"What is a Skate Plaza", You Ask?
A skate plaza is a type of skate park design concept that focuses on creating
an unique urban space for a community, that also supports skateboarding.
Skate plazas are built like a real street environment, unlike a traditional skatepark.
Some urban terrain elements that are incorporated into a skate plaza are benches,
rails, and ledges.
Unlike most modern day skate parks, which consist of stark vertical
ramps and half pipes, the skate plaza resembles a public square in a town or city by
incorporating landscaping and art to create an aesthetically pleasing, multi-use park
for the community.
The skate plaza consists of various stair sets and ledges. The stairs range from two
to twelve sets. They also have hubbas (ledges) that go down some of the stairs.
The ground in the skate plaza is extremely smooth for riding.
Marquette needs a centrally located and highly visible facility of its own to keep
skateboarders
from illegally using and damaging city street amenities, including
benches and stair railings. A beautiful skate plaza will help give the youth of
Marquette
a welcoming to safely skateboard.
Want to see the Marquette Skate Plaza plan for yourself?
The Gallery Page Has Photos & Videos Of The Plaza!
Our History & Our Goals
A group of concerned citizends, young and old, got together after hearing a strong
cry for help regarding skateboarding in the spring of 2007. Initially, a VERY large group
of people gathered to voice their concerns from which a committed core group emerged,
who have continued to meet every other week ever since. We have gained continued
interest within the Marquette community, and recieve help from dedicated volunteers.
Through the course of these meetings, plans were developed on what we envisioned
and how to proceed. The core committee then puts its efforts towards putting together
a design process to empower our skating youthto design the park that we, and themselves,
wanted. On the weekend of February 1st, about 20 youth participated in a design and
build process.
The particpants spoke to city experts, questioned skate experts, looked at exemplary
skate parks internationally, explored materials, visited numerous site prospects and spoke
to experts on safety issues for our new skate park. The outcome of the process was an
innovative Skate Plaza design.
After the course of many meetings with city committees and officials, the Marquette
City Commission offered the Harlow Park location for the skate plaza. The group has
developed a definitive fund raising plan which includes foundations, corporations,
individuals, events, and special efforts to raise money for the plaza. Our fundraising
goal is $300,000 with a matching gift of $75,000 provided by the City of Marquette.
There is a strong group of committed citizens, young and old, who continue to meet
several times a month to make thise plan a reality. If you are interested in joining our
regular meetings, please call Nheena Weyer Ittner at the Upper Peninsula Children's
museum: 906.226.3911.
Interesting Statistics About Skateboarding
Researchers at the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill, tracked the behavior of
12,000
youngsters in grades 7-12. They found that, compared to kids who sit in front
of the TV or computer, those who pursued any activities at least five times a week,
including those with bad rap such as skateboarding, were…
More Likely To: |
Less Likely To: |
| • Attend School • Score Good Grades in Math & Science • Have healthy Self-esteem • Help Around The House • Wear Seat Belts |
• Have Sex • Smoke Cigarettes • Get Drunk • Drive Drunk • Use Drugs |
Skateboarding has increased significantly in popularity in recent years, particularly with
widespread coverage of skateboarding in the X-Games.
More and more forward thinking communities are recognizing skateboarding as a legitimate
sport and that it is their responsibility to provide skaters with a safe and challenging place
to practice their sport.
Skateboarding is now the third largest participant sport in the United States.
The average age of skateboarders is between 12-14 years of age, however numbers are
increasing on the side of this age bracket as the sport grows.
Skateboarding and Lacrosse are two of the fastest growing sports among children.
In our area, skaters NEED a place to go, a safe alternative to the streets.
Contact us with any questions or concerns, or even ideas that you may have!
Email us at mqtskateplaza@gmail.com
If you are interested in donating to the building of the skate plaza, please visit our
donate page for more information or click here to go directly to the City of Marquette
website to make your donation gift.