Council OKs bid package for skate park
Timeline could still see skate park built by end of summer
LANSDALE » A skate park in the borough is another step closer to becoming a reality.
Borough Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to authorize consultants to prepare and advertise bid specifications for the Fourth Street skate park project, keeping the project on target for construction this summer.
“It’s been eight-plus years, so it’s nice to be at this point. It’ll be even better Labor Day weekend,” said council member Mary Fuller.
The planned skate park was first floated nearly a decade ago and has been discussed more in depth since early 2016 by council and its Parks and Recreation committee, which Fuller leads. That committee has held dozens of hours of public discussion in recent months about whether, where, and how to build a skate park.
After public discussions through much of 2017, the parks committee and then council chose a site directly adjacent to Fourth Street Park, and site design con-
sultant Jesse Clayton and landscape architect Al Gryga showed off, heard feedback on, and refined a potential design in January and again after more feedback in February.
A finalized version of that project has been vetted by the Parks committee, according to Fuller, which recommended that council
authorized Gryga’s firm CMC Engineering to prepare and advertise a formal package of bid specifications for the project. That bid package would be subject to review by the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the project will be funded in part by a grant from DCNR, matched by the borough’s parking authority and capital reserve funds.
The Parks committee recommended on March
14 that council authorize the bid specs, and Gryga and the Parks committee members have said doing so would mean a bid could be awarded in April, construction could start in June or July, with the goal of having work done around September. Council voted unanimously to authorize the bid package on March 21, after councilman Jack Hansen said his mind has been changed by the months of public discussion.
“I am very much in favor of the skate park. I’ve made it known that I was not happy with the location, where it was going, and I’ve struggled with this motion,” Hansen said.
“I’ve given it a lot of thought, because I know that our kids, and adults who are engaging in skating, need a place to go. And I’ve also listened to the people that live in the area — so after all of that, I thought the kids would really need a place to go. So I support
this,” Hansen said.
Councilman Leon Angelichio said he thought the entire Parks committee deserved thanks, and Fuller in particular “should be commended for your diligence, and getting your teeth into this, staying with it, and making sure it happened.”
“I know it’s a rocky road, and sometimes you feel like you’re swimming agist the tide, but Mary, you’ve done a fantastic job with this. I know you’re not a person
that like to take a lot of credit, but realize what you have accomplished against some pretty steep odds,” Angelichio said.
Lansdale’s Parks and Recreation committee next meets at 8 p.m. on April 4, with the full borough council then meeting at 9 p.m., both at the borough municipal building, 1 Vine St. For more information or meeting agendas and materials visit www.Lansdale.org or follow @LansdalePA on Twitter.