If You Build It, They Will Come
Skatepark breaks ground next month in nearby Frankfort
By Jacob Wheeler
Sun editor
This story was originally published in the Betsie Current, the Glen Arbor Sun’s sister publication in Benzie County.
Jeff Hessler began lobbying way back in 1976 for a skatepark in Frankfort. The co-owner of Betsie Bay Furniture, next to Stormcloud Brewery, has skated these streets since he was 14 years old.
“I’ve been skating since the polyurethane wheel came out,” he says.
Nearly 40 years later, he and his 14-year-old daughter Annie may soon get their wish.
A fund drive to raise money for a skatepark at Market Square Park, across M-22 from Frankfort Elementary School, has attracted $11,000 from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. An anonymous donor has promised to cover the remaining cost of the estimated $125,000 needed. The park is scheduled to break ground in July, confirmed Frankfort superintendent Josh Mills.
“This is kind of a dream come true,” says Hessler, who claims that, in his day, he won skateboard competitions in Frankfort, Onekama and Traverse City.
But Hessler’s recent push for a skatepark is inspired by his daughter and her friends, who love to skate around town on longboards, 3-5-foot boards with larger wheels and capable of greater speeds than a traditional skateboard. Longboards are especially popular with the millennial generation.
Annie Hessler and her friends, Helen Erginkara and Reagan Fombro, all 14, say they skate in the streets, on sidewalks, in alleys or at the beach turnaround late in the evening, when few cars are present. They’d prefer to have a skatepark that could also be used by any non-motorized wheels, such as bicycles, trick bikes and rollerblades.
“It would be nice to have a place to go,” says Fombro. “The cars don’t always stop for us, and sometimes they get really mad at us. This would be a nice area for kids to play.”
Scoping out skateparks
Jeff Hessler took the girls to visit existing skateparks in Michigan, so they could determine what kind of park would be suitable for Frankfort. They were particularly impressed by a skatepark in Belding, near Grand Rapids, and how friendly it was for longboarding. That experience led them to the Evergreen Skateparks company based in Portland, Ore. Evergreen will reportedly break ground on the Frankfort skatepark in July.
“Skating is an excellent activity for kids of any age,” says Hessler, who highly recommends that skaters where helmets and safety pads. “Kids in skateparks are in great shape. With health issues looming for today’s youth in this country, skating offers amazing health impacts.”
Plus, says Hessler, parents can sleep more easily at night knowing that their kids aren’t skateboarding in the streets.
“This isn’t a sport that requires a lot of money to participate,” Hessler points out. “Skateparks are free. You just buy the board, and we always recommend a helmet and pads. It’s not like with skiing or golf. You don’t need to come from big income families.”
Beachnut Surf Shop — located on the east side of Frankfort’s Main Street — has also been involved in coordinating plans, doing groundwork, and fundraising for the new skatepark.
“We’ve sent staff with Jeff to skateparks around the state to gather ideas,” says Nancy Bordine, co-owner of Beachnut Surf Shop. “We’ve had two different fundraisers, put on by kids who are excited about the skatepark. We had one event where we did a skate clinic, conducted by Annie Hessler and others, that raised a few hundre dollars.”
Additionally, Bordine says, Beachnut Surf Shop has increased its line of equipment including pads for knees and elbows, high-end socks that are built specifically for skateboarding, as well as a new line of downhill boards.
“Frankfort kids come into the store every day and beeline for the skateboard section,” she says. “They pick up the boards and ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over them. They’re excited.”
She adds that it’s not just kids, though — there are a lot of people with a surprisingly wide range of ages who enjoy skateboarding, especially when Frankfort’s population surges in the summer.
Adding value
The dimensions of the skatepark coming to Market Square Park will be determined on June 6. Hessler envisions a 2,500-to-3,000 square foot concrete park with a pedestrian path around its perimeter. The park will feature smooth, fast ramps with coping steel at the top that allows boards to slide on it. The vertical ramps will be less steep than some parks, says Hessler, so it won’t be dangerous. He wants to add lights to the park so that kids can skate at night and so that random passersby won’t accidentally stumble onto the ramp.
“Skateboarding is a fun thing to do, and the park would help keep kids out of the street,” Bordine says. “It’s a sport where kids encourage each other doing tricks and such. It’s a healthy, socializing opportunity.”
An added benefit, his daughter and her friends point out, is that the skatepark could make Frankfort a hotspot destination for area teenagers. Towns up and down the west coast of Michigan cater to beachgoing or boating tourists, shoppers, diners, wine- and beer drinkers, but too seldom offer activities for action-starved 14-year-olds. Annie Hessler estimates that dozens of Frankfort High School students skateboard, and that the skatepark will also draw from Beulah, Empire, Manistee and beyond.
“This is a $2.5 billion industry in this country, and it’s only going up and up,” offers Hessler. “I think we’re ready for a skatepark in Frankfort.”
