Teens lobby Mill Creek for skate park

By Pamela Brice

Enterprise writer

MILL CREEK — We’ve all heard "there’s nothing to do" from kids. But in Mill Creek, it may be true.

So, kids here say the city needs to jump on the skateboard bandwagon. Skateboard parks are popping up all over Snohomish County, but not here — yet.

There is some movement on the issue, however.

If you’re not into organized sports, "there’s really nothing to do," said Trapper Bonham, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Heatherwood Middle School and an avid skate boarder.

The Everett School District has banned skateboarding, skating, rollerblading and scooter use from school grounds, and the Northshore School District has had a similar ban for years.

Several neighborhoods, such as the Vine Maple development, have banned the activity from their streets, too.

That leaves few places for skateboarders to do the sport, parent Doug Bonham said.

"Kids love it, and it’s a wonderful sport," he said. "But when they are constantly being chased off of properties, they take it as an attack on them, instead of a rule based on principles."

The school districts have safety to keep in mind, liability issues and property to protect, said Gay Campbell with the Everett School District.

"We have no one to really supervise or see if someone gets injured, and our property is being damaged by the skateboarders jumping off of benches," she added.

But chasing skateboarders off school property just makes matters worse, Bonham said.

"This is the first issue where these kids come across police and authority. It sets the tone of respect for their lives. Once you treat them like criminals that respect for authorities is broken," Bonham said.

Gabe Oh, teen coordinator for Mill Creek, said the city is not the best place for youths right now.

A recent Community Needs survey indicated that 46 percent of respondents said Mill Creek needs more after-school youth and teen programs and teen evening activities.

"When this community was first developed, maybe it was more for seniors or retired folks, but what they’ve got recently are middle-aged families with kids," Oh said.

Planning activities for Mill Creek kids is a challenge.

"I’ve been here for about a year as the teen coordinator and it’s not the easiest thing when there’s not much to do. A lot of what we do is take trips outside the city to ballgames, Wild Waves, things like that," Oh said.

Oh has organized a new Mill Creek Youth Advisory Board, a group of 21 kids who come up with projects for them to do. He even has a skate park team to help design a future skate park.

Oh said his team is hoping for an 11,000-square-foot skateboard park made out of concrete that would cost a little more than $200,000. They hope donations from contractors and companies could help cut the park’s cost.

Mill Creek community planner Bill Trim said a skate park is a possibility.

"Those type of facilities are in high demand now," he said.

He said the city has just purchased five acres at the northwest corner of Trillium Boulevard and the Bothell-Everett Highway in the Highway 527 corridor.

"We are going to be devoting that to active recreational uses, including a ballfield and maybe a skateboarding park."

Mayor pro-tem Donna Michelson said while the council has not yet talked about uses for the land, she will advocate a skateboard park there.

"It’s a perfect place for a skate park, and it’s a need in this community," she said.

Pam Brice is the education writer for The Enterprise weekly newspapers. You can call her at 425-673-6522 or send e-mail to brice@heraldnet.com.

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