The Silver Spring Penguin

UPDATE — A skateboard park will be constructed in the Woodside area with residents’ input on how to deal with big crowds and rowdy teens, reps with the county’s parks department announced.

Photo: Flippin sweet. Credit: J. Deseo/SSP

During a packed and sometimes contentious meeting last Wednesday night, department reps said they’d plan for the 3,000 square-foot ”skate spot” as part of larger schemes to renovate Woodside Urban Park on the northwest corner of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street. However, department reps said they will leave the door open to residents’ feedback.

And there was plenty of feedback inside the planning board’s auditorium that night.

“We’re not discriminating against skaters,” Woodsider Pam Wanveer told project managers. “We’re questioning its size. If all you [skateboarders] come after school, it’ll be overrun immediately.”

Casey Anderson, a Woodside resident and member of Silver Spring’s citizens advisory board, worried about the spot’s location within the park — sandwiched between a basketball court and a county building along Georgia, away from the street. That, plus the potential for boarders to ditch a crowded skate spot for the nearby playground, spelled trouble. (more…)