Our story today has a dual purpose. One, it's a piece to show you how long it takes and the dedication that's involved into getting something of long lasting substance and impact done in a city. Two, to get some help and awareness over toward Don Steigman who's undertaking to getting a skateboard park built in Muskegon has been second to none.
Let's go back a few however. What was a skateboard area at Seyferth Park came down a few years ago. It had become unsightly, unsafe and even a little outdated. Yes, this truly sucked for the skateboard community and there were not many happy faces to go around when it came to the subject. Along with the dilapidation came the useless old stereotype of the "image of a skateboarder". You know, the underachiever that hangs out at the park all day waiting for trouble? It's not the case and hasn't been for a while. Today's young people who work to practice their sport of skateboarding are generally some pretty incredible athletes and let's be honest, getting kids outside to do anything can't be all bad compared to seeing them sit in front of a screen all day, can it?
Don Steigman was and early adapter to skateboards. While he may have had to do a little screaming and foot stomping to get his first, his mom made it happen and it turned a fad into a lifelong passion for Don and he's worked to share it with others over the years and as you can imagine, the loss of "what was" spurred a "what's next" mentality in Don and he got to work. Like many others that get involved with projects that involve municipalities, a lot of eye opening went on. Everything from placement for the park to funding to the thoughts of what would happen when it was built for security, upkeep and more all have to be factored in and the work can become extremely daunting. Unless you're Don Steigman. He's not letting up.
Now, we're at another phase of all of this. A community meeting seeking input on the idea of a skate park. 770 Terrace is the place for the meeting at 5:30p on Nov 30th. They will be discussing what was learned at Seyferth Park, where some potential locations for the new skate park will be and how people can mobilize to help with the fundraising and awareness. Take a listen to our chat about what to expect at the meeting.
As we spoke in our interview, think of this as an investment in our kids. We've been working so hard on the here and now and it's time to think of what's to come. A small investment now to show the young people of today that we're here for them and understand that they add value to this community too, it goes a long, long way to deepening the roots of this community. Building a future means thinking of our next generations and what motivates them. The City of Muskegon has a page dedicated to the project, CLICK HERE to access that page.
To follow the progress, there are 2 Facebook pages you can follow. They are linked in the photos below.
