LOVE Park Article 1 - SKT: DC Shoes To Donate $1 Million To Love Park Press Release (From www.expn.com) - Wrestling - http://maxpages.com/thedawghouse/LOVE_Park_Article

Vista, CA—DC Shoes announced today the skateboard shoe manufacturer will contribute $1 million to the City of Philadelphia to help support the re-opening of LOVE Park to skateboarders. Addressing a battle that has been raging since LOVE Park closed to skateboarders in 1995, DC Shoes has stepped up and offered to pay for the maintenance, security, upkeep and replacement of obstacles due to skateboarding in the park. In the agreement, DC has committed to donate $100,000 per year for the next 10 years.

"Even though we're based in California, LOVE Park is very close to us and our team," said DC President Ken Block. "LOVE Park is a landmark in skateboarding's history; I am very proud that our company can to its part to help preserve LOVE Park to make it something that future generations can enjoy and skate."

Since December, DC has been in negotiations with Friends of LOVE Park (FOLP), a newly incorporated non-profit organization that is committed to seeing LOVE Park re-opened to skateboarding on a mixed-use basis.

The gift, restricted in its use to support the activities of the Friends of LOVE Park is conditioned on the successful achievement if the city adopts a "balanced solution" to permit skateboarding in LOVE Park. FOLP recently gained momentum as an offspring of three organizations: Young Involved Philadelphia, The Skateboard Advocacy Network and the Independence Hall Association, whose efforts to gain support for skateboarding in LOVE Park through funding were well-publicized last summer.

"We are absolutely thrilled to have secured this kind of private philanthropy for a recreational resource when most of the city is facing substantial cut backs," said Andrew Hohns, a member of FOLP's board. "Working with the Managing Director's office has been a pleasure and we have had the opportunity to substantially refine our plan in order to react to the numerous great suggestions they offered. Furthermore, to secure a gift of this magnitude in these tough budget times demonstrates the enormous resonance of skateboarding at LOVE Park to the global community."

The announcement will be made June 1st at 1:00 pm at LOVE Park where DC's president joins elected officials, civic activists and political leaders to offer information and answer questions on the gift and what it means to the city. "I'm honored to be included in this group of heavy-hitters in Philadelphia, he said. "I'm also honored that DC can help a cause like this. There aren't many places like it in the world. LOVE Park is internationally known to skateboarding, and kids can and will continue to fly from all over the world just to skate there."

Professional skateboarder and Philadelphia native Josh Kalis shares DC's commitment to skateboarding and recently got a LOVE Park tattoo on his forearm. "I just give DC so much respect for stepping up like this," he said. "I mean, I've never heard of anything like that happening in any other sport. I think it's so respectable. As much of my heart I give to LOVE Park, I pretty much give to DC now, too. Usually, most companies are looking for a way to make more money, but DC came out and was like, 'Look, we're trying to make sure this skate icon can still be skated.' It's unreal to me."

For more information, visit www.dcshoes.com or http://www.ushistory.org/lovepark/.

Additional Kalis quotes on LOVE Park:

"Man, I don't even know how to describe it. People really have a strong feeling about LOVE Park, and I think it's so cool that kids are going there for all the little protests."
I think all those kids got a lotta heart. It just shows that Love has true meaning to all these skatersit's like they're fighting for a part of their life, you know?"

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Page Updated Sun Jun 4, 2006 4:43pm EDT