Cashmere Skate Park
( The Skate Park is Closed & Removed )

( See - NEWS of Cashmere Skate Park Below, for why its Closed & Removed )

Cashmere,Washington
The Home of Aplets & Cotlets
Just 10 miles west of Wenatchee.
On Hwy 2 City of Cashmere


Cashmere`s Skate Park is at the far end of the parking lot on
106 Aplets Way, Cashmere Wa.98815
between Cashmere's First Baptist Church and the train tracks.
City of Cashmere/Skateboard Page


Cashmere`s SKATE PARK RULES!
1.Helments , knee pads , elbow pads Recommended
2.Skateboard and skates only: NO BICYCLES or feet trafic at any times
3.Park Closed from 10pm to 6 am
4.No alcohol in the park
5.Glass containers are Prohibited
6.Children under the age of 10 must be accompanly by an adult
7.Smoking is Prohibited
8.Profanty Abusive Language is Prohibited
9.Do not use facilty if a hazard condition exists
Please call City Hall at 509-782-3513

***** NEWS of Cashmere Skate Park! *****

*** Cashmere Skate Park Discuss Reopening? *** Gene`s BMX News -- 09/28/2005 Back on July 15th of 2005 the City of Cashmere Washington closed down and removed the Cashmere Skate Park at 106 Aplets Way. The City of Cashmere quoted it`s reasons -- No skate park supporters attended a June 27th 2005 meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to close the park on July 15. The council decided that it would remain closed "Indefinitely" Due to a burden on the city resources such as trash and vandalism and illegal activities happening at the park. After this news hit the world wide web and the word of mouth amoung skateboarders and the area youth alot of sadness and questions arised. Gene`s BMX has seen some e-mails drop in asking if the Cashmere Skate Park will reopen sometime soon and if there is a group of people working on getting it reopen? The questions are of good well and thought out questions. But, I have no idea if there is a group of people doing anything, That question is a hard one as I have not seen or herd anything. But -I have done some digging around and found some "Official" last words of reopening the Cashmere Skate Park. Justin Parker - Discuss Reopening and Maintenance of the Skate Park. Cashmere, Washington -- August 8, 2005 ( The City of Cashmere - Council Meeting Minutes ) Justin Parker was opposed to the decision to close the skate park. Justin stated that he was part of the original group that founded the skate park and a lot of money and effort was put into building it. Justin asked what it would take to keep the skate park open, because he doesn’t believe that all the kids that use the park should be punished for the acts of a few. He believes most of the vandalism is after hours when the park is closed. Justin is now in College and isn’t around to use the skate park, but he would like to assist the local kids in getting the skate park back. Judith Mott stated that the skate park was built in an effort to keep the skaters off the streets and sidewalks and they’re still skating on the streets. Jamie Nyenhuis questioned the council on the possibility of reopening the skate park if a maintenance plan was presented for their approval. Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor stated that a lot of the problems and complaints occur after park hours. If reopened the skate park needs to be secured at closing, patrolled and park hours enforced. Bob Wildfang informed the council that he was involved in the beginning when the skate park was constructed. He also made a financial contribution to the skate park. Mr. Wildfang believes it’s the city’s obligation to provide parks for recreation, which includes a place for skaters. He feels that the skate park is in a poor location and should be relocated. Mr. Wildfang announced his opposition to the way the city handled the closure of the park. In his opinion, a committee should have been formed to address the problems and concerns. A committee needs to be formed with participation from the city the kids and the adults. John Bryant stated that the community’s support for reopening the skate park is obvious do to the numerous signatures on the petition. Bob Morley sent a letter of support and Judy Morley spoke in support of reopening the skate park, because kids need a safe place to go and something constructive to do. The Morley’s volunteered to help keep an eye on the skate park. Bob Wildfang agreed to serve on the skate park committee. John Bryant volunteered along with Councilman Bruce Moses. Justin Parker will be one of the representatives for the kids. Additional kids and adults may be recruited. The committee will bring their findings back to the City Council. CC - The City of Cashmere - Council Meeting Minutes 08/08/2005

*** City Of Cashmere Shuts Down Skate Park & Removes It *** Cashmere, Washington -- 07/15/2005 More Photos - ( Photo 2 ) - ( Photo 3 ) - ( Photo 4 ) ~ Click Photo or a Photo Link for a Big sized photo ~ Photos by Gene`s BMX.com It is Official, the City Of Cashmere Shut Down the Skate Park and they have REMOVED it....... Gene`s BMX took a small trip up to Cashmere on Friday July 15th 2005 and took a photo shot of where the skate park was at -- the far end of the parking lot on 106 Aplets Way, in Cashmere and found nothing more than an empty parking lot. ( "see photo up above" ) All of the skate park ramps have been removed from the skate park area and the jersey barriers have all been removed aswell making where the skate park was located at, nothing more than a parking lot now. No skate park supporters attended a June 27th 2005 meeting, the City Council voted unanimously to close the park on July 15. The council decided that it would remain closed indefinitely Due to a burden on the city resources such as trash and vandalism and illegal activities happening at the park. It is sad to see the Cashmere Skate Park Closed & Removed. And it is sad no one steped up to support in keeping the park. The Cashmere Skate Park was FUN and will be missed by lots. Gene`s BMX would like to thank all of the people that did help in contributing to all the abuse that did play in roll to having the skate park removed. It is people like you all that recks it all for all of the other youth to have fun in Chelan County. Thanks alot! I just hope that all of the Other Skate Parks and the people that use them in the Chelan County area can learn from Cashmere`s doings. "Respect It! - Take Care Of It! - Or - Your Going To Lose It!" Good Luck To Everyone! Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA All Things Northwest in BMX! ***** Gene`s BMX ***** http://www.genesbmx.com

*** Cashmere Skate Park *** Cashmere, Washington -- 07/13/2005 Coppyed Quotes from the City of Cashmere Council meeting Minutes on June 27th 2005. Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor informed the council of the Sheriff’s Department report that crime at the skate park has actually decreased. The problem now is the graffiti and litter has increased. The kids that were once interested in the skate park and were willing to maintain it have grown up and moved on. John Bryant is concerned about where the kids are going to go if the skate park is closed. The skate park was built in part, to keep the skateboarders off the sidewalks downtown and private property. Mayor Valison stated he doesn’t believe we’re being good financial stewards if we continue to pull city personnel from other city jobs to maintain the skate park. The kids that use the skate park should be responsible for maintaining it. MOVED by Councilor Skoglun and seconded by Councilor Falteisek to close the Skate Park on July 15, 2005. Motion carried unanimously.

*** City Of Cashmere To Shut Down Skate Park *** Cashmere, Washington -- 07/08/2005 ( Photo by Gene`s BMX of the Cashmere Skate Park ) At a Cashmere City Council meeting three weeks ago, city staff asked the council to consider shutting down the city's skate park, located at the far end of the public parking lot on Aplets Way. Mayor George Valison and public works coordinator Michelle Taylor told the council that the park had become a burden on city resources due to trash and vandalism; they also said sheriff's deputies have answered numerous calls about illegal activities happening at the park. The council discussed the option of closing the park but decided to wait until its next meeting to see if any local residents wanted to support keeping the park open. No skate park supporters attended the June 27 meeting and the City Council voted unanimously to close the park on July 15. The council decided that it would remain closed indefinitely until skaters that use the park come to the city with a plan to keep the park clean. If no one comes forward, the park may never reopen. The skate park was the result of the work of three local teens, Nick Reed, Ryan Schmitten and Kevin Larson, who came up with the idea in 2000. The trio spent over a year raising more than $15,000 from donors throughout the city and asked the city of Cashmere for its help. The city donated $7,000 to the cause and space for the park, which was completed in 2001. Part of the agreement to build the park was that those who used the park would keep it clean and maintained, something that hasn't been happening lately, Valison said. He said city workers spend an average of half an hour each day cleaning up trash from the park. ------------------------------------------ Coppyed Quotes from the City of Cashmere Council meeting Minutes on June 13th 2005. MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP OF THE SKATE PARK Public Works Coordinator Michelle Taylor reported that city personnel spend between 30 minutes to 1 hour every day removing the garbage from the skate park and about 1 hour per month cleaning the graffiti. Also, there’s the time spent in maintaining and repairing the damage done to the ramps. MOVED by Councilor Webb and seconded by Councilor Moses to place “Discussion to Close Skate Park” on the agenda of the next council meeting, to allow input from anyone interested in the skate park. Motion carried unanimously.

Is it Hot out there? - July 17th, 2004 ( Click on Photo for more pic`s ) A skateboarder surfing around on the Cashmere Skate Park in the hot summer sun with out any shade to cool off in. It is a bit HOT! in the summer months in the Cashmere area. So, big Kudos goes out to this kid for showing us all that the Cashmere Skate Park can be a hot place to skate at, even if it is way hot out and no shade, Its diehard kids like this, that make it all woth having the Skate Park...

August 10, 2003 ( Click Photo for more pic`s ) A BMXer showing some good style at the Cashmere Skate Park in Cashmere. BMX Is an Extreme Olympic Sport and is set to be in the 2008 Olympics. With the sport being granted full Olympic status, Lots of BMX riders in the Chelan County areas do not have any places to ride bmx bicycles. With no places for the youth to ride bmx bikes, lots of the youth lose the opportunity to further their Olympic dreams. "Opportunitys are lost" Its something for all to think about. Fair Play - BMX riders shouldn't be excluded from a skateboard park. The two can-and should-mix. For more on how, see: BMX and Skateparks Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA All Things Northwest in BMX! ***** Gene`s BMX *****

Cashmere`s Skate Park Photos By Gene`s BMX 03/03/2002

Forget the calendar: For kids,Monday was the last hurrah Jonny Martin and Corey Vera watch as Calen Garcia "ollies" on his skateboard at the Cashmere Skateboard Park on Monday afternoon. World photo/Mike Bonnicksen By Kathleen Gilstrap,Wenatchee World staff writer 09-04-2001 Cashmere/Wenatchee,Wa. Ashley Turner had the perfect summer day on Sunday. Stayed home and watched TV all day. "I got some movies, popped them in and laid on the couch," Turner, 16, said. "It was my day." For Turner, Sunday was the last day of her summer, even if fall doesn't officially start until Sept. 22. On Labor Day, she and her fellow Wenatchee High School cheerleaders worked. They spent the day at school running a yard sale to raise money. Today they--and more than 6,700 other students in the Wenatchee School District-- returned to school for opening day of classes. Today was also the first day for students in the Lake Chelan, Methow Valley, Omak and Stehekin school districts. Many other districts returned to school last week. No matter when classes start,though, kids agree that Labor Day is the symbolic end to summer, and to the freedom to stay up late, watch movies, play video games, swim,socialize with friends or just laze around.The high school seniors and juniors running the yard sale at Wenatchee High Monday said summer is a time to escape the grind of classes, work, homework and extracurricular activities that keep them running throughout the year. "It's just getting time to do nothing, sleeping in, staying up late with friends," said Caleb Welsh, 16. "You can do what you want. It's not all planned out for you." The only plans Corey Vera, 14, and Mike Schmitten, 12, had on Labor Day were skateboarding. But they spent a while lounging on an old couch under a big shade tree along one side of the Cashmere Skate Park first, the picture of summer contentment. Vera and Schmitten talked and watched their friends, Calen Garcia, 14, and Jonny Martin, 13, run ramps, jumps and rails. The surprise is that all four boys, and almost every student interviewed, were happy to get back to school. "I was looking forward to starting school," Schmitten said. "I just don't like getting up early." Kayla Hancock and Ryley DeChenne, both 10, were hanging out at Walla Walla Point Park on Labor Day. Both started class at Kenroy Elementary School in East Wenatchee last Wednesday. "I was kind of happy to go back to school cause summer's boring," Hancock said. "There's nothing to do." Friends Cullen Colwell, 12, and Joel Walls, 14, sat outside Albertsons Monday afternoon, cooling off with cans of soda before heading home. They had been shopping for some last-minute school supplies at Target. Both go to Pioneer Middle School in Wenatchee. "Sometimes it's fun with your friends, but it gets boring and I'd rather be in school," Colwell said. Walls said while he was looking forward to school, he wasn't happy about all the homework to come. "I wish summer was a little longer, maybe another week," Walls said.

Cashmere teens had a wish -- and made it happen Rick Hawthorne, right, owner of Vert Manufacturing in Santee, Calif.,secures one of the last sections at Cashmere's new skate park Wednesday afternoon. Helping hold the panel down are Greg Reed, left, and Ryan Schmitten, both of Cashmere, and Chris Wiggins of Vert Manufacturing. World photo/Don Seabrook By Ana Campoy Wenatchee World staff writer 06-22-001 Cashmere,Washington-- There's no telling what three teen-agers with too much time on their hands might do. What Nick Reed, 15, Ryan Schmitten, 14, and Kevin Larson, 14, did was to build the skate park of their dreams. Well, almost, said Ryan. Their budget was not big enough for a "street spine," a ramp where two slopes meet at the center, but they gathered enough donations from the community for seven other ramps, some with rails. They also received an 8,000-square-foot site from the city of Cashmere to put them on. It is at the far end of the parking lot on 106 Aplets Way, between Cashmere's First Baptist Church and the train tracks. Realizing their dream took the boys more than a year of fund-raising and planning. On Wednesday night they finished installing the ramps and they finally raced their skateboards across their work. "It's going to be the best summer we've had yet," said Schmitten, with a big smile. The teens first thought of the project in January of 2000. They were bored, and besides, "We had done the streets so many times," said Schmitten, a skateboarder since age 5. They were also getting into trouble, said Reed, a rollerblader for almost a decade and a one-year skateboarder. Shop owners and pedestrians didn't approve of the skateboards, bikes and rollerblades on the downtown sidewalks and parking lots, and they told the kids so. "Every place we'd go, we'd practically get kicked out of, "said Reed. Signs on the street prohibited small wheels in the downtown area, but last year disapproval sprouted in bigger signs with the legend "Maximum fine $50" at the bottom. Carol Reed, Ryan's mother, thought her son's idea to create a park was good, but impossible to accomplish. "It involved so much money," she said. But Reed was not the only one concerned about the safety of skateboarders. Last July, the Cashmere City Council held a meeting to discuss the possibility of opening a skate park. Reed was there to present a design he and his friends had worked out on a computer. The City Council gave them a site and $7,000. "The kids got really interested, came to a council meeting and that sold the council on the project," said Frank McWhirter, city administrator. The city money bought a fence, lights, and a new smooth surface for the skate park, which Nick and his father, Greg Reed, spread. But the skateboarders needed more money for the fun stuff -- ramps, jumps and rails. After school, the eighth-graders visited service clubs, business owners, orchardists and banks in search of sponsors. "We are famous," said Reed, holding his weathered skateboard. Like entrepreneurs pitching a business project, they accompanied each presentation with information booklets and answered questions. "They did all the talking," said Carol Reed, who drove the teens from place to place. "It opened my eyes to what they are capable of doing." Their effort gathered $16,000, almost enough to pay for their dream park, which they expect will draw around 40 regulars, both skateboarders and rollerbladers. "It's our park," said Schmitten. "There's a couple of things that are different from the original design, but it's pretty much everything we hoped for." They still haven't given up hope about adding the street spine and are accepting tax-deductible donations, which can be mailed to the: 101 Woodring, Cashmere, WA 98815. For more information, call 509-782-3513.

*** Barbecue to raise funds for skate park *** Cashmere Washington - 06/15/2001 A group of teenagers will hold a barbecue Saturday to raise money to complete the Cashmere Skate Park. The party at the park site, 106 Aplets Way, will run from 5-8 p.m. The cost is $10 a family and $4 a person. Donations can be mailed to the City of Cashmere Skate Park Fund, at 101 Woodring, Cashmere, Washington, 98815. For more information, call 782-3513.

April 9, 2001 Heard a request from three Cashmere Middle School students to help buy ramps for a community skate park in Cashmere. The city of Cashmere has provided a site for the park as well as $7,000 toward fencing, lights and park construction. Nick Reid, Kevin Larson and Ryan Schmitten asked the PUD to contribute $5,000 to $10,000 toward the $25,000 cost of purchasing skate park ramps. Commissioners asked staff to look at funding possibilities and return with a recommendation.

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