Skatepark Planning in the Works
Hi everyone,
Wanted to give you a quick recap of the last skatepark meeting. We met on a windy, cold Sunday afternoon over at Centennial Park to survey the planned skatepark pad and discuss our next steps. The proposed area for the skatepark is the area next to the basketball courts and along the fence leading to the park entrance. Total pad area is 80'x120' (9600 sq ft). The skaters present felt like there needed to be more street than vert skating obstacles and that the park should address skaters of different abilities. We also discovered a small area behind the basketball court that would be a perfect spot for a bowl and could be connected to the park with a short sidewalk. All and all the meeting went well and it was good to see some familiar faces again. We'll meet again when we have more information from the city about the design bids.
I spoke last week at length with Councilman Jesse Kerley about skaters needs and strongly urged him to get skaters involved in the design build process with the contractors. He was very open and supportive. He expressed concern that the city invest enough money in the park to make it worth skating. I totally agreed. He also mentioned that the City planned to pave the skate pad with asphalt. I pointed out that this would be a huge and costly mistake as asphalt is one of the least desirable surfaces for a skatepark. While I do NOT want to get into the concrete vs. modular debate at this point, I suggested that the skatepark companies that bid on the project provide appropriate recommendations for the surface of the park depending on their proposals. As such I volunteered to put together a requirements brief to help the City get started. Here is the PDF: CROSSVILLE SKATEPARK REQUIREMENTS.pdf Briefing. Please provide me any feedback you can on the requirements you want to see in the park. I'll incorporate them as much as possible when I send the briefing back to Councilman Kerley. I need all your comments to me by Wednesday, November 21st.
Will keep you updated on the progress of the planning. Our next meeting should be after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Will send out a note with the date when things get closer. Let me know if you have any questions.
- Frank
Wanted to give you a quick recap of the last skatepark meeting. We met on a windy, cold Sunday afternoon over at Centennial Park to survey the planned skatepark pad and discuss our next steps. The proposed area for the skatepark is the area next to the basketball courts and along the fence leading to the park entrance. Total pad area is 80'x120' (9600 sq ft). The skaters present felt like there needed to be more street than vert skating obstacles and that the park should address skaters of different abilities. We also discovered a small area behind the basketball court that would be a perfect spot for a bowl and could be connected to the park with a short sidewalk. All and all the meeting went well and it was good to see some familiar faces again. We'll meet again when we have more information from the city about the design bids.
I spoke last week at length with Councilman Jesse Kerley about skaters needs and strongly urged him to get skaters involved in the design build process with the contractors. He was very open and supportive. He expressed concern that the city invest enough money in the park to make it worth skating. I totally agreed. He also mentioned that the City planned to pave the skate pad with asphalt. I pointed out that this would be a huge and costly mistake as asphalt is one of the least desirable surfaces for a skatepark. While I do NOT want to get into the concrete vs. modular debate at this point, I suggested that the skatepark companies that bid on the project provide appropriate recommendations for the surface of the park depending on their proposals. As such I volunteered to put together a requirements brief to help the City get started. Here is the PDF: CROSSVILLE SKATEPARK REQUIREMENTS.pdf Briefing. Please provide me any feedback you can on the requirements you want to see in the park. I'll incorporate them as much as possible when I send the briefing back to Councilman Kerley. I need all your comments to me by Wednesday, November 21st.
Will keep you updated on the progress of the planning. Our next meeting should be after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Will send out a note with the date when things get closer. Let me know if you have any questions.
- Frank