lion city skaters
10/02/2012

Tampines Skate Park Problems

Posted by LCS

We met with some representatives from the Tampines Town Council last Wednesday to discuss some of the problems facing Singapore's newest Tampines Skate Park.

Our biggest complaint is that Tampines Town Council nor Playpoint Pte Ltd (Rhino Ramps) have not consulted any local skateboarders in the design, layout and choice of the ramps. As a result what could have been an amazing facility has now become a poor representation of what skateboarders in Singapore want and need.

This is not the first time Playpoint Pte Ltd has botched a skatepark in Singapore. In fact, they are making quite a habit of it. After the numerous complaints we received regarding Active Skatepark, we were shocked to find out they did not liaise with the local community on the Tampines skatepark.

 

This skatepark is less than a month old and already screws and bolts are falling out of the ramps. Screws that are missing typically drop to the floor and cause accidents.


 
The sharp screws can cause serious bodily harm should a skateboarder fall down and impale themselves. Would you leave your child alone to skateboard in this unsafe dangerous skatepark?   



The joints on the funbox are poorly finished and do not even lign up. This leaves a sharp edge that is unsafe and dangerous. The skatebaorders have attempted to fix the problem by applying wax to the uneven edge.


 As these ramps are too large for the allocated space and only allow for 1 skateboarder to skate at a time many have to sit on the floor and wait their turn to use the ramps. Many have commented that the mini-spine that is pictured above is pointless in a skatepark this size. A manual pad is more suitable. As such, the skateboarders have decided to use the ramp to sit on rather than skate it!


Tampines is home to the largest skateboarding population in Singapore and as such the sktepark is packed full of skaters on the weekends. It's so full that it becomes dangerous to skateboard. Skateboarding is a sport that requires ample space and speed. Many skateboarders travel to further away skateparks that are less crowded. The park's allocated size is too small for Tampines and the ramps are terrible.

 
Skateboards can fly out onto the pedestrian pathways because there is no guard rail.


Skateboard damaged due to sharp railing encompassing the skatepark. Some skateboarders have even injured their shins and knees on the railing.



 Many skateboarders have complained this rail is too short and needs to be longer. The design of the end also makes it difficult to perform tricks like K-grinds.  A circular rail is also more preferable.


Incorrect transition. More evidence that shows this skatepark vendor did not do their research and should not be building skateparks in Singapore.

We didn't take photos of the floor, but the flooring although relatively smooth is starting to chip.  Concrete flooring is very important and not all cement is the same hardness and quality. With  local skateboard community involvement this could have been avoided.

When will Town Councils stop using skatepark vendors in Singapore that know nothing about skateboarding and that are only out to make a quick sale. They offer no after sales service, do nothing to grow or develop our sport and never involve the community in the design.

It is too late and too expensive to send these obstacles back or re-do the skatepark, so we are left with a poor excuse of a skate park! This being said - We will do our best to achieve the below improvements:

1. Change the rail to a round rail and increase it's length.
2. Add a manual pad / grind box
3. Consider removing street spine and adding a rectangle flat grind bar. ( Comment below on this option. As many skateboarders have asked for the spine to be removed).

(Click on image to enlarge)

9/06/2012

Skatepark FAILURE.. contiinued.

Posted by LCS

Leave your constructive comments about the failure of the new Tampines skatepark at the links below. These are MP's on facebook that can help your voices be heard. TAKE ACTION by leaving a constructive comment and fighting for better skate parks that involve the skateboarding community in the design process.

https://www.facebook.com/teoserluck/posts/526883410662114

https://www.facebook.com/TharmanShanmugaratnam/posts/506853172677512

https://www.facebook.com/SGConversation/posts/223364807790451

https://www.facebook.com/irenengph

https://www.facebook.com/ChanChunSing.SG

Letter sent to MP's via Facebook:

Dear ...,

I am writing to you regarding some imminent issues with the skateparks being built all across Singapore. Though I applaud the government for its efforts to create a safer place for the skateboarders to practice their sport, there are key issues with the locality, design and even the obstacles being used.

An article (For skateboarders, by skateboarders, written by Eisen Teo, in IN: secondary school newspaper- published by The Straits Times on 16/05/2011) reported that “Although there are now more skateparks, participants are unhappy with many of the skateparks built for them… many are poorly designed.. too small to accommodate more than a dozen skateboarders at any one time…. obstacles may not be well positioned or constructed… and the floor is very rough. Skateparks keep skateboarders off the streets …and the standards of skate parks must be higher, or else skateboarders will not skate at these places and it will be a waste of land, said Muhammad Umar Al-Siddiq, 24, a full-time skateboarding coach. “ The Somerset skatepark and Xtreme SkatePark are notable exceptions – they are packed almost every day of the week, especially on Friday evenings and weekends. For the skatepark in Somerset, the National Youth Council consulted skateboarding, in-line skating and BMX (motocross bicycle) professionals. For Xtreme, NParks and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports engaged Convic Design, a professional skatepark design firm from Australia. The result? Excited, satisfied skateboarders. With these two skateparks fast becoming overcrowded, skateboarders suggest upgrading the other unsatisfactory parks…. Town councils, community clubs or the National Parks Board (NParks) usually oversee the building of skateparks, and a check with them revealed that some, such as those in Queenstown, Bedok and Bishan, were indeed constructed without input from skateboarders.”

Representatives from the skateboarding community have been trying to open communication channels with the various Town Councils, CCs and even “Playpoint”, the appointed Project Manager with constructive feedback because building skate parks in the middle of heavily clustered HDBs, and laying odd-placed obstacles on unsuitable terrains may result in accidents and noise pollution, and create unnecessary friction between the residents and skateboarders. Despite repeated complains by skateboarders, concerned parents, residents and the media regarding safety issues and design inadequacies; no one has yet asked the skateboarders to be involved in the planning, design and developing of the skateparks which are meant for skateboarders. New skateparks bearing similar designs and problems continue being built, with the most recent being in Tampines and Punggol.

With the amount of resources that the government is investing, it might make more sense to involve and include our local skateboarders, before proceeding to design or build a community skate park. Skateboarding has been around since the early 1980s and there are approximately 2000 or more active skateboarders in Singapore today, with ages ranging from 5 years old to 40 over years old. Through the years, many local skaters have been involved in, and hired to spearhead, conceptualize, manage, develop skate courses, and market international skateboarding events in Singapore and across Asia. Singapore has played host to numerous international skateboarding events, and numerous local skaters have represented Singapore to compete at international skate competition in neighboring countries.

By hiring and leveraging on the experience of our Singapore skaters, maybe the community skate parks will finally fulfill its intended purpose of being a community space that is ideal for our residents, safe for our local skaters, and a place where skateboarders, their families and other residents can gather and bond often. If you would like to get in touch with the local skateboarding representatives, do pm me and I will be happy to give you their respective contact numbers. Thanks for reading. :)


By Valerie 

8/18/2012

Tampines Skate park FAILURE

Posted by LCS




Community response to the new Tampines skatepark. Comments taken from Facebook.

--"Finally after how many years of requesting a skatepark in Tampines now there's finally one!! :)"

--"Good to hear abt the upcoming park but am slightly disappointed cos it looks like there's no inputs from skaters again. The design of the park does look a bit dated.... Something more street friendly will be good. Ledges, manny pads, stairs / rails, etc like Stoner Park in the US."

--"Hey LionCitySkaters could you try approaching the town council to redo the park?and ask for a football sized flat ground for a D-I-Y spot?"

--"Exactly like queenstown skatepark."

--"Don't have rail?"

--"It's a waste of tax payers money building a skatepark like that, improper layout. I was expecting a mini half pipe. But nevertheless at last a proper place for the kids to skateboarding. Being grown up in Tampines, been skating around Tampines since childhood. It's like a decade they build one, thumbs up SG government."

--"What a wack (stupid/terrible)  design....waste of money...can't they just build a simple street course..."

--"We should all buy cement and build our own instead of getting the government to do it for us."


--"Tamp sk8park so lame... like khatib. No rails and sooo small"


Lion City Skaters opinion:

Considering the size of area these are the wrong types of ramps. This should be a street styles park with box's, rails, manual pads and curbs. By having 3 large obstacles the space is poorly utilized. Furthermore, these ramps are identical to queensway skatepark. There is nothing special to draw kids and youth to the park. Nonetheless, it's great to have a new park! But it's a shame the end users, youth and skate community were excluded from the design and choosing of obstacles. No one asked the community "what do you want to skate?". Skate parks obstacles are expensive and this is an example of the Tampines Town Council throwing tax payers money down the drain.

(Click on image to enlarge)

These ramps are the Rhino Ramp brand and distributed by Playpoint Singapore. They do not hold up to Singapore's harsh outdoor environment. See Queenstown Skatepark damage.

We called the Tampines Town Council repeatedly and spoke to the project manager Mr. Ting who was unable to answer our questions regarding the skate park.

You can read our e-mail to the Tampines Town Council below,  which we never got a reply too despite calling to remind them and using the contact form on their website to inquire about the new skate park.

E-mail to Tampines Town Council:

--"Dear Mr Ting,

To continue from our telephone conversation:

We are writing to you as representatives of the Singapore skateboarding community. We are a group of skateboarders that regularly meet to participate in skateboarding, organize events and carry out skateboarding workshops.

We have been receiving lots of questions and even complaints with regard to the Tampines Skate Park that is currently under construction.

These are the questions we would like addressed:

1. Was a meeting held to gather local user input on the the design of the skate park?

2. Were the end users given the opportunity to select the obstacles?

3. What has been the extent of skateboarding community involvement in this project?

Perhaps you would like to read about the downfalls of the last skatepark built in Singapore here:

Here is an extract from the link

"The Yishun -Yio Chu Kang Town Council and Playpoint Pte Ltd have not consulted any local skateboarders in the design, layout and choice of the ramps. As a result what could have been an amazing facility has now become a poor representation of what skateboarders in Singapore want and need. 

In the future an effort should be made to create a dialogue between users of these skateparks, the town councils and builders. With local skateboarder input and involvement when building or renovating heartland skateparks these citizens will develop a sense of ownership and pride. Furthermore, when town councils provide the "correct" facilities it helps the youth feel that the community is addressing their needs and helps them feel more connected and encourages good citizenship."

We are already receiving negative feedback about the skatepark design and it's not even complete yet!  This leads us to presume the local community hasn't been involved whatsoever in the project. Hopefully, this is not the case!

Sincerely,

Lion City Skaters

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