ROANOKE, Va. – For skaters in the Roanoke Valley, Wasena is one of the only places they can go. And now, Salem has announced a $200,000 contribution to the park — leaving people with mixed feelings.
“My son was a year and a half old and I have videos of him on his bike and on his scooter. He was there three days before they tore the park down,” skater Zachary Vest said.
Zachary Vest has been skating for over 20 years, and now is teaching his three-year-old son the ropes.
He would take his son to Moyer Skate Park in Salem.
“It was just a really good place to go, and it was in a safe area,” Vest said.
Moyer was torn down as a part of renovations to the Moyer Complex as a whole last year. A new skatepark was included in the original plans, but not anymore. The plan now is to build ten new pickleball courts in its place.
Salem authorized a deal with Roanoke City Monday night that would provide funds for a new regional skate park, located near the current Wasena Skate Park.
It’s a one-time distribution of $200,000 — but Vest isn’t impressed.
“It’s not a fair trade-off. This location is not Salem. Salem is a subsidiary location where there’s a community that can’t travel to Wasena — and even if they could, it’s few and far,” he said.
Laura Saunders and her 10-year-old son Kyle have spoken out about the decision to close Moyer for over a year. Laura said a regional skate park doesn’t solve the issue they’re having.
“My son can’t travel miles over to Wasena by himself, so I think it really limited the kids here. It wasn’t in the best interest of the kids,” Laura said.
10 News reached out to Salem, and got a response from Mayor Renee Turk. She said, “We want to contribute to the larger park where it can be built in an expansive and safe area. There’s a need to be met and we do feel good about committing to this new regional facility. We’re taking advantage of this new opportunity to make things happen quickly for our citizens.”
The full agreement from Monday’s meeting can be found here.
