By Bob Smith

July 18, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this

This whole skate park is a crime that DeKalb officals should do hard time for: gross & total negligence.

Dunwoody is the densest area of DeKalb with the biggest business district in the SouthEast (Bigger than downtown, Midtown, Buckhead)

Brook Run is the only greenspace in the area. It was supposed to be passive greenspace. So DeKalb builds a revenue generating “Six flags” regional attraction skate park.

DeKalb officals make Mayor Cambell look like Mother Theresa.

By Christian

July 18, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this

10:00 p.m. seems acceptable and is line with most other restricted skate parks around the country.

I’d be remiss not to mention that many of the public parks in the US are open 24 hours.

Thanks.

By Nicholas Scott

July 18, 2007 4:38 PM | Link to this

I wouldn’t care if it was open 24 hours. Most public skate parks that are open 24 hours, with lights, have less vandalism. The style of lights at Brookrun are NOT stadium lights. The lights shine straight down and only light the area directly under the light.I doubt if they will play music on a regular basis, and even then it won’t be loud.

Most public skateparks don’t have audio systems. Brookrun was designed after private skateparks, to produce revenue. A public skatepark should not be modeled after a private park.

The parks in Gwinnett county are free and unsupervised, with no problems. They have two now and three more under construction. There are at least seven more in the planning stages for Gwinnett county.

By Will Adams

July 18, 2007 6:55 PM | Link to this

Bob Smith, I’m not quite sure just how long you’ve lived in Atlanta or how familiar you are with the surrounding areas and suburbs, but I’ve lived in Atlanta for over twenty years. I find it funny you think Dunwoody even has a business district. And bigger than downtown you say? Are you insane? Dunwoody has a few office parks with the occasional high rise, but other than that it’s mostly upscale shopping and retail with houses, apartments and condos too. And most importantly, what does that have to do with the new Brook Run skate park anyway? If I were a parent, I’d rather my kids getting exercise at a skate park than sitting in front of the TV for six hours or playing video games. Remember, the skate park is for the kids, not yourself. The city of Atlanta has been corrupt for forever, ruled by greedy, stupid, ignorant people. Dunwoody is the last nice, uncorrupted suburb in Atlanta, don’t make it out to be something it’s not.

By Michael Adu

July 18, 2007 8:12 PM | Link to this

I highly agree with the park hours and the lights. Because in having a skatepark you have the kids enclosed in a area without needing to be bothered because they will no longer look forward into wanting to skate a 3 stair infront of your bussiness when they have all they need in a park.

If you were to choose to close the skatepark earlier then skaters will just end up back infront of your bussiness area.

Most Bussiness owners are also concerned with the destruction of property they do, so having a skatepark would lead into less destruction and everyone shall end up being happy.

and as Nicholas Scott said “The lights shine straight down and only light the area directly under the light” so the only way they could really bother you is if you were to continuosly stare at them out your window.

By yesisamworried

July 18, 2007 9:47 PM | Link to this

Many people in Dunwoody (mistakenly in my opinion) consider Perimeter Center to be part of Dunwoody. At times, it has had the most class A square footage in the southeast.

Not any more, since much has been torn down to build apartments —- gotta love DeKalb county.

By TONY

July 19, 2007 4:53 AM | Link to this

I THINK IT’S A APPROPRIATE TIME AND IT GIVES KIDS SOMETHING TO DO. SOME PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT EVERY THING IF IT IS NOT TAILOR MADE FOR THEM.

By Tony's Ear Doctor

July 19, 2007 8:10 AM | Link to this

HEY TONY, GOT A SHOUTING PROBLEM?

By barneyb

July 19, 2007 8:57 AM | Link to this

DeKalb County running a skate park. What a joke! The county is collapsing all around them, crime is high, the whole place is a ghetto….and they are sponsoring a venue that will attract MORE thugs?

By The Momster

July 19, 2007 9:35 AM | Link to this

My Dunwoody neighbors seem to forget that this is a REGIONAL park, not a neighborhood park. I for one am thrilled that young and adult skaters will finally have a safe place to skate, especially after years of having to dodge them at neighborhood shopping plazas. We complain when kids have no place to go, and we complain when they do. This is a classic example of NIMBY that affects a very few folks. This park has had input from the DHA and from the skating community for years. When will my Dunwoody neighbors quit being so provincial and start thinking about the greater social good that this park will do? I have lived in the area for 26 years and my kids never had a decent county-maintained facility close by. Now we have a children’s playground, a dog park, and —thank goodness— a place for adolescents and young adults. If the county maintains it properly, I say HOORAY!!! And if you don’t like the very urban place that Dunwoody has become, with conveninet shopping, public transportation, housing for all incomes, and good schools, then move to Forsyth County……

By 8:30 at the latest

July 19, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this

Based today’s article, Mr. Drake states that the county did analysis of other skate parks in the Southeast; though what he fails to mention is that they only paid attention to the operational policies of the for-profit skate parks, Orlando, Florida is at least one example cited by the county. They also viewed the small parks in Decatur, Gwinnett & Athens all of which are unlit, only open dawn to dusk and decided that they weren’t properly built for revenue generation therefore they plan to instill the operational polices of the for-profit model. The problem with this is that the neighborhood is residential with houses a couple hundred feet away and the for-profit parks the county is basing their operations on are in highly commercial districts. The planning of this skate park has been abysmal from the start and the construction plans as far as lighting, speakers for music & the replacement of the building on the site have changed several times since the initial idea of a skate park, all without community notification. The park should be dark at 8:30.

By SkateBoardLover

July 19, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this

Hi I just wanted to start off by saying thanks barneyb for being a complete J*******. Your probably 79 years old havnt been outside in months and you have stale cheetos sitting on your fat gut, You need to realize that this park will help the kids stay out of the streets, They wont bother you and skaters generally stick to their kind shows whatt you know. And FYI this park isnt just gonna be used by hormone induced crazy teens. There is gonna be a bunch of older guys just skating and chilling. Personally i dont think 10:30 is a bad time at all. Your probably in bed passed out at 9 anyway so whats the problem. i reccomend you go get a life and stop hating on other people and hate on yourself.

By christian

July 19, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this

hmmm…. “8:30 at the latest” has made a couple of interesting points.

Commercial, whether provate or gov’t, in a residential area could be a valid reason for concern. It’s not likely Dekalb would allow a Popeye’s Chicken to be placed in a county neighborhood, so I can see where a line is crossed there…

Dawn to dusk would be acceptable for a couple of reasons:

1) It would make the park free. I know a lot of people are for that.

2) It would allow the park to be open earlier. As a professional, this suits me well as a few nasty smith grinds before work would be a pleasant way to start the day.

3) It would satisfy the neighbors and create less tension.

Is it optimal? who knows, lesser of evils at play here, but I’m all for compromise to keep the peace and the skaters, skating.

By clapton fan

July 22, 2007 9:20 PM | Link to this

The park is surrounded by a wonderful residential community. To be brief, I think the skatepark should close at dusk. That gives skaters plenty of time to use the park and helps preserve the quality of life of the surrounding residential communities. The purpose of the park is not to disrupt a community but to enhance it.

By Timothy

July 23, 2007 3:36 AM | Link to this

I think the skatepark is a great addition to the community. we skaters can just keep the music low and everything will be alright. closest skatepark to me and my friends, so we dont have to skate in the dangerous street. :)

By Granny Smith

July 23, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this

Will the skate park be publishing a schedule of the music being played?

My husband enjoys attending free concerts in the park and he would love to sit in his lawn chair and listen to the jazz & classical music. I on the other hand would prefer the evenings they offer Gangster Rap and Death Metal mixes.

By Best thing ever

July 24, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this

This is the best thing since Bill Clinton’s midnight basketball. It seems to me that if there was a need for a skate park someone would have opened one to make a profit. Since that wasn’t going to work, Dekalb has used its police powers to take people’s money and build one for people who don’t pay taxes. That’s a great idea.

By PL

July 26, 2007 8:14 AM | Link to this

I cannot wait for Dunwoody to become a city. We can be free of the likes of Vernon Jones and the racist Dekalb County Board of Commissioners.

I wonder if Vernon has anticipated the lawsuits that the county is going to have to fight over the music and the lights?