Parks and Recreation Director Rick Atkins ordered the City of Round Rock skate park to be closed for one week to address problems of misdemeanor criminal activity at the park.  The skate park, 1600 Gattis School Road, behind the Clay Madsen Recreation Center, will be closed from 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, to 8 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 25.

Residents and skaters are invited to attend a meeting at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, in the Clay Madsen Recreation Center Large Meeting Room to discuss park closures and solutions. Suggestions for addressing the problems can also be submitted on a City blog.

“The trash problem has gotten out of control, and too many skaters are climbing the fence, damaging it, to get into the park,” Atkins said. “We need to send a message to the skaters this type of behavior can not be tolerated. The City has invested too much in the skate park to allow this kind of activity to continue.”
 
From Feb. 1 to Aug. 16, there have been 115 calls to the police to the skate park address. Call types include narcotics, disturbances, suspicious incidents/persons, juvenile offense, criminal mischief and burglary and/or theft.

New signs will be placed at the site, and Round Rock police will take a more proactive approach to monitoring the skate park, which opened in mid-July.

“We have a lot of responsible skaters using the facility, and it’s unfortunate that a handful of irresponsible people have caused us to take this action,” Atkins said. “The skate park needs to be a positive place for our citizens, especially our youth, to play.”