Palmer skaters to get a park

August 27, 2006

By JOEL DAVIDSON

Frontiersman

PALMER - Skateboarders in the city of Palmer won't need to worry much longer about being chased away from parking lots and storefronts in their never-ending quest for the next extreme skating challenge.

At the Tuesday Palmer City Council meeting, Mayor John Combs said the dream of bringing a skateboard park to the city is closer than ever.

Combs said he recently spoke with officials from the Alaska Railroad for permission to remove rail on a section of track just north of the Palmer Depot.

By this fall, Combs said, he'd like to begin constructing an actual skateboard park.

Alaska Railroad owns the right-of-way on a section of track in downtown Palmer that it no longer uses. Combs approached railroad officials about creating a skateboard park halfway between Blueberry Avenue and Arctic Avenue.

&#8220We've got the go ahead on that,” Combs told the city council. &#8220It is a good place because it's an open visage.”

Combs said he wants the park to be a positive place for kids to challenge themselves. The fact that the proposed park would sit only a block from the Palmer Police Department should encourage a good atmosphere, he said.

&#8220I don't want anyone getting hurt or having the wrong type of element,” Combs commented earlier this month.

The city council already has set aside money to help prepare the ground for a park. Combs said he wants to get started soon to allow more time to apply for private grant support.

&#8220I'd like to get out there and start yanking up rails soon,” he added.

Those words are welcome news to Palmer resident Stefani Vetter and her son, Cody.

Cody helped establish a Palmer skatepark association. It's now an official nonprofit, Stefani said.

Cody is a junior at Palmer High School, and has worked tirelessly with city officials and his peers to raise support for the project, Stefani said.

&#8220He wants to skate,” she said of her son. &#8220When you drive around with him, his eyes go to the perfect little skate spots, but he's not going to violate the law and skate where he's not allowed. It's frustrating for the kids because they want to skate but there is no place to go.”

Combs said the need for a skate park dawned on him a couple years ago when he saw

a sign at the Palmer

Public Library prohibiting skateboarding.

&#8220There is a lot of kids in town who like to skateboard,” he said. &#8220My question at that time was, ‘where can they skate?'”

Within the next few weeks, Combs said, he hopes to hold a workday for volunteers to help construct the park.

Those interested in the project can contact Stefani Vetter at 355-0481.

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.