Skatepark $20K closer to reality

A skateboarder performs an aerial move during a temporary skatepark at Skubitz Placa in this file photo. Area enthusiasts hoping for a permanent location saw their goals come closer to fruition earlier this week when Tony Hawk Foundation awarded a $10,000 grant to the Fort Scott Skatepark Committee. (Tribune file photo)

With the help of a professional skateboarder, the Fort Scott Skatepark Committee is $20,000 closer to building a skatepark in Fort Scott.

Fort Scott Skatepark Committee Co-convener Nate Lyons received an e-mail Tuesday notifying him that the committee had been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation to go toward the construction of a $100,000 concrete skatepark. Lyons said the committee was competing against about 60 other applicants for grant assistance. He said the committee asked for $25,000, the maximum amount to be requested, but is more than happy with the amount to be awarded.

"It is really exciting ... it is a huge, huge deal for us," Lyons said. "I think we actually got a pretty good sized grant for what they distributed."

The companies which the committee has contracted with for the development and construction of the skatepark, American Ramp Company and Hardcore Skateparks, both out of Joplin, Mo., will be matching the grant with $10,000 in products and services.

"We get a double whammy with that," Lyons said.

The good news could not have come at a better time for the committee as eight local skaters and a few committee members visited Hardcore Skateparks Friday to participate in the conceptual design process. Lyons said the local skaters had the chance to draw their own skateparks which will be used along with other ideas from the committee to come up with a conceptual drawing which should be available in about two weeks.

"[It is] something that is specific to Fort Scott," Lyons said. "We are excited to actually see that come to life."

Lyons said it has been important from the beginning, about two years ago, to keep the skaters who will be using the park involved in the process. Keeping with that theme, Lyons said the committee handpicked the eight local skaters to attend the conceptual drawing process.

"Its going to be their park," Lyons said. "It wouldn't be fair for us to pick that out for them ... We want to make sure that we don't build something that they don't want to skate."

The committee is keeping the community in mind when designing the skatepark. Lyons said the plans for the facility include a plaza-style skate park with multi-colored concrete, multiple elevations and landscaping to help it blend in with the surrounding environment.

"We're not building a parking lot with a couple of wooden ramps," he said. "It will be esthetically pleasing and built in the style of our community."

With the addition of the grant assistance and the match by the developers, the committee's total amount of funds raised has tripled to about $31,000. Lyons said he hopes that having the support of Hawk will help give the skaters and the community a boost as the committee prepares to increase its fundraising efforts.

"Having the Tony Hawk Foundation stamp of approval really gives us a lot of credibility," he said.