By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Decatur’s newest recreational facility is completed and ready for an opening ceremony
The skate park at Short and Fifth streets (in North Ward Park, near the city pool) was recently finished by city workers and a ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Tuesday at 3:15 p.m.
The event will be open to the public and, Mayor Dan Rickard said, he expects some of the city’s young people who helped design the facility will be on hand.
Work on the skate park, by city employees, began last May.
Some meager wooden equipment has been situated on the site for a number of years, but the new setup has produced considerable improvement.
The cost was pegged at around $35,000, with federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds used.
Nearly all of the new equipment – a halfpipe, quarterpipes, ramps, kickers, a pyramid, etc. – is made of concrete. The entire area got a new coat of asphalt last year.
Mayor Rickord pushed the idea starting last summer after seeing some young people on their boards “where they shouldn’t have been skating,” downtown, mainly around the courthouse.
He talked with some of the young people that evening, then brought them together with himself and Building/Zoning Superintendent Curt Witte. Other meetings followed.
“Their attitude really changed once they realized we wanted to work with them,” the mayor said later.
“They were impressed that we were genuinely interested in what they had to say and put a great deal of thought into the plans. Without the input of the skaters, the park would not have come to fruition.”
Council gave its approval to plans prepared by Witte.
The skate park joins a dog park, numerous pickleball courts, and other facilities around the city which have been added in recent years. Likely coming next is an improved disc golf course.
