Fon du Lac Park District director Brad Smith wants to get the word out to people who love rollerblade hockey that they have a venue for their sport again in East Peoria.
Three years ago, park officials found they needed to make some adjustments with the sports court in lower level Veterans Park.
“When the tennis courts were originally set up, we had the option of turning one into a roller blade hockey rink. The next two courts down had full court basketball laid out. It was perfect because there was the option to play basketball, tennis or rollerblade,” Smith said.
However, Smith said use of the tennis courts picked up considerably, so the park district chose to devote six courts to tennis and construct a separate space for a skate park and rollerblade hockey rink next to the tennis area.
After a few months of the skate area being open, park officials noticed a problem: the rollerblade rink was not being used.
“They were taking the goals and putting them on the tennis courts. I ran into a couple of guys skating down there one day and they said the surface on the rollerblade court was too hard on their blades and tore them up. They liked the tennis surface better,” Smith said.
This was not a feasible solution to the problem for Smith because he said the rollerblades cause unneeded wear and tear on the tennis courts.
“The roller blades are tough on the sport coat surface we have there for tennis. Lots of weight on a small amount of square inch will pop the tiles from the pressure. It’s a long and arduous task to unsnap tiles and push them back into place,” Smith said.
Another complaint Smith heard from rollerbladers was the lack of fencing.
“If a goal ended up in the grass, it was hard to go out and retrieve it with their rollerblades on,” Smith said.
After contacting an asphalt and coating company that worked on other tennis courts and made a material specific to rollerblade hockey rinks, Smith said he got in touch with a contractor about purchasing available products.
“I sent out a request for proposals and grabbed onto the best bids to do all of our applications. It only took a couple of days for the surfacing and sealcoat work. We also have two 10-foot openings on either side for the fencing now,” Smith said.
The renovation of the rollerblade hockey rink helps Smith realize his vision of having something for everyone at Veterans Park.
“We have all ages down there really. Teens to senior citizens are using the basketball and tennis courts and we got the younger crowd at the skate park,” Smith said.
Smith is realistic when it comes to bringing people back to the rollerblade hockey rink, though.
“This has limited their availability to skate in the last year, and people that love that sport have probably found other places to go to in the meantime. It’s going to take awhile to fill back up and get the word out,” Smith said.
“It’s a nice space, and I really hope people come and check us out again,” Smith added.
Skate park hours in Veterans Park are from sunrise to 10 p.m. daily.
For more information, visit www.fondulacpark.com.
East Peoria, Ill. —
