Support a Skatepark in Casselberry

We are pushing for a full neighborhood skatepark in Casselberry & have been the single biggest and most visible community movement in the city over the past year.

Rather than address the need for a community skatepark, our city's leaders have punted on the project by calling for a Parks Master Plan after getting caught citing one for being the reason no action had been taken during the 2016 Budget Workshop.

Fact:  There has been NO Parks Master Plan in place in the past and it has not stopped recreation planning and development.

A single consultant just proposed providing a study that will lead to a Parks Master Plan for Casselberry.  At what cost?  $74,000.00

That is funding that could otherwise be spent on current recreation needs in our city.

Despite our dismay, we plan to participate in this process and send the clear and convincing message that we have for the past year; Casselberry has a demonstrated need for a modern recreation facility in the form of a skatepark.

In order to continue to attract younger families and have them become residents, we need to provide the recreation they are looking for when they are ready to put down roots.

Stay tuned for developments like community workshops and surveys that will be part of this process.

In the short term, a step towards improving our city has been made by including a skate spot in the Casselton Drive improvement project.  A public input session should take place to see the design of it in early June.

We will update our Facebook Page: Skate 32707 - Support a Skatepark in Casselberry with a date, time and location as soon as it is known.

Attendance is important, as a small group in the area has already surfaced to try and prevent it, citing problems in their community that are totally unrelated to skateboarding as a reason to oppose the skate spot.  We know better and have the facts to support it.

The City Commission needs to hear from all of us that support a vibrant and active community so that they will continue to support the project.

Stay engaged, work hard to spread the word and make certain that you attend any and all meetings that are announced.

Casselberry - A Great Place to Live, Work & Skate

The City of Casselberry branding is currently lost on skateboarders.  Despite the self described "Live, Work & Play" welcoming community image that is being promoted, the fact remains, most parks specifically prohibit skating and recreation spending is focused on events, art and passive spaces.

We've asked our City Commission to reach out to places like Zephyrhills, Lakeland, Gainesville, Branford or Jacksonville Beach to get current feedback from recreation departments on how skateparks have benefited their recreation programming.

We know that one of Florida's oldest public skateparks, Satellite Beach is getting a makeover as the staff there continue to recognize after over 20 years of service, its one of the jewels in their crown.

Listening to others can be of benefit when you don't have direct experience in the subject matter.

Best Recreation Value Available

 We'll continue to be supportive of all other recreational offerings in our diverse town, but we wont take no for an answer for our skatepark either.  We too want a community where we can Live, Work and Play.  The time to make sure our community is inclusive is now.

Create A Positive Space for Recreation in Casselberry

Feb 16, 2016 — The City Commission's decisions regarding recent "downtown" improvements are moving Casselberry in a positive direction. Soon an area contained within the Lake Concord Village project will become a 4 acre passive use park.

Currently we have other parks designated as active spaces with bike lanes, bike trails, paddling trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, ball fields and tot lots sprinkled throughout town. We even have an active space for canines, Pawmosa Park.

Great!

Now, let’s include skateboarding on our list of attractive amenities for families, students, residents and tourists.

Skateboarding is a $29 billion business.

A skatepark would be a destination for skateboarders from across Florida and worldwide.

A skatepark would serve to attract visitors and tourists adding to the local economy while providing safe and legal recreational skateboarding for Casselberry kids and adults.

Skateboarding is healthy for kids’ bodies and healthy for the local economy.

The revitalization of Casselberry should include new things that are working in other cities by including them in our community.

Let’s be smart and follow other successful models of city funded/constructed skateparks like Lakeland, Bradenton, Branford, Gainesville and Zephyrhills among others.

By doing that, residents will spend money at local businesses here in Casselberry, as opposed to driving and spending elsewhere in order to enjoy a skatepark.

In recent years the City of Casselberry has spent over $350K to purchase a residential property adjacent to Lake Concord Park, near the Art House in hopes of expanding another passive use park further. Even more money will be need to be spent on demolition of the vacant homes located there before it can transition to its new purpose.

By the time these parcels are ready to become a passive space, the same investment of $300,000 to $500,000 could have provided a skatepark for residents and visitors in an existing active use park.




The call for a skatepark in Casselberry has seen steadily growing community support over the past several months. From a front page story in the Orlando Sentinel, to yard signs declaring support for a skatepark throughout our neighborhoods, petitions are growing and a recent public meeting to educate residents on how the skatepark design process works filled a meeting room to capacity at the Casselberry Police Department; the need has been demonstrated in every way imaginable.

The new “downtown” passive use park’s cost of improvement likely exceeds the per square foot price to build a skatepark by nearly three times.

The Casselberry Skatepark will become a destination that draws visitors to our city.

A skatepark costs approximately $30 per square foot to construct and a skatepark is for recreational use, which provides an active, placemaking, community venue and encourages visitors to come to Casselberry.

The “downtown” park is passive use.

Both good.

One is better for bodies. Recreation is healthier for kids than sitting.

We like what we see happening in Casselberry! The “downtown” park is cool. The fountain and sculpture features will be delightful.

Now, end the delays and please build the skatepark so that our residents have a place they can safely enjoy themselves and the skateboarding tourism other cities enjoy will come to Casselberry.

Its a win – win, with a skatepark, visitors looking for an amazing skatepark experience will include Casselberry in their travel plans and the children and residents of Casselberry will be free to skate safely and legally in their own community, something they can’t do currently.

 Please share this update & encourage family and friends to sign the petition. PETITION

Public workshops hosted by the City of Casselberry will be scheduled soon, once they are, we will be asking everyone to fill them to capacity to make sure our voices are heard: Build A Skatepark Now, we're ready for Concrete Change in Casselberry.

Casselberry Skatepark - Its A Matter of Time

The Informational Meeting held at Casselberry PD was very well attended.  In fact, we ran out of chairs and ended up with standing room only by the time the presentation began.

THANKS to everyone who showed up, even the small group that identified themselves as being sent by a Commissioner to "see what happens".

We had a positive and informative meeting that helped everyone visualize what could be possible at multiple sites throughout the city.

 

We just found out that the Parks Master Plan process of a survey and public workshops has been delayed about two months.

While we are ready to get started, we'll use the time to continue building support and preparing for the next phase in the process.

No different than learning a new trick, we aren't discouraged by failure.  Failure is part of the process.  Its the pathway to success.  

The support that we've seen has drawn the attention of the Orlando Sentinel and News 13 among others who haven't yet put our story to print or broadcast, but they know we're a force in the community.

The reason for the acknowledgement of our efforts is each and every one of you.  Keep talking about the Casselberry Skatepark.  Its going to happen.  Believe in it and stay the course, its only a matter of time.

Keep Pushing & Skate Every Day!

Front Page News - Support a Skatepark in Casselberry

Many of the citizens of Casselberry and surrounding communities have been actively raising their voice, asking to be represented at City Hall by their City Commissioners.  Their hard work, signatures on petitions and signs in their lawn supporting the construction of a skatepark have garnered regional attention.

In a community that has everything from baseball fields, basketball & tennis courts, walking/biking trails, playgrounds, golf course and even a kayak rental program for a blueway trail, there are no skateboarding facilities.

As the City Commission does nothing significant to advance the idea, no staff studies or commissioning of a study committee, we've provided our best effort at a comprehensive proposal for a neighborhood skatepark and city wide system of skate spots leading to it.  The idea of a skatepark system would increase the potential for state funding as roadway projects are designed and completed in the future where FDOT is involved.

For now, the front page news is that our journey continues.

 
 We'll continue to push as a community until our kids get the safe place they deserve in a park.  A place where they can build a community network of their own, a place they can proudly call their Casselberry.

Casselberry Skatepark Gaining Traction

Your hard work and tireless efforts are not going unnoticed.  Look no further than the article below to see how the community is taking notice.

Orlando Sentinel coverage of Casselberry Skatepark Effort

Keep it up!  Put out a sign of Support a Skatepark in Casselberry, sign our petition, follow us on Facebook.  All of these things matter.

Share the upcoming meeting on social media.

Attend the meeting to learn more about what it will take to see concrete trucks rumbling through town to deliver a skatepark to our kids.

Our City Commission takes an oath to represent us, lets make sure they do!

SKATE 32707 Has A Lot To Be Thankful For...

The community support to create a space for our youth to come together has been nothing short of amazing.

We'll need your continued support over the coming months to succeed.

Our voices have been heard.  Questions are being asked.  Plans are being laid.

Keep sharing the stoke and get more folks to sign our online petition or place a sign in their yard supporting a skatepark in Casselberry.

The more visible support we have the better.

Thanks for everyone's efforts thus far - teamwork makes the dream work!

Skatepark System Plan Proposal Submitted

SKATE 32707 is leading the way to a neighborhood skatepark in Casselberry Florida.  Since we first approached the City Commission with the idea we've been hard at work keeping the information flowing.

Surely youve seen "Support a Skatepark in Casselberry" yard signs all around town.

You may have even signed our online or traditional petition of support.

What you haven't seen or heard is progress towards identifying a location or budget for the proposed skatepark.

We've met with two of the five City Commissioners on multiple occasions.  As a result of their input, we spent the time to develop and publish a Skatepark System Plan for Casselberry.

Now that they have it in hand, we are hoping to see further movement on the project.  Only time will tell.

Within the plan, as submitted, we determined Secret Lake Park was the best location for the proposed Casselberry Skatepark.

During a recent meeting with a supportive City Commissioner, we learned of their interest in developing an unused area adjacent to the Casselberry Golf Course.

We love the idea.  It has parking, is centrally located and visible, is nearby a trail head that connects a lot of neighborhoods to the east and there is a snack bar at the golf course clubhouse where drinks and food can be purchased.

We'll see where the idea leads as work on the Casselberry Skatepark continues in the future.

Until then, keep sending the City Commission letters or emails detailing your support for bringing this project forward and making the Casselberry Skatepark a reality.

Email Casselberry City Commission

Cause & Effect: A Casselberry Skatepark Will Be Popular & Well Used

Casselberry, FL has a robust Parks & Recreation Department that offers plenty of traditional activities and venues for its citizens.  Over the past few decades, skateboarding has grown in popularity across the country seeing participation rates increase, while traditional sports have seen their numbers decline.  Despite this trend, Casselberry remains without a skatepark.

Within the Casselberry City Limits there are approximately 800 skaters based on current demographics and skateboarding participation rates.

If the area of influence a Casselberry Skatepark is expanded to include neighboring cities and unincorporated areas that share our border that are also without a skatepark facility, the number grows  to approximately 3,600 skaters.

Currently, the residents who skate for recreation are left to either skate the streets, parking lots or wherever they can find a space.

The status quo needs to change.

One of the ways that we're trying to influence the City of Casselberry to bring a skatepark to our city is to increase awareness to our mission.

Signs like these: 

 

Lead to signs like this:

We're starting to see support from our elected officials, so we know public support is working.

More importantly, communicate your desire to have a skatepark to each City Commissioner in person at events, email them and voice your support at Commission Meetings.  

We will have a Casselberry Skatepark, its simply a matter of time.

Keep up the effort, its working.

Sign Our Petition

SIGN OUR PETITION FOR A CASSELBERRY SKATEPARK

We need community support to leverage the City Commission into action.  For years tax dollars have been spent providing facilities for so called "traditional" sports.  Most recently, $1.3 Million was spent to complete a one mile bike and walking trail.

A skatepark is needed in Casselberry.  Lots of kids are stuck with nowhere to skate because they are unable to travel to nearby cities to enjoy a skatepark.

Its time to change that and bring a skatepark to Casselberry.  Support providing our city's youth with a first class facility for their active lifestyle choice.