GATESVILLE, Texas — A group of people in Gatesville are calling on the city to repair the only skate park in town and it all started with some bold Gatesville High School students.
After several months of exhausting their own resources to fix the damages, students are highlighting the issues at the skate park.
"Everything is falling apart and it's just, there is nothing for us to do here," said Ethan Branch, a senior at Gatesville High School. "There's one ramp we can still ride on."
The Gatesville skate park is in serious dismay: overgrown grass, nails and metal sticking out and tons and tons of holes.
"I was jumping over one and my foot fell in it because it like caved in and they're just not really safe," Gatesville freshman Hunter Swindall explained.
Some students from Gatesville High say the city has let it go.
"It's sad to see," Branch added.
Zach Swindall is a senior at GHS, he's spent many hours at the park since he was younger.
"I just like to have fun, relieve some stress, come out here, do some tricks. show off to some of my friends," he said.
But even that's been stripped away after the city locked the gates several months back due to unsafe elements.
"Really if we want to ride our bikes, we are going to Hamilton, Waco, anywhere like that -- Austin," said Branch. "We shouldn't have to leave our city if we have something that's here that just hasn't been taken care of."
So now they're calling for action. The high school students started a petition to show city officials that changes are needed and supported.
"If we could just redo what we have and then add a little bit of concrete to the park so that it all lasts a little bit longer," said Branch.
The teens also believe repairing the park and making changes would be an investment in the future generations of Gatesville.
"Probably a good thing to do for not just us, cause like they're probably about to go off to college but for all the kids that are coming and like this is a great place to be," Hunter Swindall explained.
The students spoke to Gatesville city councilmembers about the park conditions. They are hoping the issue will be addressed at the next city council meeting.