Much like many small towns and cities across the USA, Manistee MI has a prominent downtown center. With few other options, skateboarders flocked to the area for its curbs and rails resulting in the merchants lodging complaint after complaint with the city. The City Manager’s solution was to start arresting the kids for trespassing. This approach did not “fit” with the Chief of Police, David Bachman, who thought there was a way to appease the merchants and benefit the youth in the town. This solution was, of course, to build a skatepark. Like many playspace projects, the Manistee skatepark effort was launched by a champion for the project, in this case Chief Bachman. The first steps included creating “canned drawings” to sell the idea to the town. Bachman knew he needed to generate at least $75,000 to get the project off the ground. With seed money in-hand, and the go-ahead of the City Council, the skatepark design was begun. Preliminary planning included a visit to every skatepark in the state of Michigan for ideas of what would work best for the Manistee community. At this point the planning process was turned over to the community’s youth. A group of about 20 kids took the reigns, and after a few meetings it was clear they wanted “quality over quantity.” The consensus among the group was to proceed with one particular vendor. To ensure the kids would get the park they truly wanted (and thus would truly use), Bachman helped the youth maneuver through the City’s bidding process. He brought several youth representatives with him to a meeting, and together they were able to convince the council to go with their vendor of choice. Site selection also posed a challenge. The logical choice was an area next to a relatively new teen center. However, this property bordered the school’s tennis courts as well as some residences. The solution was to include proper landscaping that would serve to obscure the skatepark from the view of the residents and the tennis courts as well as to create an appropriate sound buffer. At this point finding more money was key to the project. Bachman’s first stop was the local Rotary Club where he was a member. This club was a relatively new chapter who happened to be looking for a community project. Bachman was able to convince them that the community-build aspect of this skatepark project made it an ideal candidate. The Rotary committed $10,000 and plenty of volunteers. In addition, the Rotary bought special benches to commemorate the contribution. The commitment of the Rotary gave strong credibility to the process and encouraged more community buy-in. Prior to building the skatepark, there was a lot of work that needed to be done to prepare the site. Much of this prep work was completed as “in-kind” donations. For example, a building had to be demolished and the resulting debris cleared aware, as well as extensive landscape design. Since a majority of this work was donated to the project, most of the money raised for the skatepark could be spent on equipment. Equipment finding came from four primary sources: $25,000 from City Council, $25,000 from the Casino Grant Authority, $10,000 from the Rotary Club and $10,000 from the Manistee Recreation Authority, which often sponsors youth programs. The remainder of the $130,000 final budget was comprised of the in-kind donations. Along the way there was very little resistance to the project, with only one community member becoming vocal against it. A few others were upset about town funds going to a skatepark, but these feelings did not represent the majority. On build day, in April 2004, every member of the Rotary Club came out, in addition to other community members, and the skate-park was assembled all in one day. The police and fire departments also got behind the effort. Despite chaotic weather, the day was deemed a success. This new skatepark has definitely made an impact on the community. For one, the teen center, which had been floundering now has quadrupled its usage, making the center the resource it was meant to be. Also, the kids have had the opportunity to be involved in their community and in return are taking pride and ownership over the park. The have done “a real nice job” of sharing the space with each other, as well helping to keep-up the area. Also, the downtown merchants are thrilled, making the job of Chief of Police an easier one! Chief Bachman reported that the biggest challenge was getting that first bit of funding from the City. “If you haven’t got seed money, you can’t get others. No one wants to be first.” However, there was a lot to learn from the project. First of all, Bachman says you have to believe in the project to be able to sell it. “If it doesn’t make sense to you, it won’t make sense to the people you are selling it to.” Secondly, you need to make sure kids are involved. “I don’t skate,” Bachman said “I thought I knew what they wanted, but as [we] went through, it appeared they had a different idea.” The KaBOOM! online project planner also served as an important resource to Bachman and the project. The email database allowed him to keep in touch with the kids and the community. The budget tools helped the project stay on track. Mainly, the tool was an initial guide for Bachman who described himself as “not really that organized.” Recently (August 2005), Bachman lead an update of the skatepark with a $70,000 addition. And once again, kids and community members turned out for the assembly day. With the momentum of the past couple of projects under his belt, Bachman has decided what’s next on his to-do list: a swimming pool!

Project Notes:
Project Planning Timeline: With a proposal submitted to the City Council in November 2003 and a build day in April 2004, the project timeline was about 6 months. The concentrated effort was necessary because of the growing frustration of the downtown merchants.
Biggest hurdle/challenge: For the Manistee Skatepark project, the biggest challenge was definitely securing the initial funding from the city. Without that money it would have been difficult to raise other funds, “nobody wants to be first.” Access to the Council also posed some problems initially, it taking some time until the proposal could be submitted for approval.
One piece of advice: Get kids involved! This was crucial to this project as the success of the skatepark heavily relied on the kids using it for years to come. Having their involvement in selecting equipment and design was critical to this. The ideas they had were quite different from those originally conceived by Bachman. Kids were also essential in helping to ensure that they were able to use their vendor of choice as they spoke out at a council meeting about the importance of acquiring just the right equipment.
Best fundraising tip: Believe in what you are selling. “If it doesn’t make sense to you, it won’t make sense to the people you are selling it to.” Bachman and the youth of the community knew the skatepark was the right fit, and were able to convince the City council and the Rotary Club too. Without the participation of these groups, the project might have floundered.

Fundraising Details:
Total Budget: $130,000 ($60,000 in-kind)
· $25,000 grant from City Council
· $25,000 grant from Local Revenue Sharing Board (Casino earnings)
· $10,000 Manistee Recreation Association
· $10,000 Local Rotary Club
· $60,000 In-kind

“Rotary” benches were placed around the park to recognize the contributions (of money and time) made by the club.
Top Five Expenses:
· Equipment - $70,000
· Site Preparation - $20,000 (all in kind)
· Landscaping - $40,000 ($20,000 in kind)


In-Kind Contributions:
· Site preparation, including building demolition, hauling the waste, and backfilling the void.
· Landscaping, half the cost of the plants, labor and materials was donated


How has this project changed you and/or your community?

This new skatepark has definitely made an impact. For one usage of the community’s teen center, which had been floundering has quadrupled, making the center the resource it was meant to be. Also, the kids have had the opportunity to be involved in their community and in return are taking pride and ownership over the park. The have done “a real nice job” of sharing the space with each other, as well helping to keep-up the area. And as for all those frustrated downtown merchants, they are just thrilled because they haven’t seen a skateboard in over a year!