Comments on sk8er h8ers

Superfluous and annoying use of quotation marks.

Try again!

It is not the Fisher Pavilion (that was just built btw) being considered. It is across the way at Pavilion 3/4. The older buildings.

Next!

This link will help:

http://www.seattlecenter.com/events/location/detail.asp?VE_VenueNum=590

Oh yes, by all means, these evil parents must be stopped. Their opinions are disturbing and stupid, because they are not in 100% agreement with the Summer Intern and therefore don't support the latest Tragic Teen Trend.

Or maybe they do, but the Summer Intern missed that day in journalism class where they talked about sourcing your quotes.

Nuance, dear, nuance - perhaps there are parents that support skateboarders, but don't want it at their fountain. Or they might have other ideas about the topic of recreational skateboarding than those sanctioned by The Stranger.

It might even be possible to have an opinion about public art that isn't officially sanctioned by the the good folks at Pine and 11th.

THINK about what other people might think, and ASK them about it. Broadcasting your simple-minded and half-baked opinions is just TOO Frank Blethen.

I actually like the fountain where it is.

I didn't know it was called the DuPen Fountain, but that has always been one of my favourite corners of the Center. I don't "use" it, I just enjoy it. But apparently the Unpaid Intern thinks its only utility is as a swimming pool for kids. And clearly the Unpaid Intern was hoping to find nobody in there so s/he could say it was totally unusued. But people were using it, so s/he had to say they probably don't use it much any other time during the year. Lame. Why did you bother doing this "research" when you've already made up your mind about something?
The fact that the fountain is a perfectly intact, 45-year old example of modernist public art, and a beautiful one at that, doesn't seem to bother the Unpaid Intern in the least. Cause, you know, the Stranger staff desparately wants to sk8rs to like them. Cause sk8rs are cool and the Stranger staff are a bunch of losers trying to be cool, I guess.

I'm a skater hater. I think that if you have been through puberty...you have no business being on a skate board. I hate the fact that have no respect for any one who is not on a skate board. Why should the city build a skate park at all?

Parent here. I like skate parks. Those parents will too, when they realize their kids will eventually want other fun things to do besides peeing in a fountain.

"if only to show that politicians aren’t all scummy liars"

This sentence is terrible. I have officially stopped reading your posts. The End.

I agree with Catalina; why paint parents as NIMBY simpletons? I take my kids to that fountain frequently, yet I also support Vera and skateboard parks. Why? Because when they get older, I want them to have safe places to do fun stuff instead of skateboarding down the middle of the street in heavy traffic or turning into mall rats.

I like the fountain. I hate parents. I liked the blog post. Build the skate park somewhere else.

This post reads like one of Schmader's sixth grader "I Anons". Just how old are these interns?

Give the intern a break and stop acting all superior. We all had to start somewhere.

He's not an intern, but he's reporting like one. It seems he interviewed one person and made sloppy assumptions about the rest.

First: Get off the intern's back, for God's sake. The drizzle has some of you feeling a little pissy this morning, apparently.

Second, a story: I remember one year they turned that fountain into a beer garden at Bumbershoot. It was the single best time I've ever had at Seattle Center. The weather was sublime, the beer was cold, and wading dunkenly around the pool was fantastic. Why should this area be given over to little kids OR skate punks? How about letting us older kids have it?

"On the 350 days of clouds and rain, I doubt anyone will miss the DuPen swimming hole."

350 days? How many years have you lived here? Because that's just simply not true.

Maybe people just like the fountain. You'll never know until you ask them. Back to Journalism 101 with you, unpaid intern.

You fail.

If you don't skate, you can't relate.

Leave it to us.

and Yars, dont be a dickhead

there's 200 fucking baseball diamonds in seattle and not one proper skatepark - you played baseball as a kid too? skaters make a very successful living off of people like you. Chances are you are wearing shoes or shirts designed or owned by pro skaters / surfers.

bobcat@18: So only skaters should have any say as to where the park(s) should be located? Good luck on that one. Even the mayor has to work with different parties.

I believe Jonah isn't an intern, he's actually getting paid to complain. Lucky dog.

The problem with the DuPen site isn't because the are is ugly (Jonah's big argument), but that it's not large enough. This isn't some neighborhood skatepark. This will be a defacto regional skate facility and it needs to be treated that way. The old site was 8,900 square feet. This site is squished between Vera and the Key Arena and a big walkway. So basically, the skaters and the walkers will be getting in each other's way at this site. It's too small.

So talk about that, Jonah. And do some interviews!

#18, don't you want a proper park, not a fake work-around?

Actually I'm not "wearing shoes or shirts designed or owned by pro skaters / surfers" because they all suck.

In fact the best shirt that I own says, "Skateboarding isn't a crime, but it SHOULD be."

If you want a skate park get your mommy or daddy to buy you one, but don't demand one from the city. I think that the city should spend its money on more important things like say roads, or mass transit, or bike lanes, or really ANYTHING else.

yars was hurt by a skater, back to eating and weeping.

boy there Yars - you sure hold quite a impressive punch with such a bold statement on your shirt. How much did you pay for that? $20? haha.

I've been skateboarding for over 25 years. I pay taxes. Skateboarding saved my life - coming from a broken home. Skateboarding is a great activity and you don't need to call up 12 other people in order to enjoy it, like other 'team' sports. Skateboarding can be enjoyed by all ethic groups and all age brackets by men and women alike. Skateboarding is pretty much the most coolest thing in the world and we don't need to have people with cool shirt slogans like you to remind us of that.

Reading the comments here makes me realize that the majority of non-skaters and "others" who aren't directly involved with this process don't have a fucking clue...

Skaters don't want the DuPen site.

It's 25% smaller than the last park (which was smaller than the previous)...Visibility and safety at this location are big issues...It's another temporary fix at best, since the C21 Plan for Seattle Center will likely displace the park again in 3-5 years.

The relocation process for this park, alone, has been going on for over 2 years!! The replacement park was originally to have been sited and under construction BEFORE the old one was destroyed, per the Gates Foundation purchase agreement. Tens of thousands of dollars were spent in identifying a new site(s)...Yet here we sit--no new park, no old park and half-assed options that NO ONE WANTS.

I'm personally glad that this option is facing resistance.

Skaters have been marginalized in this back-ass-wards city for 20 years, while tennis courts, baseball fields and "open space" go unused on a regular basis.

This entire bureaucratic nightmare has been like watching monkeys fling poop--amusing yet stinky and unproductive.

Keep your kiddy-pissing-pool, your Bumbershoot-beer-drinkin-hangout, your 45 year old piece of art...give skaters what they deserve:

A visible, adequately sized, safe, well-designed and well-built facility in which to excercise, socialize and enjoy.

That is all.

I used to eat lunch regularly at that fountain for a year or two. I chose it precisely because it was DESERTED. I knew on any given day I could take my sandwhich there and likely be one of only 2-3 people using it, if I didn't have it entirely to myself. Often the only people I saw was a person or two passing by to go to the ticket booth.

Isn't the fountain site a little small for a skatepark?

"No matter where the city builds a skate park, someone will be displaced."

As if skaters have not been displaced TWICE in a city of, er ummmmm Two skateparks per how many people in residence? Gimme a friken break.

Wherever the new park is built, it will be used way more than the space was before. Portland is in the process of building 19 (nineteen) skateparks, three already completed. Why can't our uptight city can't build one?

Yars, don't hate what you don't understand. A lot of people enjoy the things they discovered in there early youth through their golden years.

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