Approved! And other News

Well, all that hard work finally paid off last night at the city council meeting. The Council voted unanimously to put out a request for proposal for the ramps in the skatepark to the tune of $75,000. That's a lot of car washes! And its up from the initial $50,000 initially proposed. Needless to say, we're very happy. This will be a great start to the skatepark. Please thank Steve Hill at Parks and Rec, Councilmember Kerley & Duer, and Mayor Graham for their continued support.

What's up next? The Council decided to put out a request for proposal rather than use an existing, in place contract to find a skate design company. The good part about this is that we should see more designs and hopefully a better park in the end. The bad part is that the city must advertise the RFP for 45 days. This means we won't have the park finished until the Fall. That's a bummer I know, but I think that the City is going about it the right way and we should get a better park as a result. Will keep you informed as we move through the process.

Also, thanks to everyone who came out for the last demo with Skatewave. It was a huge success. We had about 80 plus skaters show up in every age group and skill level. I know that some of you may have been intimidated by the size of the ramps or the pro skater from CA, but you'll have plenty of time to practice once the new park is open. I've included some pictures below.

Demo Day and Upcoming Demo Day

Hey everyone,

First, a big thanks to everyone who came out for the Arc demo today at the new skatepark in Centennial Park on such short notice. We had a good time evaluating and skating the different ramps from ARC. The ramp company brought along some skatepark plans which we also helped them revise. Thanks again to all the skaters who provided their input. And congrats to Brandal who won the Ollie contest and a new deck.

If you missed today's ramp demo, don't worry. We're having another on Monday, April 28th from 3-5pm at Centennial Park in front of the new skatepark. This will be a different company, Skatewave. Please come and skate/evaluate the ramps. We would like to have as many skaters as possible there as we may get a visit from a City Council member. I'd like to have a good showing. And if there are BMXers (you know who you are Pete) and rollerbladers, we want you there too!!

Also, we have some other exciting news. Crossville has its own skateshop now--Set Apart. They'll open their doors this Friday, April 25th at 3pm. The shop is located on West Ave right across the street from AMPs in the little white shopping plaza. Proudly owned and operated by two local skaters, Brandal and Dudd.

That's enough for now,

See you at the demo on Monday,

Frank McClung
Crossville Skatepark Association

Skatepark Meeting and Construction Underway!

Hi everyone,

Well, things are moving quickly with the construction of the new skatepark at Centennial Park. The concrete has been poured, the fencing is going up and the lighting is being readied. Very, very exciting stuff!!! Within the next two or three weeks we are going to sit down with the city and skatepark ramp vendors to determine what is actually going to go into the park. I'll be sending out an email with the meeting info as soon as I know something. I'd like to have as many skaters and board members there planning the park.

In preparation for this meeting, I'd like to get everyone together at the site of the new skatepark (right next to the basketball courts at Centennial) on Sunday at 2pm, March 23. We are going to do the following:

- Brainstorm with pen and paper what we want in the park. The size of the park is 120ft by 80 ft.
- Talk about what we want to do for a grand opening ceremony (skate competitions, demos, food, prizes, etc.)
- Talk about use of the skatepark and possibility for expansion.
- Walk around the pad and check out the new digs
- How to thank the city publicly

I hope everyone can make it. We are pushing for an opening day at the park at the beginning of summer break. Wouldn't it be great to have a place to skate all summer (the skatepark will be open at night too)!

Let me know if you have any questions.


See you at the skatepark!

Frank McClung
Crossville Skatepark Association
Crossvilleskatepark.com
931.484.1171

Skatepark on its way!

Hi everyone,

Good news. No, great news! The Crossville Skatepark construction is well underway. If you've driven by Centennial Park this week, you've probably seen that the ground for the skatepark pad is prepared and the gravel has been packed down. Pretty exciting. A day we never thought we would see is on its way...the opening of a skatepark in Crossville.

We had a great meeting with the Crossville City officials and the architectural firm that is overseeing the project. We brought up our main concerns and the City was very open and responsive. Our main issues were:

1. Size of the park: When you drive by, the area looks pretty small. But when you look at park plans from many vendors for smaller areas, you'll see that a lot can be packed into that space that you'll love to skate. Also, we're looking at ways to incorporate the natural banks on the sides of the park into skateable areas. And if we can show that the facility is packed with skaters most of the time (which shouldn't be an issue in good weather), then the city is open to several adjacent areas for expansion (maybe even a future bowl).

2. Traffic flow: We were concerned with the cars coming right around the skatepark entrance and having no real room to exit. The City is looking into the best way to create a safe zone between the park and the exiting traffic.

3. Skate Surface: The City was going to put asphalt down as the pad surface. We recommended against it. Now they are looking at concrete surface pad. Another good move.

The City has also wisely decided to send out an open Request for Proposals to skatepark companies. We're looking for someone to design an overall solution, not just throw ramps on a pad. And yes, it will be a modular skatepark. We'll need your help putting together the final requirements and evaluating proposals. The next meeting will be in the evening so everyone in work/school can attend. I'll let you know when that is.

Schedule: We are hoping to have the final proposal approved sometime at the end of March by the City Council. That should put us in good shape to have the park ready just about the time summer is here.

Look for a Skatepark Association meeting in the next few weeks. We need everyone to come to the proposal evaluations. This is your park and we want to make sure you get the obstacles and equipment you need. If you don't come, then you'll have no voice in the process.

Please email me if you have questions. Spread the word that there's going to be a real skatepark in 2008!

Frank McClung

CrossvilleSkatepark.com
931.484.1171

City Meeting on Jan 15 at 10am

I hope that you've had a good holiday break and are starting 2008 on the right foot. Here's a quick update on the progress of the Crossville Skatepark. The ground for the skatepark pad has been cleared at Centennial Park. You can drive by and see it right below the basketball courts. The size of the pad is 120' x 80'.

On January 15th at 10am at City Hall there will be a meeting with the representative skatepark companies to discuss their bid plans for the park. I know that this is right in the middle of the day and some of you will be in school or at work (I didn't set up the meeting time), but if you could be there to hear their proposals, it would be great. Everyone is welcome to attend, just let me know via email if you're coming to the meeting so that I can get a headcount in case we need a larger room. For those of you who miss the meeting, I'll try to gather all the info, and we can have a separate skatepark meeting to review them. This is your opportunity to make the skatepark the way you want it to be.

Please give me a call or send an email if you have questions,

- Frank McClung

Crossville Skatepark Association
931.484.1171

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

Second Chances...and more.

Hi everyone,

It's not too often in life that you get a second chance. Or in the case of a skatepark in Crossville 5th or 6th chances. But Sally Oglesby, the City Clerk, informed me yesterday that the City of Crossville awarded a contract for the concrete pad/lighting/fencing for the skatepark in Centennial Park!!! Looks like there's actually going to be a skatepark in Crossville, and sooner than you think. They are going to do separate bids for the ramps for the park with an actual skatepark contractor.

And that's where we come in. Sally has asked us to provide input to the ramps, help them evaluate the proposals, etc. We both see this as a great opportunity for skaters to get involved in the design of the city park and make it our own. Plus, skaters have a chance to learn something about the way the bid process works, things are built, etc. It's a great chance for skaters to change negative perceptions with the City.

So, we're going to have a meeting for anyone that is interested in learning more about the skatepark and the Association. We'll meet this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on Oct 28 at Centennial Park by the playground with the basketball courts. We'll walk over to the area where the skatepark will be built and discuss plans for the upcoming year. Hope you (and your parents too) can make it.

Let's make this a new, clean start for the skatepark. Look forward to seeing you there,

Frank McClung
Crossville Skatepark Association