Published: July 10, 2009 10:17 pm      

City approves funds for skateboard, handicapped playgrounds

Skateboard park location uncertain

With $200,000 included in its 2009-10 budget, the Richmond Parks and Recreation Board is free to pursue creation of a skateboard park.

Another $100,000 has been approved to install playground equipment for handicapped children at Lake Reba Park.

Construction of the handicap playground will be supplemented with about $25,000 raised by private groups, said Kevin Gorman, Richmond parks and recreation director.

“Along with the other city department heads, I met Wednesday with City Manager David Evans, and he approved both projects,” Gorman said.

The playground for the handicapped will be installed between two existing playgrounds near the picnic shelters at Lake Reba.

The equipment could be in place later this year, Gorman said.

“We probably will use a state-approved vendor, so we won’t have to go through a bidding process,” he said.

Before a city-maintained skateboard facility becomes a reality, a site must be selected, Gorman said, and that could be a big hurdle.

“The next steps will be for the parks and recreation board to pick a site, get competitive bids and submit a package to the city commission for approval,” he said.

The process could take several months.

“We’re pretty busy in July, because Lake Reba Park is hosting the state Little League championship next weekend,” Gorman said. “We’ll also be hosting some of the Bluegrass State Games next weekend and the following weekend.”

At its April 21 quarterly meeting, the park board looked at five skateboard facility designs, ranging in price from $115,000 to $191,000.

It also discussed possible locations.

Gorman said he favors a site in Lake Reba Park, because the city already owns the land, the site would be secure and maintenance staff are always on hand.

The skateboard park’s budget appropriation does not include money to purchase land.

“The only drawback to Lake Reba is accessibility,” Gorman said. “But for all the talk about Lake Reba being inaccessible, whenever the Paradise Cove and the ball fields are open, they are always packed,” he said in April.

When a skateboard park with wooden structures was placed in Lake Reba Park several years ago, it was well used, Gorman said.

After the wooden sets deteriorated, however, they were taken down.

Business operators and residents in the downtown area have complained about skateboarders uses sidewalks, streets and parking lots.

Richmond police arrested a teenage skateboarder in October, after he allegedly caused $1,000 in damage to a downtown business.

The skateboard park designs the board reviewed in April call for concrete or steel structures.

The board then also discussed putting a skateboard park on city-owned land on East Main Street next to US Bank, in Betty Miller Park on North Estill Avenue or in Million Park between Stratford Avenue and Langford Court.

Skateboard parks, especially those with steel structures, tend to be noisy, Gorman said, and that could be a problem on Main Street and in Betty Miller or Million parks.

“If we propose putting a skateboard park near a residential area, it would probably draw opposition from the neighbors,” he said.



Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.