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Garapan Skate Park gets a makeover
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Posted on Mar 23 2021
Members of the House of Representatives minority bloc and their staff pose for a souvenir photo yesterday, March 22, while working to revamp the Garapan Skate Park. (NEIL FAMA)
Members of the House of Representatives minority bloc and their staff began their Precinct 3 project yesterday to give the Garapan Skate Park a makeover.
Minority bloc spokesman Rep. Angel Demapan (R-Saipan) said the project is in line with their efforts to focus on outdoor activities, health and wellness, and camaraderie among the younger crowd. “We’re here and we hope that they appreciate the makeover we’re doing today.”
The idea of revamping the skatepark came from the Saipan skating community itself. A member of the skating community, who is a skater himself, reportedly approached the minority lawmakers, requesting that they make some improvements to the skatepark.
“We came and assessed the site and we had some ideas to do a marine life theme so what you can see here is a large octopus coming out of the ocean, and then we have a sea turtle on this side. The whole concrete area is going to be filled up with the marine life theme. And we hope that…we also bring awareness to the community about the importance of being responsible stewards of our environment, in this case, our ocean,” Demapan said.
One of the requests was to have more skating rink equipment. Unfortunately, Demapan said, they don’t have access to that kind of equipment on island. “We’re just going to do some visual improvements, and hopefully that brings some joy to the people who utilize the area.”
The skatepark lights are also not working and new solar lights will be installed later. “The vendor that provides the specific wattage of solar lights is currently out of stock, but the team will come back to it once they are back in stock.”
Demapan credited the Tan Siu Lin Foundation for its part in the Public Private Partnership program, the Office of the Mayor of Saipan, and the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, and an anonymous donor who helped with this project.
The project will be put on hold for today due to a scheduled House session, but will continue shortly afterwards. The renovation is intended to be completed by Friday, March 26.
