Plainville skatepark sees $5,000 Tony Hawk grant
DBell@CalhounTimes.com
The skatepark taking shape at the Plainville recreation center was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the Tony Hawk Foundation, but organizers of the grassroots effort to erect the feature say more donations are needed.
“We have stretched our money quite far with a lot of help and donations from the community, but we still need more funds to finish this phase of construction,” said Jason Everts, who runs the Public Skatepark Advocacy Group of Gordon County.
Everts said the Tony Hawk grant was a big win and that his group emphasized during the application process that the Plainville skate park will be built correctly and to the needs and standards of modern skateboarding. He said the southeast United States has fewer adequate skateparks than anywhere else in the country, a factor that helped them land the grant.
Still, because the park is being constructed with donations and volunteer work, more money is needed.
“The features that are in place are more street skating oriented. A variety of popular obstacles that will satisfy the majority of street-style skateboarders. There are some larger ramps planned that we will need additional funding to complete,” Everts said. “Because of the location of the skatepark there will even be room to expand after the existing plan is complete.”
The project is a partnership between Everts, who is a local contractor, Joe Young of North Georgia Decorative Concrete and the City of Plainville, which provided the location and donated $40,000 in Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax money.
Young and his company are donating the bulk of the labor for the build, and Everts provided a list of other supporters who have either donated material or money to the cause: North Georgia National Bank, Jonathan Purser, Starr Mathews Insurance, Kent Chapman State Farm, Basic Ready Mix, Everts Construction Inc., Gordon Building Supply, Calhoun Wholesale Plumbing and Electrical Supply, Craig Construction, Redbird Plumbing, Bone Electric, Johnny Hodge of Eagle Color and blending for concrete color additive and Stanfield Brothers Paving.
Additionally, Everts said the community support has been overwhelming following a Calhoun Times report announcing the project back in February.
“We even had some donations come in as a result of the article. I had multiple people contact me expressing their excitement for a facility of this caliber being in their hometown. There are a significant number of current skateboarders in town that travel to Chattanooga and Atlanta to skate something like this, and there are a whole generation of young people growing up exposed to skateboarding that are waiting for their opportunity to enjoy the fun of riding and learning at their own hometown skatepark,” he said.
Anyone who would like to contribute to the project can contact Public Skatepark Advocacy Group at 770877-1527.