Lumberjack Days skate ramp a platform for permanent skatepark push

Stillwater’s current skatepark, which is out by Cub Foods, has fallen into disrepair, and is difficult for a lot of young skaters to access. Nicole Hause, a professional skateboarder who grew up in Stillwater, and who spearheaded the initial push to get a new park built, has praised the city for building something for skaters, but has pointed out flaws in the execution. “They didn’t use the right kind of concrete,” she said, “so it’s too rough to skate on.” Over the years, the surfaces at the old skatepark have crumbled and weeds now grow through in places.

On Saturday afternoon, Hause and fellow pro-skater Clint Peterson, now retired, who also hails from Stillwater, along with Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski, spoke in front of the ramp about the need for a new Skatepark in Stillwater.

It was part of a ceremony honoring the memory of Gordon Brewster Bartel, a local skater who died last fall at the age of 44. Members of Bartel’s family, including his brother Ian, who also spoke, were on-hand at the emotional event. According to all of the speakers, Bartel had an incredible impact on the skateboarding scene in Stillwater.

Bartel’s family moved to Stillwater from Kodiak Alaska when he was a boy, after his father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty. In Stillwater, skating became a refuge for him, and he went on to mentor generations of young skaters, including Peterson.

Mayor Kozlowski recalled Bartel as the first person he ever saw ride a skateboard down Chilkoot Hill, something Kozlowski said he could never bring himself to attempt. “If people want a skatepark,” Koslowski said, “they have to let City Council know, and we will make it happen.”

The issue of a new skatepark in Stillwater, one in a more central location, like downtown, has been discussed by Council in the past, thanks in part to the efforts of skaters like Hause, and though support may not be universal, it’s very much an open issue. According to Ryan Collins, who represents Ward 1, “The current skate park has run its course, I’ve had numerous people reach out to me over the years about needing something better. I like the active engagement regarding a new park. City staff was directed to locate some potential sites for a new skatepark location, I’m excited to see what they come up with.”

At the Lumberjack Days ramp, supporters of the proposed park, including many members of Bartel’s family, collected signatures and sold t-shirts to raise money for the project, which is roughly estimated to cost $250,000.

Paul Creager, one of the organizers of Lumberjack Days, who regularly highlighted the skate ramp’s addition to this year’s line-up, said he thought the movement was building momentum, and that he hoped the presence of the ramp at last weekend’s festival helped push things forward. “It’s like a relay race. Nicole got things started with the fifty-yard dash, and now the baton is being passed to the people who will carry it further, and further till it reaches the finish line.”

Now the skate ramp is gone, packed up and taken somewhere else, but the effort to have something downtown, a permanent place for skaters in Stillwater to go, continues. A petition on Change.org currently has 275 signatures on petition, which is just over halfway to the goal of 500.

Bayard Godsave is at bayard.godsave@apgecm.com