ARLINGTON - Almost 31/2 years after Arlington teen Cody Rocamontes died for want of a safe place to ride his skateboard, the city dedicated its first skate park Tuesday on what would have been his 19th birthday.
On a warm, sunny spring break day, city officials, Rocamontes' parents and friends, and skaters of every skill level from as far away as France and New York gathered at the 5,400-square-foot Cody Rocamontes Memorial Skatepark inside Randol Mill Park.They remembered the 15-year-old Martin High sophomore, who was struck by a car and killed along an Interstate 20 access road in August 2009 while walking to his favorite skate spot behind a store.As skaters took turns performing gravity-defying moves at the park, which opened in early January, Rocamontes' mother, Kim Grobe, reflected on what her son would have thought of it."His favorite word was fantasmagorical," she said. "All he wanted was a safe place to go."'Behind the curve'The park includes skating and BMX challenges for beginner and intermediate users. The city's skate park master plan calls for 30 parks of various sizes; the largest will be at Vandergriff Park and is under design.The smallest will be called skate spots; construction will soon begin on the first of those, at Burl L. Wilkes Park in east Arlington, parks officials said.The first phase of the Rocamontes park includes such features known to skaters as a hipped bank, a manual pad with rail, a flat bar and park builder Spohn Ranch's signature "skateable art" pieces Curved Taco and Dragon Tail. The second phase, which is not funded, will include a mellow ledge, stair set with rail, pole jam, euro gap, kinked hubba, round wall and bent penny.Skate parks are nothing new in North Texas. McKinney, Allen, Denton, Irving, Lewisville and Grand Prairie are among the cities that Arlington joins, said Matt Young, assistant parks director."We were behind the curve a little," he said. "But we'll catch up fast."Skater David Conley, 18, who took up the pastime at Rocamontes' encouragement, said he has visited the new park every weekend since it opened."It's pretty good," he said, adding that it can get too crowded.Parental perseveranceMayor Robert Cluck, Young and other officials praised the family and their supporters for their persistence in seeing that the park was built.Within weeks of Rocamontes' death, his parents were pleading with the City Council to provide a safe place for skaters."We didn't know what they were talking about or whether we should do it," Cluck, speaking of the first time they approached the council, told the crowd of about 100 people at the park Tuesday.But it didn't take long before the nonprofit they established in their son's name, Cody Rocamontes Inc., gained momentum and supporters clad in orange T-shirts -- Rocamontes' favorite color -- turned up en masse at City Hall.After several meetings, Cluck said, "we understood as a city that our children deserved something like this. In fact, we finally put this project at the top of all the other projects."The nonprofit secured a $10,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to help pay for the park, and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation, funded by the city's natural gas revenue, also provided a grant."Most of the time groups like this go away," Young said. "They don't want to roll up their sleeves. But this group has doneHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
