Radlands was opened in November 1992 on Studland Road, Kingsthorpe Industrial Estate in a 10,000 square ft warehouse just a short bus ride or swift skate from town. It was at the heart of the British underground skateboarding scene and was the country's first indoor skate park to host internationally renowned events. Since its opening, more than a quarter of a million people have scaled the ramps, pipes, grind-boxes and wall rides.
Two weeks ago over a thousand of the baggy-jeaned brigade signed a petition that was presented to the council, showing their support for the reopening of the park. How many more people can we make room for outside Spinadisc? Radlands regular Will Marshall echoed the thoughts of many:
'Why close the skate park? Where else are we supposed to go? Skating's a way of life.'
All local political parties support the sentiments of the petition but cannot buy or manage the park under a council-run program. Councillor Anthony Wood, St David's Ward called for volunteers to form a committee to campaign for reopening and around twenty people put themselves forward, including Damien Ince (former centre manager whose dad originally opened the park twelve years ago). The group has now been properly established into key members (professionals of the Radlands community) to form a legitimate business plan.
They're calling themselves The Radlands Action Plan Comittee and are trying to find support, sponsorship and exposure from individuals and/or organisations to help get their community project up and running. We think that they deserve all the help they can get. They've shown a great enthusiasm and passion for their sport and provided a constructive and enjoyable refuge for people of all ages, but particularly for the kids who saw the park as a second home.
Speaking in The Herald & Post recently, Cllr Wood said:
'Things are definitely moving forward, we have got the guys from Enterprise Northamptonshire, who help with social projects, to help us,' adding, 'If it opens as a social enterprise we can make it so it becomes the centre of activity for young people in the town.'
The owners of the premises, WG Grose, who have been approached by a businessman expressing an interest in the building have put the sale on hold temporarily and the committee are currently holding disussions about the plans for a possible reopening. It is going to cost a vast amount of money to renovate the site into a warehouse (somewhere in the region of 50k) so the owners would like to see it reopened as a skate park.
I spoke to Jamie Brown, aka Crazylegs, a commitee member and former employee of Radlands to try and find out what progress was being made with the community members' scheme. He told me:
'Things are going okay but it can be difficult when we've all got full-time jobs to hold down as well. We need people to add comments to our online petition - particularly parents, so we've got hard copy evidence of thoughts and opinions. We are also looking for local donations to get the ball rolling in attracting corporate interest. We've got a very good business plan but it's just going to take some time and a bit of support.'
As skateboarding continues to grow in popularity and becomes a sport that is taken seriously by the British public, we are going to want to see homegrown world-class talent. It's moved on from the narrow, plastic boards with rusty wheels of the 80s you know? Check how we are currently represented in the world of tennis. This is surely due to a lack of free courts for the keen young tennis enthusiasts of the last few years who couldn't afford to pay high hourly rates and wear the appropriate footwear/whites/yawn to practise as much as they needed to. All sports should be available to the youth of our town to encourage kids to spend their time constructively and hone their talents and skills (and I don't mean on Tony Hawke's Underground - their thumbs are adept enough already).
So we need to provide a place for the skaters to go because they're not just going to pack their decks away and give up. They're going to use carparks and graveyards and Abington Street on Saturday afternoons. They need somewhere safe, supervised and appropriate to go. Somewhere designed for this purpose. Hmm? Now where could that be? They need your help.
Crazylegs:
'Radlands has played a huge part in the last decade for so many underprivileged kids and had a real positive effect on them. I wouldn't be where I am today without it.'
If you would like to find out more or have any ideas for sponsorship or fundraising then go to:
http://www.radlands.com/ or http://www.norfampton.com/.
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