FITTING TRIBUTE
Skate park name for former parks director coming soon
With the longawaited Lansdale skate park now open, town officials are working on a few finishing touches — including a name that should be no surprise.
“The committee has moved forward, and recommended unanimously that we name the skate park the Carl W. Saldutti Jr. skate park. That will move to full council for everyone’s approval,” said councilwoman Mary Fuller.
Saldutti was the borough’s parks and recreation director for 39 years prior to his death in 2018, and spent much of the 2010s leading public discussions on the skate park project, including choosing the site and fielding public feedback on the design. Construction contracts were finally awarded last fall, ground was broken in February, then paused in March due to COVID-19 before resuming in May, and the park unofficially opened in late July as contractors completed work on the concrete structure.
“As far as construction goes, we’re open,” said Parks and Recreation Director Karl Lukens.
During council’s parks and recreation committee meeting on Wednesday, Lukens gave an update on a minor flooding issue in one of the skate park bowls observed during rains this week, which the town’s engineer and the skate park contractor believe can be fixed with a minor repair.
Early estimates on that repair
are a cost of roughly $10,000, and staff are still evaluating if that cost would be borne by either contractor working on the project, he said. Another factor in this week’s flooding was found to be the fabric currently surrounding the park and meant to hold down grass seed; Lukens said some of the fabric was found to be temporarily covering a storm drain, and the drainage issue should be resolved once the fabric is removed.
Regarding the name, Lukens said contractor Fifth Pocket should unveil a mural at the park site in tribute to Saldutti soon, and parks committee members said they felt a tribute to him was fitting.
“That skate park is so Carl, in every way. It’s meant for the kids, and his name’s all over it regardless,” said councilman Bill Henning.
Lukens asked whether a formal naming ceremony should be scheduled in the next few weeks, or later when COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings are loosened.
“I’d rather be at a point where we can have a number of people out. I think people will want to be there for this,” Fuller said.
Several skaters have voiced interest in creating an informal group to help monitor trash disposal, use at proper hours, and possibly even skate instruction, Lukens told the committee, and he’s given them the informal name of “Friends of the skate park” pending any formal action, and will publicize details on how to join in the next few days.
Fuller added she’d like to see that group step up in another area: The borough could buy masks for skaters, which the volunteers could give away at the site to ensure safety.
“That is one of the first things I noticed the first time I went over to the skate park: First, I noticed the number of people, which was great, but then I noticed simultaneously, nobody was wearing a mask, and I didn’t like seeing that,” Fuller said.
“I get that maybe it blocks your peripheral vision, and that creates a danger, but if you’re hanging around and waiting your turn, you should have a mask on, and we should try to push that as much as we can,” she said.
Fuller said she has also heard feedback from neighbors that skaters are using the park before and after the dawn-to-dusk park hours, and Lukens said he’ll include those hours and mask info on forms for the volunteer group.
A temporary restroom should be installed adjacent to the skate park site in the next few days, Lukens added, and Henning asked if a water fountain or beverage vending machine could also be installed there. Lukens and Borough Manager John Ernst said they’d look into options for adding a water fountain, but all others in borough parks are currently shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.
One other skate parkrelated topic: Lukens said he has started getting estimates from contractors to install fencing around the skate park, and three quotes have produced prices ranging from $6,000 to roughly $14,000 to do so, depending on the materials used.
“The big question is, do you want to spend that money on fencing, or do you want to do some landscaping, that may help mitigate some of the sights and some of the sounds from the town homes, over to the skate park?” Lukens said.
Installing trees around the skate park could be less costly than the fencing, Lukens said, but the trees could take several years to grow to full size.
Fuller said she’d prefer to see trees rather than fencing, since landscaping was one of the features scaled down during several bid attempts for the project.
“I kind of like the idea to use the landscaping as natural fencing. And if we find that doesn’t work, or isn’t happening quickly enough, we have these (fencing) quotes and we can revisit that,” Fuller said.
One more addition Lukens recommended in addition to the landscaping: a guide rail between the skate park itself and the parking lot for the adjacent Fourth Street park and pool, for several reasons.
“We want to put a guide rail at the end of the parking lot, before you get to the skate park, for safety — from bicycles riding real fast into the park — but also as a deterrent for cars, so they can actually see where the parking lot ends, and the walking path for the skate park begins,” Lukens said.
Staff are currently designing a wooden guard rail they can install inhouse at minimal cost, Lukens told the committee. Mayor Garry Herbert said his main concern was that emergency vehicles still be able to access the skate park if needed, and Lukens said he would discuss with staff where funds for the guide rail and landscaping could be found elsewhere in the project and/or the parks department budget.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on Aug. 19 online; for more information visit www.Lansdale.org.