Skate park close to becoming a reality
Feb 28, 2008, 11:32
Wayne Stinson Dean
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| This is the layout of the new Warrensburg skate park . |
Warrensburg Parks and Recreation held a groundbreaking ceremony Feb. 6 at the future site in Grover Park across from Nassif Pool on Mill Street.
More than 50 people stood outside in freezing temperatures, including local Warrensburg skaters, to take part in the ceremony. Marcy Bryant, Parks and Recreation marketing supervisor, said she was excited to see such a great turnout for such a cold day.
“The kids skated down from Gay Street, all at once,” she said. “It was really cool and the kids even started taking pictures with their cell phones.”
Bryant said the project wouldn’t be possible without the help from the community. A year ago in February, the skate park committee held a “design day” where people could help design the park. Working alongside Site Design Group, a company that specializes in designing skate parks, the committee held the event in the Warrensburg Middle School gym. Bryant said about 150 people attended.
“There was everyone there from senior citizens to 5-year-olds,” Bryant said.
Site Design Group looked over all the designs and took ideas that were consistent throughout the proposed designs. For example, if all of the community’s designs had a ramp, then Site Design Group knew everyone wanted a ramp, so they put it in the final three designs.
After the three designs were drawn up, the community voted on which design it liked best.
“We wanted the community involved because if they don’t like it, they won't use it,” Bryant said.
The project has been in the works since 2002 when Colleen Hurd, along with a few other Warrensburg citizens, approached the parks and recreation board with a plan for a skate park where kids in the area could freely skate. Colleen had a son, Bobby Hurd, in eighth grade at the time, and said, “It was hard in the beginning. I did everything on my own to raise money. I wanted to show Bobby that when you start something, you should see it to the end,” Hurd said.
Hurd and others' efforts saw results when in 2003, the location was chosen and Warrensburg Parks and Recreation got on board. The special skate park committee was formed and city officials started to move forward on the plan.
Police Chief Bruce Howey, community parks and recreation director Kory Alfred, and other city officials traveled to Columbia, Mo., to look at its skate park. They liked what they saw and brought back pictures of the park for the committee to study.
“We talked with the people in Columbia and we got some great ideas from them,” Alfred said. “They had good groundskeeping there that made it fit in with the parks, which is what we want to do here.”
The project was allocated $270,000 from the parks and recreation budget, but still needs about $20,000 more to add some amenities like bleachers, security cameras, and an emergency phone. Bryant said the project is “strapped for cash,” but it has received funds from several sources. The Skate Park Fundraising Committee has been able to bring in a $10,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation and $50,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, along with donations from local businesses and individuals.
The city has had a problem with skaters using sidewalks and areas downtown, where businesses would get upset about the skaters using their property as an impromptu skate park. Places like First Christian Church had a real problem with skaters on the property, but they didn’t want to make them leave without giving them a place to go, Alfred said.
“The skaters would skate anywhere there was concrete,” Alfred said. “This skate park will give them real equipment to use and keep them away from businesses.”
Bryant said work should begin at the end of February, depending on the weather. Hurd knows the project has come a long way, but isn’t holding her breath just yet.
“When I see it, I’m going to believe it. The day I see the kids skate at the park will be a good day.”
Hurd said she is confident the park will be done by the end of May.
