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New Castle Awards Skatepark Construction Contract to Hunger Skateparks

Information reprinted with permission of the Courier Times, local newspaper New Castle, Indiana www.thecouriertimes.com

New Castle awards skatepark construction contract to Hunger Skateparks

Posted: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 6:00 am

Construction of a new skatepark on New Castle’s south side should begin as soon as the weather breaks.

The New Castle Board of Works met Monday and unanimously voted to award the job to Hunger Skateparks of Bloomington, Ind. Hunger was the lone bidder interested in building the planned 11,000 square foot facility on the east side of S. Main Street, just north of the Aquatics Center at Baker Park. Hunger’s bid price was $294,275.

Hunger designed the skatepark the city plans to build. The project is being funded, in large part, with $275,000 in food and beverage tax funds awarded earlier this year. Mayor Greg York and parks board members are hopeful the total cost can be reduced via in-kind donations of equipment and labor by the city as well as material, labor and monetary donations from area businesses and individuals.

“We need this community to step up, and they can do that through the Henry County Community Foundation where we have a pass-through account,” parks board president Patty Broyles said.

Broyles noted one local business, Frost Framing, challenged the community to “like” his Facebook page and donated $5 for every “like” it received. That campaign was successful enough that owner Scott Frost has donated $1,000. 

“If we could get 10 other business to do that we’d have more than $10,000 very easily,” Broyles said.

The food and beverage funds the city received were to help pay for construction of a skatepark as well as improvements to the restrooms and security system in Baker Park. Broyles said she is hopeful by this time next year all three projects will have been completed.

Mayor Greg York, who has been an advocate of moving forward with construction of a facility skateboarders as well as BMX bicycling enthusiasts can use and enjoy, said he’s excited the effort has reached this point.

“We’re going to start on this immediately,” the mayor said, noting city and Hunger officials are scheduled to meet today to address details associated with moving the project forward as soon as possible. “Everybody is very excited to get this thing going.”

The mayor said local contractors and others in a position to help can expect to hear from him soon.

“We’re looking for concrete help, so I’m going to probably be hitting up all the concrete guys in town to volunteer some labor and things like rebar,” York said. “We’re also going to be reaching out to individual businesses that might be interested in donating some cash.”

The idea of building a skatepark was the result of a survey the parks board circulated as part of the process involved with drafting a 5-year master plan. A facility for skateboarders and BMX bikers was among the most frequently mentioned ways respondents indicated the city could improve the local parks system.

Anyone interested in donating funding, materials or labor towards the skatepark project is encouraged to call the mayor’s office at 765-529-7605.