Skatepark still needs help

ST. IGNATIUS - Blood, sweat and tears are just a fraction of what Kristie Nerby has given to the Skate Ignatius skatepark in St. Ignatius.

And the project still needs more.

Her dream of the positive activity area is almost complete. Construction on Phase II is slated to start June 14 and run through the beginning of July.

However, Nerby, a resident of St. Ignatius, is about $13,500 short.

The starting construction date was determined as the contractors said they would knock $5,000 off the bid if the project would take the summer schedule.

On May 21, Deveer Designs had a jewelry sale and was able to write a $345 check to the project.

"That was very nice," Nerby said.

Nerby, a jewelry maker, was part of the fundraiser and is willing to do what it takes to complete this project.

"If I have to make [jewelry] until my fingers bleed, I will," she said. "This needs to get done."

Phase I was completed the summer of 2008, under budget and ahead of schedule. Phase II was going to be a 7,000-square-foot addition before the recession happened and Nerby had to scale back.

The new version of Phase II will be about 3,500-square -feet with a kidney bowl and more room for street skating.

"It'll be good for people who have mastered the park," she said. "We've gotten really positive feedback. The positive has outweighed the negative. The ones that thought it was bad see now they haven't given it a chance."

Nerby took on the project after her son and friends were complaining about being kicked out of every place they went to skateboard. She took it upon herself to find a solution to more healthy activities for young people to do.

"If you don't give them something positive to do, they'll find something negative to do," she said.

Having access to the skate park will help channel some of the young energy kids have.

"A lot of them spend a whole day down there," she said. "They will work all day to get one trick down. It is also a place of camaraderie. They all know each other and, where they might feel like outsiders at other places, they can have a place to belong."

In the larger scheme of things, Nerby said the skate park will be part of a cohesive parks system in St. Ignatius, with walking paths connecting each of the parks.

The skate park will be the anchor project and when it's completed, it will be easier to plan for the smaller projects. Until then, Nerby is in rapid mode, brainstorming ideas to fundraise the remaining amount for the skate park.

For more information, visit www.skateignatius.com.