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Bay Creek Park expansion approved
The Gwinnett County Commission has approved the expansion of Bay Creek Park on Ozora Rd. in Loganville. Tennis courts, basketball courts and a skate park will be added to the park. Now, I am not too thrilled with tax dollars being spent on a skate park, but, to be fair, I don’t care much about tennis either but I have no problem with the new courts. I guess I just do not see a skate park in the same vein as baseball and football fields and tennis and basketball courts. I guess it could be worse - they could be installing……soccer fields.
Tags: Bay Creek Park, government, Gwinnett County Commission, Gwinnett County Parks, Loganville
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June 23rd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Note: This was originally posted by twitchy204.
what’s the difference in tax money being spent on skatepark’s opposed to baseball fields or something? it gives us a place to get together and skate, instead of being out in the street “destroying” public places as many people like to think. As frustrated as some people get with skateboarder’s out in public, i would think that most people would be glad for a place for skateboarder’s to get together, in a place that they’re allowed. please e-mail back with response at fourwheelerfreak24@yahoo.com
thank you.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Twitchy, you make a lot of sense. Some people don’t like basketball, so I cannot argue with your logic. As someone who uses Bay Creek a lot, my only concern is I do not want to see the park turn into a massive teen scene with skateboarders OR basketball players. If they are there shooting hoops or skating that is cool. But I do worry that it may turn into a hang out with large groups of teens just hanging around in the parking lot not actively using the facility and, thus, possibly taking away from the ability of others to enjoy the park.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Note: This was originally posted by twitchy204.
I get what you’re talking about, and that can and most likely will happen with any sport, won’t it? isn’t a park supposed to be a place to simply relax? I don’t see why you’re against kids standing around at the park. to me, it sounds like you like the park as it is and don’t want kids to get attracted there by a skate park and end up standing around up to no good, if i am understanding things correctly. i respect that, but it sounds kinda selfish.
June 23rd, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I am not against kids using the park. I am against there be some amount of hanging around. But if too many kids (or any group for that matter) turn it into a hang out as, it can become unattractive to others users. I suspect you are a young person and probably don’t remember the days when Phoenix High School was a Rose’s shopping center. The cruising there used to be a significant issue in Lawrenceville. I just hope Bay Creek remains a park that is welcoming to football users, baseball users, walkers and runners as well as skateboard enthusiasts.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:35 pm
That is a narrow-minded article. I predict that on the first day Bay Creek Skatepark is open, it will see more use than any baseball field or playground in the park has ever had. People will travel 20 or 30 miles, or even more, just to skate at Bay Creek skatepark on a regular basis. It will be Grayson’s biggest attraction.
Furthermore, how can you say you dislike a sport? Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to feel apathetic towards it? As with tennis, if one doesn’t love or even like it, it still wouldn’t make any sense to dislike it. Which reasons that it must be the people associated with the sport. If I got no enjoyment from playing baseball, I still wouldn’t dislike the sport unless I was using a negative stereotype of baseball players to fuel my illogical malcontent with baseball. Instead of making a stereotype against skateboarders for whatever reasons you have or probably do not have, learn to appreciate the incredible developement of skill required to skateboard well. I have played baseball and tennis for multiple years, but get more satisfaction from skateboarding, which I find much more difficult and demanding.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Littlefurrybugs, thanks for reading the Buzz. Call it narrow-minded, but my dislike of the skate park being there is already being born out and it is not even opened. I use Bay Creek Park almost daily. Two weeks ago I saw the first real instance of disturbance from park attendees in the nearly two years of regular use of the park. Who was it? Kids skateboarding in the parking lot next to the football field/track playing loud music at a level definitely above that needed for their personal enjoyment. First time I had seen anything like that there and I have seen large groups of high school kids hanging out in the evenings, groups of people playing soccer on the football field, people walking the track and people attending football, baseball or lacrosse practice and games.
A few nights after that incident, I saw two police cars shooing skateboarding kids away who were already using the skate park even though it was obviously incomplete and still under construction. Since then, they have placed barricades at the entrances to the parking areas of the tennis courts and skate park. Again, first time I recall seeing police having to deal with park attendees rather than general policing. (They were there one night watching for copper thieves but that is a whole different issue.)
So I stand by my dread of that skate park opening if these two instances are a reflection of what we can expect. Fortunately, the skate park is away from the football field/track and the baseball fields. Hopefully, my interaction with any obnoxious guests there will be limited. For the record, for those that are not obnoxious, I have no issue with them using the facilities. I may think skateboarding as a “sport” is completely uninteresting, but my objection to this new amenity is the behavior I have witnessed from skateboarders over the years, not their activity of choice. Perhaps I will be proven wrong, but I am not holding my breath.
May 1st, 2009 at 8:10 am
I would just like for you to consider the idea that choosing skateboarding as a hobby is not an indicator of an obnoxious personality. Many skateboarders are friendly, determined, and highly skilled at what they do. Consider that their are obnoxious people that participate in every sport, hang out in every group, and work in every place of business. What is most unfortunate that your previous experiences with skateboarders and skateboarding have been limited to “disturbances,” and that those were enough to render a mental set that will probably stick with you forever. Also, consider that baseball fields and football fields have been used outside of their designated hours or seasons, but an unfinished skatepark creates liabilities for contractors as an unfinished skatepark is more dangerous than an open field. Furthermore, I just can’t bring myself to believe that the only people you have heard playing music above a reasonable level were skateboarders. Take a walk to Duncan Creek, the only skatepark within 20 miles of Grayson, and these disturbances you speak of are virtually nonexistant.
And lastly, it stands to reason that if we’re making quick judgements, baseball players are rednecks, dippers, and steroid abusers. But I don’t believe that; I know that there are a few people in every group that will make the whole look worse if you let them. When Bay Creek skatepark opens, there will be hundreds of good people that will make the disturbances you have seen seem minute.