Public Skate Park in Bridgewater, NJ

To:  Mayor Patricia Flannery

We, the residents of Bridgewater, would like to propose that the township build a public skatepark for its residents. Currently, there are no public areas in Bridgewater where skateboarders are permitted to skate. A public skatepark would greatly benefit the community and provide a safe place for skateboarders to practice their sport.
With no place to skate, many skateboarders end up skating in streets and parking lots in harm's way. This is unacceptable. Skateboarding is a recognized sport and continues to grow in popularity. There are more than 10 million skateboarders in the US. With popular televised events such as X-Games and Gravity Games, video games featuring pro skateboarders, like Tony Hawk, as well as a booming industry of over 200 companies that produce skateboarding gear and clothing, skateboarding proves to be more than a fad. It is a legitimate sport that is here to stay. Bridgewater has many young athletes, such as baseball, football, basketball, soccer, hockey and lacrosse players, all of whom have fields, courts and rinks to play on. Yet, Bridgewater's skateboarders have no place to skate. Just like our other athletes in town, our skateboarders deserve a safe place to practice their sport.
There are countless benefits to skateboarding. First and foremost, it is excellent for physical fitness. These days, with the rise in video and computer gaming, we need to make sure our children participate in some form of exercise on a daily basis. To many children in Bridgewater, skateboarding is their preferred form of exercise. But, if they have no place to skate, we are taking that away from them. This puts their health and well-being in jeopardy. Skateboarding is also inexpensive. Some children cannot afford to play hockey or join a pool. Therefore, anyone can participate. Skateboarding promotes self-esteem, builds confidence, provides a healthy outlet for excess energy, serves as a great form of exercise and helps children make new friends.
Skateboarding is not much different than football, lacrosse or basketball with regards to safety. All of these sports are played "at your own risk". With proper equipment, shoes, pads and a helmet, skateboarding actually proves to be less dangerous than both football and basketball. Statistics show that there are more emergency room visits annually for basketball and football-related injuries than skateboarding-related injuries. In fact, most skateboarding injuries occur due to inadequate riding surfaces and poorly constructed equipment. A skatepark would eliminate these types of injures by providing a safe, smooth riding surface and properly constructed ramps and structures, thus making skateboarding in Bridgewater a considerably safe sport.
All in all, a skate park would be a tremendous asset to Bridgewater and greatly appreciated by many residents. We urge you to accept our request and build a public skatepark in town. We are willing to help in any way possible in order to make this happen. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Public Skate Park in Bridgewater, NJ Petition to Mayor Patricia Flannery was created by and written by Katharine Capra (katharinecapra@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.