Expand Skate Park Bidding Process

To the Editor:

I just read about the town’s skate park plans, and I am positively excited about the deep community support as evinced by the $18,000 raised through the Donate to Skate campaign and the incredibly generous $25,000 matching pledge.

From what I understand, a design with precast concrete has been selected, and is subsequently going up for bid. For myself, an avid skateboarder, the most engaging parks have all been pour-in-place concrete design/build parks, providing smooth organic layouts, unique features and a “flow” which facilitates tricks and/or speed. Precast parks, by their nature, cannot accommodate these characteristics due to the fixed number of available precast pieces and the seams between them.

I strongly urge the town to expand the bidding process to include RFPs from design/build skate park companies who may be able to deliver a feature-rich and versatile park within comparable constraints (money, calendar time, space) and offer those designs up for direct vote to the skateboard community. Directly giving the skaters the option of such design/build proposals would only be commensurate with their clear enthusiasm.

Sincerely,

Gene Sato

148 Deer Run Road, Wilton                                          March 15, 2010