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Father hopes skate park rolls through approvals
Facility a memorial for daughter, others
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HAMMONTON - Allen Campione wears visible tributes to his daughter, Gabrielle, around his neck, on his shirt and in a colorful tattoo on his leg. Gabrielle was 15 years old when she was struck and killed by a train in 2007 after she helped free a fellow ATV rider who was stuck on the tracks.
But when Campione took control of planning a memorial skate park in town, he wanted it to be a tribute to more than just his daughter.
"This town has lost a lot of children, not just Gabrielle. And there are even more in the surrounding area," he said. "This park should be for all of them."
While other area towns have struggled with insurance and vandalism issues at their skate parks, those spearheading this project - tentatively called the Little Angels Memorial Park - claim those issues will not be a problem here.
Campione said he hopes to see the park built on an empty lot now filled with gravel, dirt and weeds at 11th and Washington streets. The town-owned property next to the railroad tracks once was considered as a potential site for a new town hall.
But before a single ramp can be built or any ollies and heel flips can be performed, the project must get approval from the town, its joint-insurance fund, or JIF, and the New Jersey Pinelands Commission.
Campione said he is confident that obtaining the approvals will not be a problem.
The Town Council and Planning Board are already in the process of changing the lot's zoning to one that would allow a skate park. And Campione said he has stayed in close contact with insurance and Pinelands representatives to ensure the park is compliant.
"One of the things we probably will not allow in the skate park is bikes, because we were told it would be easier to get JIF approval if we limit it to just skateboards," he said.
However, it is not the permit process but costly vandalism that has posed the greatest problem for area municipalities with skate parks.
Stafford Township in Ocean County spent more than $275,000 to build a state-of-the-art skate park that included video surveillance, but that did not stop constant problems with vandalism, fights, drugs, alcohol and theft. In an 18-month span, police responded to problems at the park more than 240 times. The park is now closed.
Another Ocean County municipality, Barnegat Township, had to close its costly skate park for three months in 2007 after vandals tore down part of the fence that surrounded the park. That act of vandalism and several others occurred despite monitoring by video cameras.
Haddonfield-based attorney Robert Bucknam, who represents the Gabrielle Nicole Campione Memorial Fund, said the Hammonton park will be different because multiple parties will have a stake in its success.
"This will be a joint venture between the town and a private organization, similar to how the local Little League organization is run, where the town will own the property and the private organization will maintain and operate it," said Bucknam, adding that specifics about who will provide insurance have not been finalized. "This means there will be more people working to make sure those things don't happen there."
And Campione said he has learned from the mistakes other towns have made, which he hopes will prevent the skate park from having similar problems.
"A lot of other parks were set out of the way where it was hard to monitor for vandals," he said. "Ours is just a few blocks from the police station, basically in the heart of downtown Hammonton and, ironically, near the train station."
The largest obstacle Campione foresees is fundraising. Preliminary plans estimate the skate park alone will cost about $250,000 and the rest of the park features, including irrigation, landscaping, playground equipment and benches, will be another $100,000 to $200,000.
"We have coin drops all over the place and we have a golf tournament every year. … But with the economy the way it is, we're a little behind where we should be with our funds," Campione said. "I'm hoping things will start rolling for us once we get all of our approvals."
A date has not been set for the park's groundbreaking. But Bucknam said if all the approvals move through as planned, work should be under way by next spring.
And Campione hopes the proposed park's multipe offereings and significance will also help it succeed where others did not.
"This park will be dedicated to all of the kids who died, but it will also be a way of providing something to the kids who are still here," he said. "This park will be something everyone can enjoy."
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Posted in Atlantic on Saturday, July 4, 2009 3:10 am
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