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ELKINS -- The Elkins Parks & Recreation Commission (EPRC) tabled a vote during its Wednesday evening meeting on the removal of the Elkins Skatepark from Glendale Park until all commissioners can be present.
Due to two EPRC commissioners being absent from Wednesday's meeting, the vote to move the Elkins Skatepark to property owned by the Refinery Church near North Elementary and Highland Park has been tabled until all members of the EPRC can be present to vote.
One member was absent Wednesday due to his job and the other had been called away on flood relief in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
"(Sam Severino) thinks we should table this until our other two commissioners get back," EPRC Chairman Dick Harvey said during the meeting. "Again, we're a commission of five and we're a very dedicated group. We only miss when we have to."
Three skatepark supporters spoke briefly during the meeting's public comments section, with several other supporters also attending Wednesday's meeting.
"Basically, we're just here to help and we respect you guys and we respect all you guys are doing to get the parks as good as you can," Dustin Standridge, owner of 3rd Street Tattoo and former president of Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES), told the EPRC during Wednesday's meeting. "Obviously the funding is terrible for everything right now. I think everyone is understanding of that, and that's why we're trying to help you guys in some form, if you guys are willing to accept some help from the public."
In a statement from EPRC Director Tom Tesar sent by Elkins City Hall in early September, the EPRC assured that the skatepark would simply be moved, not destroyed.
"The skatepark is not being demolished. The EPRC plans to donate the skatepark ramps to the Refinery Baptist Church in Elkins," Tesar said in the statement. "They acquired a piece of property in Highland Park near North Elementary School. The plan is for Refinery Church to pour an outdoor concrete slab and move all the ramps over there."
The plan to move the skatepark sparked controversy in early September with many individuals who helped get the park built in the first place coming together to figure out a solution to keep the skatepark in Glendale, such as helping the EPRC with fundraising, fund keeping and upkeep. A petition on Change.org called "Save the Elkins Skatepark" has received around 1,717 signatures, as of publication.
What would replace the skatepark in Glendale if the vote goes through has yet to be determined. Owen Peet, the EPRC's Youth Program Coordinator who spoke to The Inter-Mountain in September, said one idea that was brought up was pickleball courts, but it was still too early to say what will go in.
"Pickleball courts have been really popular," Peet said, "but we're still so early in the planning process that we don't have a definitive answer."
In 2006, local youth, along with parents and area adults, came together to create a 501c3 non-profit to help build a downtown community skatepark. With financial support from Mountain Partners in Community Development, the group was able to become a 501c3 under the name Youth Empowerment Solutions, or YES.
YES received grants from pro skater Tony Hawk, The Sunshine Lady Foundation, Youth Service of America and more.
Donations and contributions from the community also helped with the pouring of concrete for a skatepad and for the building of ramps.
The skatepark was built in 2009.
The EPRC meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. at Phil Gainer Community Center.