Skate the name ROOSEVELT

**Pushtina** · November-19-10, 12:55 PM

Yay or nay on this?

**BrushStart** · November-19-10, 12:59 PM

I'm no skater, but that looks challenging. Is this for real? Or, just like hypothetically?

**Pushtina** · November-19-10, 01:03 PM

According to the Huffington Post:

"So far, $300,000 has been invested in landscaping, and another $200,000 went into creating a parking lot for the park. Another $50,000 has been raised so far for the next addition: a skate park that will consist of massive, skateable letters spelling out "Roosevelt Park." Slows has been a major financial donor [[along with many others) for these projects."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/1..._n_784906.html

**DetroitHabitater** · November-19-10, 01:12 PM

I like it. I was recently in Durango Colorado and they have a local skate park. It was clean, Kids were enjoying it and nothing shady was going on.

Although the first time i read that I thought it said 'RODSEX'

**Johnlodge** · November-19-10, 01:15 PM

It looks like it's all just stuff to grind. Can't at least get a quarter pipe in there? Maybe there's more to the plan than what there appears to be.

**Gsgeorge** · November-19-10, 01:16 PM

i think it's amazing, a great idea, and would be a wonderful way to transform that area. if you know phil you know that he is serious about what he does, so i think this really is 'for real'. We might see it realized by the end of next year if things go well with the efforts, and it could be huge for the future reuse of the gigantic beaux-arts elephant in the room.

**Russix** · November-19-10, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by Pushtina

Yay or nay on this?

That looks absolutely nothing like a skate park.

**Pushtina** · November-19-10, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Russix

That looks absolutely nothing like a skate park.

I can't look at that rendering and not see RODSEX now.... Thanks, Detroithabitater

**southen** · November-19-10, 02:18 PM

im all for this. it can only help out the area and bring people down there.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · November-19-10, 02:23 PM

God dammit! I LOVE Phil Cooley

**rjlj** · November-19-10, 03:00 PM

Looks great. As far as just stuff to grind, the rendering shows stuff behind the letters so I assume there will be more than what is shown from this sidewalk view. Looks like an awesome addition.

**stromberg2** · November-19-10, 03:29 PM

Wow, that's great! Now get rid of the hobos in the park and light up MCS and we're really talkin'.

Stromberg2

**Pushtina** · November-20-10, 03:05 AM

Really? This is great?

**Chub** · November-20-10, 04:11 AM

I was a skater for years, and I love much of what Phil has been doing to that area of town, but the rendering above is ugly and will be pretty useless to skaters. Wow, what a awful design! Maybe they should get with a few pro skaters and see what they come up with.

Blarf · November-20-10, 06:05 AM

Renderings are always funny.

The figures are too small and I can't tell if there are enough black people there that represents the city demographics.

**gnome** · November-20-10, 07:11 AM

To quote Tom Hanks in Big, "I don't get it. What's fun 'bout that?"

**scubashelley** · November-20-10, 01:30 PM

the news had an article last week on this-- http://detnews.com/article/20101112/...-gets-some-TLC
apparently they're lighting one of the signs there today. it would be great to see pictures of the plans, it seems like the skate park is just a small part of it.

**stromberg2** · November-20-10, 06:54 PM

I really don't think you actually skate on the letters...I just thought it looked cool.

Stromberg2

**East Detroit** · November-20-10, 07:11 PM

Originally Posted by stromberg2

I really don't think you actually skate on the letters...

Versus what the article says?

DetroitPole · November-20-10, 07:12 PM

Where the heck are they gonna put all the bums? And what is going to stop them from coming and back and sleeping on, sitting on, pooping and peeing on those nice new letters? And I'm sure when all the hipsters arrive to hang out there they're going to hit every single one of them up with a sob story about a bus to Pontiac and how the Lord blesses those who whateverwhateverwhatever shit.

Honestly, I like Phil Cooley and he does a lot of good, but only in Detroit is a successful restaurateur the Lord and Savior. The national media needs to find somebody else to drool over. There are lots of other people in Detroit doing cool stuff too.

Stosh · November-20-10, 11:13 PM

I've probably have never heard a more idiotic proposal in my life. Flash forward 10 years, the skating phase has passed, and the letters just sit there, stupidly.

Fads come and go, the cash should be used for something for the long view, not the instant gratification of d-baggers.

**BrushStart** · November-21-10, 12:34 AM

Originally Posted by Stosh

I've probably have never heard a more idiotic proposal in my life. Flash forward 10 years, the skating phase has passed, and the letters just sit there, stupidly.

Fads come and go, the cash should be used for something for the long view, not the instant gratification of d-baggers.

Just got back from the bar, but Stosh, seriously, whether skating was a fad or not, have you been on the riverwalk this year? Have you been to Hart Plaza? There are kids skating everywhere, usually getting yelled at by security. Outside my building there are always kids skating hitting me for cigarettes. Ten years ago, my friends and I used to skateboard and "in-line" skate all the time. Nothing has changed. I think it's a great idea to give the youth a place to go and do something other than get high. A skatepark in a "hip" location such as Roosevelt Park is a perfect use of the area. If Detroit lacks anything it lacks places where teenagers can gather and do something that isn't destructive, but where they can feel they're still independent. A skate park is the "long view" Hopefully, kids from the city and 'burbs will mingle and realize they have a lot in common. Encourage the next generation to heal the wounds of years of separation.

**mcsdetroitfriend** · November-21-10, 12:34 AM

Man skateboarding has been going on for over 30 years, what are you talking about a fad. I don't skateboard either, but man skateboarding is here to stay bro. The main point is if this thing gets maintained. Which knowing Phil's record it will be.

Stosh · November-21-10, 07:33 AM

Originally Posted by BrushStart

Just got back from the bar, but Stosh, seriously, whether skating was a fad or not, have you been on the riverwalk this year? Have you been to Hart Plaza? There are kids skating everywhere, usually getting yelled at by security. Outside my building there are always kids skating hitting me for cigarettes. Ten years ago, my friends and I used to skateboard and "in-line" skate all the time. Nothing has changed. I think it's a great idea to give the youth a place to go and do something other than get high. A skatepark in a "hip" location such as Roosevelt Park is a perfect use of the area. If Detroit lacks anything it lacks places where teenagers can gather and do something that isn't destructive, but where they can feel they're still independent. A skate park is the "long view" Hopefully, kids from the city and 'burbs will mingle and realize they have a lot in common. Encourage the next generation to heal the wounds of years of separation.

A skatepark in a "hip" location should be the tipoff to the whole scenario. When this ceases to be the "hip" location, then what? And do you ever wonder why security is attempting to clear out the skaters at Hart Plaza? Something stupid like liability probably. Which brings to mind the whole letter location, a city park. Is Cooley putting up the liability insurance for the park?

**Joseph C. Krause** · November-21-10, 10:27 AM

This Summer I took a train to see some relatives in rural Colorado and arrived at a rail-junction town called Lu Junta. This three-square-mile town has a population of less than 8,000 and is not affluent. Yet in the large park in the center of town they have a pretty cool-looking skate park:

http://www.thecoloradoskateboardguid...yskatepark.htm

If they can do that, surely a town one-hundred times its size in a metro five-hundred times its size can support such a thing in a public park.

Now to the details -- I think the letters idea looks awful and I am concerned that it's also not a solid design for a skate park. I also think the proposed amphitheater may bring undue noise to a residential neighborhood. It looks unpopulated, but Wabash Street is full of occupied homes.

I think a more elegant solution would be a skate park in Hart Plaza. Decriminalize the activity, fund the liability insurance, and add further ramps near an area where people already skate.

As for the need for a non-touring-band amphitheater, presuming that Chene Park and Hart Plaza are and will be to big and inaccessible to local bands, why not revive the Belle Isle band shell?

It's good that people are trying to reactivate the park, especially because it may soften somewhat the resolve of those who are eager to demolish the train station. But I think the proposed design is somewhat poor, and I'm not one to embrace the "better than nothing" ethos, so I'm not decided yet about how much I support the plans.