'We work really hard to keep it clean'

COEUR d'ALENE — Jaden Alicea said he and two of his friends were joking Wednesday while painting over graffiti at the Coeur d'Alene Skate Park that passersby probably thought they were being punished because they were responsible for the vandalism.

But, in reality, the trio of extreme sports enthusiasts were so upset by the spray-painted graffiti discovered at the skate park earlier that day, they volunteered to take the job from city employees and clean it up themselves.

The skate park, tucked behind Memorial Field between Northwest Boulevard and the Fort Grounds neighborhood, offers concrete ramps and obstacles for skateboarders.

"It was just stupid. It looked trashy and didn't belong here," said Alicea, a 15-year-old who lives in Coeur d'Alene. "We're trying to get a new park and it's just really disrespectful to that effort. We work really hard trying to keep it clean. This is a passion that we love to do. It's not some trashy thing."

Caanan Buck and Jacob Hamilton joined Alicea in picking up paint brushes and covering up the vandalism. Buck, a 19-year-old from Rathdrum, said he arrived at the skate park early Wednesday morning, like he typically does, and was immediately greeted by the unseemly sight of the graffiti.

"That is not what we want to show," Buck said. "We're trying to be a good group of kids. We want the community to see that we're trying to do that so that maybe they'll be more inclined to support us."

When Hamilton, Alicea and Buck saw employees with the city's parks department arrive at the skate park later with paint and brushes, Buck said the trio jumped into action.

"We walked over there and told them 'This is our skate park. We'd like to keep it clean,' and offered to take care of it for them. We wanted to put in the effort to show them we care."

"We wanted them to know that we actually want to help," said Hamilton, a 17-year-old who lives in Coeur d'Alene.

Jason Olsen, a North Idaho Skate Park Association board member, said he was not surprised when he heard what the three teens did. There is a group of younger individuals, Olsen said, that pride themselves on being part of the extreme sports community in Coeur d'Alene, and are representative of the movement behind building a new skatepark in the Lake City.

"They're good kids that take care of their stuff," Olsen said. "They don't want to associate with that element. There's a perception of the skate park being a place to come and do dumb things, but we all want to change that."

Public parks that have areas that aren't easily visible, Olsen added, have the potential for people coming in and doing illegal activities, regardless of what kind of park it is. That is one reason among many, according to Olsen, that there has been such a tremendous effort put into designing and building a professional, and visible, skate park in the Four Corners area.

"People won't be encouraged to do that kind of stuff anymore," Olsen said. "I often hear and say that this park is our home. And, a lot of times you don't see things like that at other parks, with people being willing to clean up like this. I think extreme sports are a different type of culture, it's a lot of passion and they try to take a lot more ownership of it."

"I'm here more than I am at my house," Alicea added enthusiastically. "Everyone here has a positive attitude about what their passion is and we care a lot about each other."

Sam Taylor, Deputy City Administrator, told The Press the city is very appreciative of the hard-working skaters who painted over the graffiti.

"That was an amazing gesture of volunteerism," Taylor added "The skateboard park users take a lot of pride in their facility, and while they're working to fundraise for a new, bigger park, they want to make sure what they have now is taken care of."