Youth would like to see improvements to skate park

Bonners Ferry High School students are looking for a way to improve the seven-year-old skate park at Boundary County Fairgrounds.

Aaron Elkins, Michael Decker, Brandon Schmitz, Tyler Simmons and Zack Roush recently talked to Boundary County Commissioners about their options.

“How are we supposed to do something we love to do when there is nothing,” the group asked commissioners.

The group is being backed by Mike Sloan, director of Boundary County Economic Development, who has been trying to find a new location for the skate park.

“I am really pro-youth,” said Sloan. “Any kind of activity that we can do for our young people is very important. The more activities they have the less they will get in trouble. I believe very strongly that the real strength in our community is in our youth. Anything we can do to make this a better place for them.”

Many of the skate park’s wooden ramps are broken.

“The current skate park has wood supports and they have rotted away,” Sloan said. “It is metal, and that does not make for a good surface. It has rust. There are a lot of dangers.”

He hopes to see a new skate park built in a different area.

“There is a lot of activity at the current one that you wouldn’t want your children involved in,” said Sloan.

He recently proposed the idea of placing a new skate park on the lawn of Boundary County Middle School. It was denied by the school board.

“I made a short presentation and they rejected it,” said Sloan. “I have new information and more people interested, and I’d like to go back and take another run at it. I’ve looked around at some other places that are visible, but I haven’t been able to find anything that has sufficient ground to make it happen.”

“It won’t be an easy proposition but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep looking forward,” he continued. “This is not going to happen overnight but someone has to start the process.”