Edge skate park: Good for business?

Incidents of criminal mischief cause businesses to question venue’s value

Troy Brakefield, Staff Writer

For most people, the Edge at Allen Station Park provides a great spot for kids — and some adult kids — to try their hands and feet at some new tricks, maybe perfecting a new grind or even learning a kickflip for the first time.

But for some people who have businesses close to the park, some of the skaters may be performing some activities outside the Edge.

Since the park opened in June of 2005, some locals have complained the youths going to the park have caused an increase in vandalism in the area between McDermott and the Edge.

For more than a decade, Alyce Bolowskie has owned and operated Exclusively Before and After, a daycare on Boyd Street across the street from the library and diagonally across a field from the park. Prior to the park’s opening, she said the most trouble she had was an occasional beer can found on one of her buses. But since then, she has experienced several instances of vandalism.

A window of her building was broken and the front doors jimmied. A bus was spray-painted. A fire extinguisher was set off on a bus and first aid supplies were broken into, tape was strewn across much of the bus. Multiple seats on a bus were slashed. And several windows have been broken.

“We’ve reported most of them, but we’ve gotten to the point where my son said ‘I’m just not going to report them any more mom,’” she said. Bolowskie admits her buses are so old that she has quit carrying full-coverage insurance on them, and every time something happens, it comes directly out of their pocket. There have been so many incidents that her family has given up trying to repair all the destruction. The financial hardship — an estimated $5,000-$6,000 dollars in damages — is too much for their small business to cover at this time, she said.

Ronald Rodenbaugh, a local business owner and one of the sons of the former mayor, said his family’s warehouse was “tagged” with graffiti by someone who “liked Metallica, but misspelled the lyrics.” He wondered if the spray painting wouldn’t have happened if teenagers weren’t cutting through downtown to get to the park.

“I can’t totally tie it to that, but it seems to have increased since it (the skate park) opened,” he said.

Rogers Signs owner, Robert Rogers, agrees. He says the area did not have as much of a problem with criminal mischief before the park opened. He also said another concern was the safety of the ones darting through traffic on their boards and inline skates.

“I just think somebody along the line is going to get killed, and I guess somebody’ll clamp down on these skateboarders,” Rogers said.

Several of the business owners recounted tales of watching teenagers throw rocks at windows or break into the buses at the daycare, noting that they would call the police, but the kid had “disappeared into the skate park” by the time law enforcement arrived.

Another business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, said that when the park opened, there was a police presence there “every night until it closed.”

“They don’t do that anymore,” the owner said. The individual also said it was understandable since the police can’t be everywhere, but that “they were taking action now.”

Various business owners said although they were frustrated by not having someone arrested for the damages, they understood the reality of the situation.

Police officials say they have their hands tied, since they can only arrest someone caught in the act or with witnesses that can make a positive ID. According to police reports, there were 15 separate acts of criminal mischief reported in the area in the past year. But Chief Rushing, who said he was unaware of the amount of incidents, has said he would see that the situation was taken care of.

The park was made possible through a bond package and a grant through Texas Parks and Wildlife.

According to city officials, the Parks and Recreations Department does not maintain a staff for the skate park due to liability reasons and because a major concern in the park’s design was to keep the facility free.

Parks and Recreation Director Tim Dentler said the park doesn’t have any more incidents of bad behavior than “you would expect at any other park.”

The Edge was built as part of the master plan for Allen Station Park, which was in place for a number of years before it was built. The city purchased the land and approximately 12 years ago and established a “rough sketch” plan for it soon after, according to Dentler. He also said there was no other place for the Edge at the time they built it.

In recent years, the city has redeveloped the area north of McDermott, spending millions on its older downtown area with the help of a tax increment financing district.

One of the spots seeing activity, albeit slow and steady, is the Allen Heritage Village. The site is a collection of historic buildings under the care of the Allen Heritage Guild although they stand on land owned by the Parks and Recreation Department.

Some residents have expressed concern the buildings and their contents could be damaged by vandals.

“Oh yes, I’m scared,” said Pamela Ross, president of the Allen Heritage Guild. Ross said some of the buildings have already been damaged by “idle hands” and fears of what else could happen concerned her greatly. One of the treasures she spoke of is the collection of stained-glass windows with the names of some of Allen’s founding families still in the windows of the old First Christian Church sanctuary. The guild members have not yet removed the plywood from the windows.

“They’re irreplaceable,” Ross said.

Parks department’s officials have obtained extra lights and say increased traffic from the expansion of St. Mary’s Street “helps a little with additional security.”

Although he doesn’t defend the actions “of anyone who has done something wrong,” Dentler stressed sometimes people jump to conclusions because of how the youth at the skate park dress.

“Sometimes it causes people to react in a negative manner,” he said. “We want to continue to encourage them (the skaters) to use the park. We’d much rather have them at the park than have them on the streets doing the skateboarding elsewhere.

“To us, that’s been the success story of the park,” he said.

Editor’s note: During the research for this article, the reporter witnessed three youths skating on streets, coming from between cars parked on the side of the road where oncoming traffic could not see them in the downtown area. Later, one of the boys caused damage to the property of a local business. The reporter took pictures of the youths and called police after notifying the business owner.

A police report was made and the reporter was able to identify the youth for the responding officer. The officer did not follow the reporter to the skate park to identify the youth. The boy told the reporter that said it was his first time “to do something like that” and that he didn’t know why he did it.

Police officials have said the boy was later arrested and charged for damaging the property.

Contact Troy Brakefield at 972-398-4484 or tbrakefield@acnpapers.com.

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