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Skateboarders under siege at Bev High |
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Monday, 06 March 2006 |
from today's Los Angeles Times
By Stephen Clark
Beverly Hills High School has served as a location for such movies as
"It's a Wonderful Life," "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Clueless."
Today, it's become a prime location for something else: skateboarding.
 Bev High skaters foiled by metal bumps on rails
"Honestly, I think it's pretty stupid because they don't give us skate
parks," said Emil Naim, 15, a Beverly Hills High student. "But they
make it illegal where we can skate."
The school received wide exposure after Beverly Hills was featured
in the top-selling "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland" videogame, which
was released in the fall.
In addition to students skating on weekdays, as many as 40 others
were hanging out on school property every weekend, and some would "tag"
their territory with marker pens, said Principal Dan Stepenosky. Other
property damage, which school officials deemed minor, included scraped
railings, chipped paint and defaced surfaces.
Other schools face similar problems, especially when skateboarding
enthusiasts highlight them on a website or in a magazine. Mike Brady,
deputy director of maintenance and operations for the Los Angeles
Unified School District, said when that happens, skateboarders "stay
for a while until we take measures, and then they go somewhere else."
Some schools take preventive measures. South Pasadena High, for
example, built its outdoor benches with "skate stoppers" and no
railings.
During the winter break, workers at Beverly Hills High began to
make railings and curbs less appealing to skaters. Metal bumps called
acorn nuts were welded onto 24 heavily used railings. L-brackets are
being installed on curbs, and exposed aggregate is being added to
sidewalks in two locations.
The remodeling efforts, along with increased police patrols, have
greatly reduced the number of skateboarders on school property, Beverly
Hills High administrators say, but it is too early to declare victory.
About three acorn nuts have been sawed off, and skateboarders are
finding other areas and ways to skate on campus.
"It's a very popular location," said Michael McClatchey, assistant
superintendent of business services, who headed the remodeling efforts.
"It's going to take quite a lot to discourage the kids from using it."
It could also take a lot of money. Although welding acorns and
installing curb brackets are relatively inexpensive, the exposed
aggregate could cost up to $30,000. So far, the school has spent $8,000
to make 200 square feet of curb too rough to skate, McClatchey said.
The skaters seem to prefer the front stairway of the campus, where
five landings, with several steps between each, provide deep drops the
skaters say they crave.
Aside from the property damage, school administrators say they are
concerned about liability if a serious injury occurred on campus.
In the meantime, neighborhood residents have expressed concern for
their own safety. Some said they felt threatened by the skateboarders'
presence and appearance.
"They look like the kids with raincoats with guns underneath, that
gothic look," said Ronnie, a homeowners association representative who
didn't want her last name used for fear of retribution from
skateboarders.
She led efforts to encourage the city and school district to take
measures to make the area less attractive to skaters. She mobilized 15
residents of her condo building near the school to sign a petition,
raised the issue at City Council meetings and complained to police and
school officials.
"It's not that I wish they don't skateboard," she said. "I just wish they had a place to go."
Sgt. Joe Chirillo, head of crime prevention for the Beverly Hills
Police Department, said a number of citations have been issued to
skateboarders. "They're not being bad when they're skating," he said.
"They're just trying to have fun. But skating does do damage sometimes."
Beverly Hills is considering creating a skate park as it moves
closer to building a new recreation center and renovating two existing
ones. City officials are looking at proposals for the three projects
now.
"I think skateboarding done in the appropriate place is a terrific
sport," said Mayor Linda Briskman. "And our youngsters deserve our
support to find them a safe place to do it."
But the completion of the first of three projects is at least two
years away, said Steve Miller, director of the Recreation and Parks
Department. Officials are still conducting surveys to measure the needs
and interest of the community. So far, "the data has indicated that
there is an overwhelming interest in this," but "we still have a long
way to go," he said.
There are several notable skate parks in Southern California,
including one in Glendale and another in Santa Monica, said Mike
Hirsch, a skateboarding expert who owns a website, http://www.socalskateparks.com. He said there was an explosive growth of skate parks in Southern
California starting in the late 1990s because cities thought they could
control street skaters. The first of seven skate parks in Los Angeles
opened in August 2001.
"Cities said, 'Hey, if we build a skate park, we can quarantine
these kids,' " said Hirsch, 40, who was a semiprofessional
skateboarder. But he added, "It's never going to happen. They'd have to
cage every ledge, stairwell or barbwire…. Skateboarding is a part of
our culture. I think it's more popular than baseball."
After school was dismissed recently, several students with
skateboards converged on the front lawn and admitted they still grind
the benches and jump the stairs.
"These stairs," said Cyrus Esfondiary, 15, "are just perfect." |
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