City Posts New Signs at Mercerdale Skate Park

Things are happening over at the . The graffiti has been painted over -- hopefully for good. And two new temporary signs were posted last week by the Mercer Island parks and rec department. The signs replace one which disappeared and one like a heavily-redacted government document. The new laminated posters read:

Attention Skate Park Users:

All non-motorized scooters

are now allowed to use the

skate park. Please be respectful of all

skaters, scooters and rollerbladers.

Thank you,

Mercer Island Parks &

Recreation Department

Bruce Fletcher, director of parks and recreation, explains how and why the rules changed. The park, indeed, was originally designed just for skateboarders. But that changed when a 6-year-old boy wrote to Fletcher this past summer asking him to build another park for scooters. Since the city couldn’t afford to build an additional facility, he decided to open the Mercerdale ramps to more than just boards. Since late last summer, non-motorized scooters and in-line skates have been permitted. Bikes are now allowed on Mercerdale’s perimeter path, as well.

“The reality is that everyone can use it safely. Be nice and wait your turn,” said Fletcher. “We haven’t heard of any injuries. But we’re monitoring it.”

The sailing hasn’t been quite that smooth over at the park. “Parents have complained about confrontations, “ said Casey Torey, field foreman for the department. “They’ve voiced their concerns to the director. There’s been a lot of conflict of interest there. The policy is: it’s shared-user space. Respect everyone.”

Torey, for one, thinks the space should remain exclusively for skateboarders, some of whom come from off Island to skate. “It keeps the teenagers out of trouble,” he said.

As to what happened to the original sign announcing the policy change which went missing: “I can guess,” said Fletcher. “Skaters don’t like having little kids there. But the park is really not that crowded and I think we can all get along.”