To the editor:

I was very sad to hear that the skateboard park in Jackson was going to be another metal atrocity like the one here in Cape Girardeau built by people who have no hold on what skateboarding is. They associate skateboarding with X Games and Tony Hawk and know nothing about it. These skate parks, as they call them, are terrible and worse than having no skateboard park at all, because there is little hope to get a real skateboard park when they claim we already have one. Also it is harder to skate anywhere else because people will kick you off saying, "Go to the skatepark." The quality of the skateboard park is nowhere near $60,000. The thought of a skateboard park is awesome, but officials should consult the skaters of the community before putting money into something for them. A much greater park could have been afforded for $60,000. I hope light is in the future for skateboarding in the Cape Girardeau area.

MATT CANTRELL

Cape Girardeau