Mother Nature didn’t play very nice at a recent inaugural fundraising event at The Stamp to benefit the Vero Beach Skate Park Alliance, the group working to raise money to build the Vero Beach Skate Park at Leisure Square. It rained again but wasn’t an issue the following Sunday at a special benefit screening of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” at Majestic 11. There are also plans afoot for a family-friendly event in the fall at Leisure Square.
The diversity of the events – with the focus on adults at one and children at the other – mimics the diversity of the ages and backgrounds of the skateboarders, BMX (bicycle motocross) riders and others interested in building the family-friendly skate park.
Chris Warren, owner of Endless Summer Pool Construction and a BMX rider, organized the first event, held inside and in the alleyway behind The Stamp in downtown Vero Beach. Afternoon thunderstorms and drenching rains played havoc with their plans, which included skateboard and bicycle demonstrations and day-long entertainment by six area bands, including Vero’s own punk/rock headliners Spicoli.
Soggy but undeterred, the party went on, with a goal toward raising an initial $100,000 to break ground and eventually $1 million to proceed with the project.
“We do have a conceptual design, but once we raise $100K we can get into the real design phase,” said Warren. “There’s quite a big following. I’ve been canvasing the area for months now and each time I go around, more and more people are recognizing it. Skateboarding was shunned in the 80s but now we’ve got the mayor on board. It’s going to be good for the kids and good for the community. It’s an alternative to team sports; you can express yourself passionately as an individual. Vero has a lot of soccer fields and baseball fields but nothing for alternative sports.”
While they expect the majority of park users will be skateboarders or BMX riders, he said it will be all-inclusive – meaning other wheeled sports such as inline skaters and scooters.
“We’re not going to turn people down,” said Warren. “We will be doing monthly memberships for residents and daily drop-in fees for people from out of town or residents who just want to stop in occasionally.”
The Vero Beach Lifeguard Association is helping the group with its fundraising efforts and allowing the alliance to piggy-back on its 501 (c) 3 status.
“Funding for Leisure Square is tied into the Recreation Department, as are the lifeguards,” said Eric Toomsoo, president of the VBLA.
“Plus we have three boys,” added Samantha Toomsoo of their skateboarding sons.
Proponents claim that skateboarding is the second fastest growing sport in the nation and that, statistically, it’s safer than other sports.
“It’s a sport where you stick to it or you give up pretty fast; it can be brutal on your body,” said Lewis Arnold, owner of Lewis’s New Blood Skate Shop on 17th Street. “You’re giving the sport all you have, but we do this for the love of it. I started at 12 years old and I’ll be 40 next month. It’s a lifestyle.”
He spoke of Johan Stuckey, “born and bred here,” who Arnold first met 15 years ago and who is now a rising star in the sport living in Los Angeles.
“He’s got about 50,000 followers on Instagram; the whole world knows him,” said Arnold. “His following is huge.”
Sebastian has the county’s only skateboard park but as Warren points out, it does not allow bicycles and it isn’t large enough to handle the growing interest.
“We’re basically doing this for our children,” said Arnold.
“We’re bringing something to the community that we don’t have, and it’s something every community should have,” agreed Warren, adding that the interest is there; they just need funding to get it built.
