Iraqi skatepark on its way...

[skategeezer]

U.S. businessman aims to bring 'badly needed' fun to Baghdad


SONIA VERMA
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail


April 23, 2008 at 4:31 AM EDT

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — Llewellyn Werner acknowledges he is facing obstacles most amusement park developers never have to deal with. Such as mortar attacks, stray gunfire and random looting.
But when you're building your amusement park in downtown Baghdad, those risks come with the territory.
The California businessman is pouring millions of dollars into developing the Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive U.S.-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum.
"The people of Iraq need this kind of positive influence. It's going to have a huge psychological impact," said Mr. Werner, chairman of C3, a Los Angeles based holding company for private-equity firms.
The mayor of Baghdad has granted Mr. Werner a 50-year lease on a development property for an undisclosed sum.
The 20-hectare swath of land, which sits adjacent to the Green Zone and encompasses the Baghdad Zoo, was looted, left without power and largely abandoned after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
In the years that followed, it became an occasional target for insurgent attacks.
However, in recent months, Iraqi families have begun to return to the area for weekend picnics. Renovations have already begun on the zoo, with cages being repainted and new animals arriving, including ostriches, bears and a lion.
Mr. Werner says the time is ripe for a fun park: "I think people will embrace it. They'll see it as an opportunity for their children regardless if they're Shia or Sunni. They'll say their kids deserve a place to play and they'll leave it alone."
Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the Iraqi government, is equally optimistic: "There is a shortage of entertainment in the city. Cinemas can't open. Playgrounds can't open. The fun park is badly needed for Baghdad. Children don't have any opportunities to enjoy their childhood," he said, adding that entry to the park would be strictly controlled through tight security.
The project, wholly financed by Mr. Werner, will cost half a billion dollars to develop and will be managed by Iraqis. Under the terms of the lease, Mr. Werner will retain exclusive rights to housing and hotel developments, which he says will be both "culturally sensitive" and "enormously profitable."
"I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't making money," he said. "I also have this wonderful sense that we're doing the right thing. We're going to employ thousands of Iraqis. But mostly everything here is for profit."
A skateboard park, the first phase of the development, will be unveiled in July.
The project is meant to lure "the demographic of ... kids standing idly by on corners, who are susceptible to influence from the bad guys," he says.
Parts for 200,000 skateboards and materials to build ramps will be shipped from the United States to Iraq for assembly at state-owned factories, and provided free to Iraqi children along with helmets and knee pads.
Mr. Werner also plans to import American instructors to teach Iraqi children how to skateboard. When the sport catches on, Mr. Werner will start to sell the boards, which bear the slogan "Ride Baghdad Skate Park" in hot-pink Arabic.
The larger entertainment park, designed by Ride and Show Engineering Inc., will follow in phases, part of a broader strategy launched two years ago by the Iraqi government and its U.S. partner to attract private investment to the country's 192 state-owned factories.
The factories were closed in 2003 by Paul Bremer, then head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, who mistakenly believed private enterprise would take their place. Instead, industry withered and half a million skilled workers were left jobless.
A task force headed by Paul Brinkley, the U.S. deputy undersecretary of defence for business transformation, is now attempting to revive Iraq's factories. However, his success has been undermined by persistent violence.
But Mr. Werner, whose company manages several hundred million dollars worth of equity, saw Iraq as a gold mine.
He has partnered with several Iraqi factories in the past year, investing tens of millions of dollars in joint ventures.
But the Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience could prove the most ambitious. General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is said to be a "big supporter" of the project, according to Mr. Brinkley.
"There are all sorts of investment opportunities all over Iraq. But it's not just hydrocarbons. Half the Iraqi population is under the age of 15. These kids really need something to do," he said.
Special to The Globe and Mail

[mc99david]

there is a huge investment oportunity there and only a few see it.. the fact is that their economy is in the worst state possable, so any investment over there has no where to go but up..

and if i were single i would offer to go be a skateboard instructor over there. that would be so much fun

[mangels]

Not for me ... American contractors tend to get targeted for kidnappings and killings.

"Hey brah ... that's a sick gun you got there. Whadaya gonna do with it?"

I'm sorry ... is that racist? Or realistic?

[Braden343]

I just have a feeling a few people don't want an American influence over there, but those few with a couple bombs could ruin it for everyone I applaud his effort and hope I'm wrong though.

[BrianWilde]

A positive influence won't help but make people ignore real danger.

Imagine, everyone flocks to the skatepark/zoo... it's a perfect target for bombings. That's what happens already, they target heavily populater areas. I don't see how it's a good idea.

It's what happens in America kind of, we all have our cars, houses, pools, etc... and we just forget that things could go horribly wrong because everything seems so great in your world.

[elementalzoo]

Originally Posted by skategeezer

U.S. businessman aims to bring 'badly needed' fun to Baghdad

What is missing from this story about the skatepark and children, is that due to their culture the odds there will be any girls skating there are extremely slim.

[J Griff]

Originally Posted by elementalzoo

What is missing from this story about the skatepark and children, is that due to their culture the odds there will be any girls skating there are extremely slim.

the odds that you will see any girls at a skate park in America is pretty slim. Despite the fact you usually see one or two, i would say the ratio is at least 1 to 30.

IMHO that was an unnecesary(sp.) ''

[Parallel Man]

Well, it certainly brings new meaning to BOMBING a few hills.

[Buddywolfe]

Originally Posted by elementalzoo

What is missing from this story about the skatepark and children, is that due to their culture the odds there will be any girls skating there are extremely slim.

I hate to break it to you but in that area you wold be hard pressed to see a girl doing anything characterized as "enjoyable"

[RastamanD]

cool lets build some Mcdonalds too and Strip clubs and casinos too....wait how about a MCstrip Casino

srsly we need to GTFO....and build more skatparks here.

[elementalzoo]

Originally Posted by Buddywolfe

I hate to break it to you but in that area you wold be hard pressed to see a girl doing anything characterized as "enjoyable"

Yeah, uh, that was kinda my point

As for the poster who thought what I said was 'uncalled for', stuff it. Not that I need to justify my opinion to you, but I've actually spent TIME in the middle east and family members who speak fluent Persian. And btw, I believe I'm titled to an opinion but at least mine's not coming out of my bunghole. What you don't understand is there's a difference between having the CHOICE to skate a park and not having one. The women in this country have the choice, thankfully. The last thing I want is to be stuck in a skateworld of semi-homo skaterboys who only want to be around other boys So I'm happy to see the rise of girls and women in skateboarding and though they're still in the miniority, not nearly as much as they were even fifteen years ago. It's one thing not to be living under a dictator, but our version of freedoms for individuals is not going to be instantly adopted by people who have hundreds of years of a certain type of social structure embedded in their culture that the average Westerner cannot begin to imagine.

[Pat S]

Building a skatepark is actually a great idea, this has been proven in other poor areas to work when it comes to children. Idle children are prone to being recruited for radical groups such as terrorist organization in the middle east and gangs in urban america so by giving them a hobbie you can save their (and our) lives. Skateboarding by no means is just an american thing so don't give me that bullshit about comparing it to building mcdonalds. I am adamantly opposed to the americanization of other cultures but I think this is something that developing nations can benefit from.

ps. I've been anti-war from the get go but I think this is one project that actually is worth doing.