica, and Stafford Township. Unfortunately many of those parks are now either closed (Stafford and Mullica), have fallen into disrepair (Barnegate and Patmos in Mays Landing), do not allow BMX (Sea Isle, Galloway, and Ocean City) or will soon become unrideable because of the weather (Goshen Rd in Cape May Courthouse). As many participants of skateboarding and BMX will tell you that there is no set season for riding. Many of us are out day in and day out riding whatever is accessible to us within the confines of the law and to be off of our bikes or skateboards is equivalent to having teeth pulled.
The addition of an indoor skatepark would be a boon to Atlantic City in a few key ways. The first way would be that a skatepark provides an a place for the young people within the city and surrounding area. Next the skatepark becomes an addition to the city as a destination within the respective BMX and skateboarding communities. These two things combine to add another layer to the local economy along with the casinos, the beach, the outlet stores, and the boardwalk.
This is an initial show of support as well as an opportunity for the skate and bike community in South Jersey to carve out a legitimate place for ourselves in the heart of the area.
http://www.petitiononline.com/acsk8bmx/petition.html
