Skatepark to be built in the spring

Six years after city officials vowed to build a skatepark, they’re finally ready to put the project out to bid.
“Everybody’s going to be really happy with it,” said Tom Ragaini, a parks commissioner.Ragaini said the “long overdue” skatepark slated for construction at Rockwell Park next spring will offer a range of activities for skateboarding fans.
Pat Nelligan, another parks commissioner, said that officials have reviewed “multiple designs” for the past two years and relied on the advice of a handful of local skateboarders to polish them off.
He said the final design will be a great addition to the park.
Plans call for the new skatepark to be constructed on the site of the existing basketball court as well as a portion of Mrs. Rockwell’s Playground to its west.
A new basketball court will be erected behind the center field fence on the Muzzy Field side of the parking lot, officials said.
The city’s parks consultant, Milone & MacBroom, reviewed seven possible settings for the skate park before settling on the Rockwell Park basketball court site.
Park officials said that the final cost for the skatepark will be less than $400,000. They said the money is already allocated so there shouldn’t be any more hitches.
Building a skatepark has been on the city’s agenda since 2001 when city leaders promised to put one somewhere after ESPN’s X Trials at Lake Compounce drew attention to the sport.
Tony Hawk, one of the world’s most famous skateboarders, urged the city to follow the lead of other communities are build one.
But the plan ran into a major hurdle when officials could not find a place to build it that didn’t meet with opposition. A plan to put it at Page Park fell through when neighbors rallied to block it.
The Rockwell Park site, however, has not stirred much controversy.
Ragaini, who is running for City Council in the 2nd District as an independent, said that park officials sat through many meetings on the issue.
He said one of the consultants “talked the lingo” that skateboarders use.
“We had no idea what he was talking about,” Ragaini added.


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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com