Jeff Ament's Skatepark Projects
From 10club's June newsletter .. http://eepurl.com/bpOzvP
Jeff Ament's passion for skateboarding is more than a hobby. This year alone he is involved in three different skatepark projects in Stevensville, Montana + Havre, Montana and Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Over the past decade, Jeff has given funds both personally and through Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation to build twelve skateparks throughout Montana and South Dakota. “Growing up in a small town, two things helped form my young identity: music and skateboarding. Over the next few years, I hope to help create world-class skateparks in small communities in Montana with the help of the Vitalogy Foundation and my own foundation, the Montana Pool Service. I want to give young people a place to call their own where they can get outside with their friends and ride."
To date, the skatepark projects Jeff has been involved with include:
2000 | Seattle Center Skatepark, rebuilt in 2012
2006 | MOBASH Park, Missoula, MT
2007 | St. Ignatius Skatepark, St. Ignatius, MT
2009 | Helena, MT
2010 | Big Sandy Skatepark, Big Sandy, MT, phases 1 and 2
2011 | Pine Ridge Skatepark, Pine Ridge, SD
2014 | Glendive, MT
2014 | Thunder Park, Browning, MT
2014 | Fallon County Skatepark, Baker, MT
2015 | Havre, MT (construction starts June 8)
2015 |Stevensville, MT (construction to start August 1)
2015 |Wounded Knee, SD and phase 2 of Pine Ridge, SD (construction started May 15)
All donations to Vitalogy Foundation received during the month of June will go toward Jeff’s skatepark projects.
http://www.pearljam.com/activism/vitalogy-foundation
Jeff Ament's passion for skateboarding is more than a hobby. This year alone he is involved in three different skatepark projects in Stevensville, Montana + Havre, Montana and Pine Ridge, South Dakota.
Over the past decade, Jeff has given funds both personally and through Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy Foundation to build twelve skateparks throughout Montana and South Dakota. “Growing up in a small town, two things helped form my young identity: music and skateboarding. Over the next few years, I hope to help create world-class skateparks in small communities in Montana with the help of the Vitalogy Foundation and my own foundation, the Montana Pool Service. I want to give young people a place to call their own where they can get outside with their friends and ride."
To date, the skatepark projects Jeff has been involved with include:
2000 | Seattle Center Skatepark, rebuilt in 2012
2006 | MOBASH Park, Missoula, MT
2007 | St. Ignatius Skatepark, St. Ignatius, MT
2009 | Helena, MT
2010 | Big Sandy Skatepark, Big Sandy, MT, phases 1 and 2
2011 | Pine Ridge Skatepark, Pine Ridge, SD
2014 | Glendive, MT
2014 | Thunder Park, Browning, MT
2014 | Fallon County Skatepark, Baker, MT
2015 | Havre, MT (construction starts June 8)
2015 |Stevensville, MT (construction to start August 1)
2015 |Wounded Knee, SD and phase 2 of Pine Ridge, SD (construction started May 15)
All donations to Vitalogy Foundation received during the month of June will go toward Jeff’s skatepark projects.
http://www.pearljam.com/activism/vitalogy-foundation
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Comments
In all seriousness though, I am really glad we're doing something for the kids. Right now they have nowhere to go, and cops who let the badge go to their head chase them out of every parking lot they try to skate or ride bikes in... usually empty parking lots at that.
There was a kid that died a couple years back. He broke his neck trying to jump the fence to get into the dirt track after hours because he had been chased out of every public place he tried to ride. Granted, yes, he was breaking the law by attempting to trespass... but he was not breaking the law by riding his bike in public. He was not damaging any property or being a nuisance, he just wanted to ride. The same 2 cops that kicked him out of the first lot patrolled around looking for him in other places, until they had exhausted every opportunity for him to ride. (Meanwhile we have crack heads, wife beaters, meth labs, a house with over 100 cats & dogs not being fed or cleaned that the cops don't seem to have time for...)
Glad the city is finally trying to do something to give the kids a sanctioned public place to ride & skate!
Thanks Jeff
Building a safe place to skate is the kind of thing that can greatly affect a kid's life.
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Jeff Ament rebuilds Havre skate park
June 16, 2015
Havre Daily News/Jake Shane
Workers excavate dirt this morning at the Havre skate park
The city of Havre is getting a major addition to its skatepark compliments of Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament.
Mayor Tim Solomon said the rock musician, who hails from Big Sandy, has donated $50,000 for a new skate bowl at the 9th Street park.
Work is being done at the facility now, he said at the City Council meeting Monday.
Ament brought in his own people to do the work, but the city's Parks and Recreation Department is helping out, he said.
The mayor's announcement was greeted with a round of applause..
Ament was a skating fanatic when he was young, but there was no place to skate in his hometown.
So, once he had the funds, he built a skate park in Big Sandy in 2010. A skate festival is held in the town annually.
He then built a skate park in Browning.
Solomon said he plans to build skate parks in other Montana towns.
"It's great of him to do this," the mayor said.
Ament played with grunge bands in Seattle in the early 1990s. He formed Pearl Jam and it skyrocketed to the top of the rock music charts.