Skate Park Plans

Ready For Bid

By Kendra Bobowick

Bank ramps, bowls, rails, and stair systems will soon echo with the clack and whoosh of skaters’ boards and wheels.

Almost ready to go out to bid on a precast concrete park design, Newtown Parks & Recreation Director Amy Mangold said estimates “range between $100,000 and $125,000” for a new skate park that she, parents, skaters, and recreation commission members have been coordinating. Past weeks have found that group looking at skate park materials, and design elements. Regarding the skaters and their parents, Ms Mangold said, “They’re thrilled! They have helped us make the decision. It’s important to have them involved.”

Plans to locate a skate facility at Dickinson Park will also welcome BMX riders, said Donate to Skate chairperson Erin Heneghan in an email. With materials and a design that will support the bicycles, she said, “The park will be BMX friendly!” In addition to benefiting Newtown’s skateboarders and in-line skaters, the park will also give BMX bike riders a safe place to ride, she wrote. “Isn’t that great?”

She stated, ”This makes the need for a park ever more prudent because even more youngsters will now benefit.”

Ms Mangold described the park as a plaza style with solid concrete surfaces that “incorporate different features and designs the skaters preferred.” Strength, durability, and budget were considered when choosing a design style she said, defending the riding surface “we’ll be seeking bids on.”

As much as $18,000 for the park comes from money raised by donation and the grassroots Donate to Skate efforts. A sum of $25,000 is in the current budget request 2010-2011, and roughly $50,000 is slated from “a fund dedicated to the skate park.”

Ms Mangold is “comfortable with the design materials,” which two members of the public have questioned. (See this week’s Letter Hive). Ms Mangold believes she has done her research and relied on advice from engineers and others working with her to research park designs.

She hopes to be out to bid soon and if all goes well, she hopes to see construction this summer.

Upcoming fundraisers include Donate to Skate’s ongoing T-shirt design contest. The Threads to Shreds T-shirt design contest is open to anyone, according to the group’s flyer. The winner will have his or her design printed on T-shirts to be sold by Donate to Skate.

Contest rules: the designs should be in black and white, the designs should be 8½ by 11 inches, the designs should be 300 dpi or more, and drawn art should be scanned into the highest quality photo format for submission via email. If you do not have a scanner, or have any other questions, contact Erin@donatetoskate.com for assistance. The design must incorporate each of the following three items: “Donate to Skate,” “Supported by Newtown Parks & Recreation,” “donatetoskate.com.”

Be creative — the design must attract attention to fundraising, states the flyer.

No foul language or visuals.

The designs should be submitted via email to Erin@DonateToSkate.com no later than Wednesday, March 24.