PANAMA CITY BEACH — The risks are high without a promise of riches, but the thrill of the sport is enough to keep local skateboarders going — that, and a place to practice.
But those options recently have shrunk.
Local laws restrict skateboarders from dabbling in their craft at just any location, so Bay County’s thrillseekers — and visitors to the area — are confined to publicly or privately designated spots for refuge from the possibility of being fined or jailed. Over the years, all private skate parks have closed and left a burden on local governments to fill youth’s desire to ride.
--- PHOTOS: AT THE SKATE PARK»»
--- VIDEO: MIKE THOMAS TALKS ABOUT THE COUNTY PARK»»
Last week the only remaining county-run park underwent significant deconstruction, upsetting skaters and parents alike, but no plans are in place to repair the decaying park facilities.
Chris Sharron, a local who’s been skateboarding for about 15 years — the majority of his life — said the disappearance of area skate parks was disheartening, but the hope of a rebuilt park of their own has kept local skateboarders interested.
“It makes me want to move somewhere else,” Sharron said, “but this town has a great group of skateboarders.”
The park on McElvy Road was constructed for less than $80,000 in 2008, according to Bay County Commissioner Mike Thomas, with the purchase of the wooden ramps making up the bulk of the cost. Thomas was an ardent supporter of the project, though not a general fan of skateboarding.
“You can go through nearly every neighborhood and see a ramp pulled out in the road, but we had never given the kids a place to play,” Thomas said. “It saddens me that it has gone into such a state of disrepair in such a short amount of time, but the ramps wouldn’t be torn up if people weren’t using them.”
Much of the structural integrity of the large centerpiece ramp declined to a point where it became a liability risk, said Jamie Jones, director of county Parks and Recreation.
“We maintained it the best we could, but it got to a point where it was beyond repair and became a safety risk,” he said. “We’re looking to determine what we would put back in its place.”
Going forward: The county does not have funds in place to begin rebuilding the skate park, Jones said.
However, groups of parents, skateboarders and engineers have approached the Parks and Recreation department with various plans that have been met favorably. One proposal offered to the parks advisory committee in 2013 called for $162,415 to be contributed from the county over three years.
The plan never came up for a commission vote for reasons that are unclear, but Jones suspected divergent theories of what would be best for the area might have hurt the groups’ efforts.
“Every group seemed to have a different idea of what should go there,” he said of the skate park. “But since we don’t have money set aside this year, as we move into our proposed budget of next year we’ll be looking at what to put there.”
Departments within the county usually compose their budgets in February and March to prepare for revisions that lead to an October vote. Some elected officials, who would vote on budget proposals, are behind the cause of a skateboard park.
“We will figure out what we need to do to fix it back up,” Thomas said. “We’ve got to get some model that was built better than what we had.”
--- PHOTOS: AT THE SKATE PARK»»
--- VIDEO: MIKE THOMAS TALKS ABOUT THE COUNTY PARK»»
Groups in the community also have began to contribute to a public-private partnership. We Need a Skatepark in Panama City Beach and Rebuild Panama City Beach Skatepark recently have popped up on social media with hundreds of supporters. Another group launched a fundraising website at gofundme.com/hwhpl0.
In the meantime, the local skateboarders will continue to search for thrills on what they can where they can.
“All these guys just love to skateboard,” Sharron said. “If only we had something worthwhile to skate.”