4/19/11 (Vista, CA) – The message is that skateparks can and should serve every community. A meeting of the Tony Hawk Foundation Board of Directors last week produced fifteen recipients of the organization’s coveted skatepark-grant awards. In addition to the landmark downtown skatepark in a Cleveland, Ohio redevelopment neighborhood, a more modest—but equally critical—project in rural South Dakota will serve youth of the region’s Native American communities.

The unparalleled advocacy of northeastern Ohio’s Public Square Group (www.publicskquaregroup.org) should serve as a model for skatepark supporters throughout the country. That, combined with the city leadership’s strong support for the project, made the Cleveland skatepark a rock-star stand out among this semester’s applicants.

“Cleveland is undergoing a transformation into a more livable, healthy and vibrant community, in which skateboarding and other forms of public recreation are critical components,” says Vince Frantz, Executive Director of Public Square Group. “This support from the Tony Hawk Foundation is an important external validation of the role that skateboarding and the skating community can play in this transformation. For Public Square Group and the skaters of Cleveland, receiving national recognition from THF is a signal to double our efforts.”

The challenges facing members of the Lakota Reservation community in Pine Ridge, South Dakota are staggering. And those who suffer the most from high rates of poverty, substance abuse, unemployment, and crime are the area’s youth. So when pro skater Jim Murphy and local advocates teamed up with Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament to build a quality, concrete skatepark in Pine Ridge, they hoped to create a real jewel in the otherwise bleak landscape, and applied to THF for a grant to assist them.

The THF Board of Directors chose the Pine Ridge skatepark as one of its top recipients with a 10,000-dollar grant. Board Members Chris Sacca and Ben Harper then each personally pledged an additional 5,000 dollars to ensure the Lakota-youth skatepark achieved its funding goal, and to add more rock-star support for this critical project.

“Skateboarding saves lives,” says Pine Ridge’s Wounded Knee 4-Directions Skateparks Director Jim Murphy (www.strongholdsociety.org). “And on this reservation, with an astronomical suicide rate among the youth, this skatepark is coming at a critical time when the parents and elders of the tribe are looking for a positive, healthy outlet for their kids to look forward to. The spirit of the Tony Hawk Foundation will help bring this to the Pine Ridge Reservation!”

Thirteen other stellar projects to receive THF awards span the nation, from California to Massachusetts, for a total of fifteen grants worth 125,000 dollars.

Spring 2011 Tony Hawk Foundation Skatepark Grant Recipients

$25,000 Cleveland, Ohio

$20,000 Pine Ridge, South Dakota

$10,000 Monte Vista, Colorado; Bellevue, Pennsylvania; Arlington, Texas

$5,000 Lakeside, California; Hanover, Illinois; Pembroke, Massachusetts; Ann Arbor, Michigan ; Plymouth, New Hampshire; Fort Gibson, Oklahoma; Heavener, Oklahoma; Poteau, Oklahoma; La Conner, Washington; Eau Claire, Wisconsin

“Every community in this group has an exceptional story to tell,” says Tony Hawk Foundation Programs Director Peter Whitley. “These skatepark efforts represent a vision that embraces all youth through recreational access and community support. We hope to see each of these grant recipients produce a skatepark that serves as the new gold standard for their region. It’s due to the positivity, dedication, and tenacity of communities like these that allows skateboarding to continue growing and providing a positive outlet for our youth.”

Tony Hawk Foundation skatepark grants will be available once more this year. The Summer 2011 Skatepark Grant Application deadline is July 1, and will be the final opportunity to apply for a THF grant until 2012.

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