Benjamin Tuttle, Moraga, Calif., junior, demonstrates some skateboarding stunts outside of Let It Ride, the skate shop at 609 Vermont St. where he works. Tuttle wants Lawrence to build a skate park.
Sidewalk Surfers Local skateboarders say there are not enough legal places to skate in Lawrence.
- Story by Courtney Farr
- Photos by Richard Devinki
Benjamin Tuttle won't soon forget Lawrence's skateboarding ordinance.
"I finally memorized the ordinance about skating because I've had the police try to make me stop skating in places that weren't posted and weren't covered by the ordinance," said Tuttle, Moraga, Calif., junior.
Skateboarding is not a crime. It is really a viable sport."
John Niswonger
Owner of Let it Ride.
skateboarders break, and this disregard for the law riles the police.
It is a law that
"Massachusetts is our most pedestrian-populated street. We just can't have people on skateboards screaming past pedestrians," said Sgt. Susan Hadl of the Lawrence Police Department. "We don't keep records on skateboarding accidents, but the potential is definitely there."
A Lawrence city ordinance states that no skateboarding is allowed within 1,000 feet of Jayhawk Boulevard from West Campus Road to 13th Street and within half a block of Massachusetts Street from Sixth to 11th streets.
The problem for skaters is that there are no legal skating facilities in Lawrence that they can use.
Their only choices are the streets or private property. Skaters can skate on private property only if they obtain permission from the owner.
Tuttle agrees that skaters shouldn't be on Massachusetts Street because of the danger to pedestrians but admits he boards on campus occasionally.
"The best analogy I can think of is that Allen Field House is to basketball what campus, especially Wescoe, with all of its stairs and ramps, is to skateboarding," Tuttle said.
However, he said that he hadn't skated on campus for awhile because the last time he skated there he got a ticket.
Gayle Reece, KU police officer, said that the ordinance covered not only skateboarding, but roller skates, roller blades and all similar devices.
"They skate quite a bit around Wescoe and between Wescoe and Dole," Reece said.
The fine for skating illegally is $35.
Hadl warned that as spring approaches, campus pedestrians could expect an increase in skateboarders and rollerbladers.
"I think we need to educate skaters more on the dangers of skating in the streets," Hadl said.
John Niswonger, owner of the skate shop Let It Ride, 609 Vermont St., said there was a misconception about skaters and skating.
"Skateboarding is not a crime. It is really a viable sport," Niswonger said. "It takes a great deal of both mental and physical control to be good at it."
Niswonger, Tuttle, and other skaters are looking for a safe and legal place to skate.
John Niswonger, skate shop owner, wants to convince city commissioners that Lawrence needs a skate park. This sign hangs from a cash register in his store.
So far, however, they have had little luck.
"We took a group of skaters to talk to the city about it once, but the Parks and Recreation guy shot us down," Tuttle said. "He said our best bet was through private
enterprise."
Fred DeVictor of Parks and Recreation said that a recreation plan for the next 10 years was made based on surveys sent throughout the community several years ago.
Based on these surveys, a skateboarding park was given very low priority, he said.
Niswonger and a group of skaters are circulating a petition around Lawrence to show the city that there is demand for a skate park.
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