Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Shawn Braxton of Roanoke rides his bicycle in the Vinton skate park near Gearhart Park on Monday evening. The park was first created when teens helped raise half of the $20,000 dollars to construct the park. Braxton said bike shops put money into the park.

Graffiti is displayed in many places throughout the skate park, which was one of the reasons that led to the town council's decision to shut it down.

The parents of teens who used the park initially agreed to help keep the area safe, but one parent now says this practice has dropped off.

Two weeks after the Vinton Town Council voted to close the town's skate park because of vandalism, a group of teens who use the park, and their parents, pleaded Tuesday for the council to work with them to keep the facility open.

The council had voted June 17 to close the Gearhart Park skating area by the end of July and discuss whether to look for a new site. On Tuesday night, council members unanimously agreed to hold a public meeting July 14 at 7 p.m. at the Vinton Municipal Building to hear residents' opinions about the facility.

Prior to Tuesday's meeting, Consuella Caudill, Vinton's interim town manager, had said the town wants to "find an alternate, more appropriate, highly visible location for the skate park."

But teens who spoke at the council meeting pledged to take better care of the current facility while saying they weren't to blame for the damage.

The skate park was built six years ago on tennis courts in a remote area of Gearhart Park off Gus Nicks Boulevard. The courts were remodeled to include ramps for skateboards and BMX-style bikes.

In recent months, water fountains at the park have been vandalized, trash cans have been stolen or set on fire, and the skating facility has been spray-painted with graffiti.

In May, town employees reported to the council that they had repaired and painted the recreation area, only to find it covered with fresh graffiti days later.

"We feel like the skateboarders ... are getting punished for something they're not even doing," said Bo Minnix.

He was among about a dozen teens present who skate at the park who said they have spent their own money buying new trash cans and painting over the graffiti.

"If you close the skate park, there's going to be nowhere else for us to go," said Kyler Millman, another teen who skates at the park.

Without the park, Bo and Kyler said that teens would likely resort to skating through town again, which would upset business owners. In 2002, authorities admonished teenagers for skating in the Vinton Farmers Market. That led the teens to raise $10,000 to get the park built.

The money they raised was paired with a $10,000 matching grant from Roanoke County Parks, Recreation and Tourism to construct the park's ramps.

Similar parks are located in Roanoke and Salem.

Teresa Carlesco, whose son, Brandon, now 19, was 14 when he helped raise the money for the park, told the council that she helped clean the park when her son used it.

When the skate park was built, it was supposed to have cameras to monitor behavior. Parents of the teens who wanted the park agreed to keep an eye on the area to ensure its safety, but newer generations of children and their parents are not doing that, Carlesco said.

"If the children are not going to take care of it, then it should be shut down," she said.

Security cameras that may have been able to identify the vandals were never installed by the town.

"I'm not sure as to why," said Caudill.

"They were supposed to do a lot of things that they did not do," Carlesco said. "But you know, that costs money, and I'm sure that probably had a lot to do with it."

Gerald Creamer, whose son uses the park, said the youths using it are underappreciated athletes who need the recreation area.

"To take that away from them would really be a poor choice for the town of Vinton," he told the council.

Vinton Mayor Brad Grose said the public meeting will be an opportunity to try to resolve the situation.

"The council wants to do good things for the community," he said. "But there are some problems down there."

Councilman Robert Altice said if the town does decide to keep the park open, it would need to be a joint effort in which supporters of the park would have to pitch in to take care of it.

"We're willing to work with you all," Bo said. "Whatever we can do."