Chicago Park District Lakefront Director, Bridget Gainer, will be on hand to hear the issues raised by the skating community. Aggressive in-line skating and skateboarding, are two of the most popular sports in the United States. There are 10 million skaters in the U.S. according to the National Inline Hockey Association.
Many park districts consider skating to be a growing trend in park programming.
This is certainly true in the Chicago suburbs where at least five skateparks have been built within the last two years. Chicago skaters are frustrated by the fact that there are no skateparks within the city limits of Chicago, and that skateboarders in particular are often treated more like criminals than athletes. On January 22nd, the skating community will ask the City of Chicago to begin to develop a more accommodating policy towards these popular sports. Chicago is behind the trend in this regards and that should be unacceptable to Park District and City officials. Supporters feel strongly that a world-class indoor skatepark in the downtown area would be a major tourist attraction.