Neighborhood Getting Skate Park

While not part of the mural project, the city is installing a skate park in Chesney Park for area skate boarders. This park will benefit skateboarders not only in Chesney Park, but also Central Park, College Hill, Quentin-Heights and other central Topeka neighborhoods.

Below is the text from the June 9, 2008 TV 49 news story.

The park at 21st and Washburn is one of two parks in Topeka that is specially designed for those looking to for a place to grind and wipe out.

Crews are busily working to change the old tennis court in Chesney Park into a brand new skate park. Topeka Parks and Recreation planner Bill Riphahn says he got lots of help designing new skate park from neighborhood kids.

"I think it's more successful if the kids have some buy-in and I think they take better care of it if they had a say in how it was laid out," says Riphahn.

Graffiti is an ongoing issue here at what is affectionately known as "Riphahn Park", named by the kids who use it. But graffiti has become an issue all over the Capital City.

Riphahn says, "We get graffiti in all of our parks and we just paint over as quick as we see it."

"We don't have bad kids in this neighborhood, we just have bored kids," says neighbor Scott Killingsworth.

Some of the neighbors worry the skate park will bring more criminal activity that happens after dark, such as drugs, graffiti and even drinking.

"It's possible," says Killingsworth, "but it could also relieve some of our problems. Might also get us a lot more police patrol, too."

The Chesney Park Neighborhood Improvement Association is in the Weed and Seed area. It has been targeted for money for things like patrols and after-school and summer programs for the kids. Killingsworth from the NIA hopes the park is just of the many ways Chesney Park will become a safer neighborhood.

Killingsworth says, "We have a lot of people involved. We're also building our neighborhood watch up and we have our Citizens Patrol. And these things take a little time to get started."

Half of the area will be a skate park, the other half will be a soccer field. You can check out the skate park on Saturday at Weed and Seed's Community Safety Fair. The fair will be going from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chesney Park.