Only seven years late, a skatepark should be done by October

The skatepark slated for completion at Rockwell Park by October will be one of the best in the state, officials claim.
“Bristol will have a class one skatepark upon completion,” said David Dixon, a consultant from the Cheshire-based Milone & MacBroom. “My hope is that this becomes the envy of every other town in Connecticut.”
The skatepark will consist of a smooth, concrete plaza with a small bowl, Dixon said, and will include multiple layers with obstacles that skaters will be able to use freely.
The idea is to incorporate some of the urban terrain elements – ledges, rails, benches and the like – that have long drawn hordes of skateboarding fans downtown illegally.
The city is currently soliciting help from contractors who know what they’re doing when it comes to making topnotch skateparks.
“Concrete workers who know how to do sidewalks don’t necessarily know how to construct to the same type of standards that you have to do in order to make this skate-able,” Dixon said. “We’re going nationwide” to find a good contractor that knows what to do, Dixon said.
The 16,000-square-foot skatepark will be put on the former site of the basketball court, near the parking lot and pool. But it will be bigger than the court was.
After the design is finished, officials said, they’ll put out another bid solicitation to see how much it’s going to cost. “We’re constantly watching the costs,” Dixon said.
To help, Park Director Ed Swicklas is seeking a $25,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation. Tony Hawk, perhaps the most famous skateboarder in the world, told The Tattoo teen newspaper in 2001 that Bristol should have a skatepark, which helped spur interest in creating it.
Dixon said that he construction to begin after July 1 and take about three months to finish. He said it should be done by October.
Michael Suchapar, a member of the Park Revitalization Committee, said he assumes there will be a requirement that kids wear safety equipment.
But Swicklas said the city plans to treat the skatepark the same as it does other park property.
“If they don’t wear” safety equipment, Swicklas said, “there’s not going to be a penalty for not having them.”
He said there will be signs warning boarders to wear proper safety equipment.
At least initially, Swicklas said, there are no plans to fence in the skatepark in or charge a fee top use it.
He said that skateboarders will likely keep a pretty good eye on each other to make sure that vandalism and damage is kept to a minimum.
“These kids and users are very unique in terms of skateboarding,” Swicklas said. “They police themselves” and have a great passion for it.
“We’re hoping they follow the rules,” he added
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.
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.
There has been relatively little opposition to putting it at Rockwell Park.

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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com