Skate Shop Owner Pitches Skate Park In Edwardsville

EDWARDSVILLE - Colin Brandt, a longtime skateboarder and owner of the Skate 618 skate shop in Edwardsville, said he would like to see a skate park built in the city and is willing to help fundraise for it. Citing a lack of skate parks in the immediate area and prime demographics between the local schools, Brandt said a skate park would provide economic and recreational benefits for the city and its residents.

Brandt is a lifetime Edwardsville native and spoke during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s City Council meeting to ask council members to consider his proposal.

“I’m talking tonight because I’d like to get a skate park built in Edwardsville,” Brandt said. “Edwardsville needs a skate park, and it has for a long time. We have SIU[E], college-age individuals - skateboarding is really popular among that group, along with our huge middle school and high school demographic.

“Skateboarding is the third most commonly-reported interest for high school and middle school students, and that’s our second-largest demographic in Edwardsville. There’s no skate parks in the immediate area. We always go to Troy Skate Park or O’Fallon if we want to skate, so if we want to skate in Edwardsville, we’re in the streets.”

Brandt also noted the physical, mental, and economic benefits of building a community skate park.

“It’s for a very wide range of users, so anyone from 2 years old to 80 years old can jump on a skateboard,” he said. “You don’t need to qualify as you do in certain team sports, although [with] it not being a team sport, it still brings people together from all different ages and backgrounds.

“It helps with mental health greatly, physical engagement, community building, free play, and there’s also economic benefits … if we had a good skate park, everyone from the surrounding areas would come to ours.”

Brandt said he’d like the skate park to be built somewhere such as Glik Park or Township Park. He said the cost of a skate park usually starts at $250,000, but there’s a “large community” of Edwardsville skate enthusiasts who are willing to pitch in to make the park a reality.

“We have a large community and we would be willing to raise funds and do whatever it takes to make it happen,” he said.

A recording of Brandt’s public comments and more from Tuesday’s Edwardsville City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on the City of Edwardsville Facebook page.

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